The winning streak has stretched to four for the South Siders, who now find themselves within one game of .500 once again.
Vince Velasquez gave another performance worthy of a fifth starter/swing man on this White Sox team, completing five innings worth of one run baseball while working himself out of a couple jams along the way. He worked off his fastball in this start, compared to the last one in which he prioritized his breaking stuff. The Red Sox put some good swings on him, but he kept Boston off the basepaths for the majority of the evening. Velasquez was followed by scoreless outings from Matt Foster and Aaron Bummer. Kendall Graveman gave up one run in the eighth inning after an awkward play by Adam Engel in RF turned a single into a triple. And, per usual, Liam Hendriks came in to lock it down, allowing one baserunner via a walk but ending the game by retiring rookie Jarren Duran on a strikeout.
On offense, the White Sox spent the first three innings forcing Red Sox starter Nathan Eovaldi to throw 73 pitches, scoring three runs in the process. They both manufactured their runs (two sacrifice flies) and got the long ball this evening, the latter of which was courtesy of Luis Robert and cleared the Green Monster by a large margin. The White Sox worked to manufacture their runs as the offense shows signs of life without fully clicking, stealing two bases and taking the extra base on multiple occasions throughout the night. The hustle and discipline were very noticeable for the White Sox, and they backed it up with a victory on the evening.
With the win, the White Sox improve to 12-13 on the season, and have a chance to get back to .500 tomorrow.
W: Vince Velasquez (2-2) | L: Nathan Eovaldi (1-1) | S: Liam Hendriks (8)
StatCast Breakdown
Box Score
Offensive Recap:
Pitching Recap:
White Sox Scoring Recap:
Top 3rd: Jose Abreu hits a sacrifice fly. Tim Anderson scores. 1-0 White Sox
Top 3rd: Luis Robert homers (4) to LF. AJ Pollock scores. 3-0 White Sox
Top 8th: Reese McGuire hits a sacrifice fly. Adam Engel scores. 4-1 White Sox
Notable Performances
Vince Velasquez: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
Vince Velasquez, for a second straight outing, is starting to make fans feel a bit better as to why the White Sox and Ethan Katz wanted to sign him to a $3M deal this offseason. Though he didn’t have as good as command as he did last week against the Angels, Velasquez kept the Red Sox off balance throughout the night and still racked up double digit swings-and-misses. As Johnny Cueto gets closer to joining the White Sox, the team will have a difficult decision to make regarding Dallas Keuchel and Vince Velasquez. Velasquez continues to make his case to stick around in the rotation.
Luis Robert: 1-for-4, HR (4), 2 RBI, R, BB, K
Even though Luis Robert has shown some struggles at the plate recently, his more recent at-bats have him primed for the breakout we are waiting for on this young season. Robert has worked at-bats well throughout the week, and that was no different this evening, as he worked a long at-bat before launching an Eovaldi offering over the Green Monster in LF for his fourth of the season. Look for Robert to continue to refine his plate approach as the season continues.
Tim Anderson: 3-for-5, R
Tim Anderson looks to be getting back to his old self both on the field and at the plate. With a three hit performance tonight, Anderson raised his average to .330 on the season and looks primed for another above-.300 season at the plate.
Leury Garcia: 2-for-4, 2B
As the White Sox look to get things back on track offensively, another player looking to break out of their early-season slump is Leury Garcia. As he continues to play in more of a super-utility role, Garcia figures to settle in and make an impact in a position in which he is best set up to succeed.
The Next Matchup
The White Sox and Red Sox will go back to battle tomorrow afternoon, as Dylan Cease will look to follow up on his self-proclaimed “best start of his career.” He will be opposed by Nick Pivetta, who will be looking for his first win of the season.
The game will start at 3:10 PM CT and can be viewed back on NBC Sports Chicago.
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Featured Image: Brandon Anderson / Twitter
