In what was a strong back-and-forth series, it only seems right that the teams involved walked away with a series split.
This afternoon, the White Sox made sure to head back to Chicago on a high note, fending off a late rally from the Astros to win 6-3. The game was started by Mike Clevinger, who gave the White Sox five strong innings in his debut. He struck out eight hitters while battling some command issues, but did not allow a runner to cross base and earned himself a victory. He was relieved by Gregory Santos, Aaron Bummer, Kendall Graveman, and Reynaldo Lopez, with Santos and Lopez the only two to give up runs. Despite having a five-run lead entering the ninth, the Astros found a way to bring the game-tying run to the plate against Reynaldo Lopez. Regardless, all is well that ends well for the pitching staff.
The offense was once again led by Yoan Moncada, whose three-hit effort continued his incredible start to the season. Luis Robert added a homer of his own as well, while both Andrew Vaughn and Tim Anderson added huge insurance runs in the later innings of this game as well. The offense wasn’t without its struggles, however, as they left 12 runners on base and went 5-for-19 with runners in scoring position – which included some continued struggles with the bases loaded. But, like with the pitching: all is well that ends well, for now.
With the win, the White Sox are 2-2 on the young season with the home opener on the way.
W: Mike Clevinger (1-0) | L: Luis Garcia (0-1)
StatCast Breakdown
Box Score
Offensive Recap:
Pitching Recap:
White Sox Scoring Recap
Top 5th: Luis Robert Jr. homers (1) to left field. 1-0 White Sox.
Top 6th: Andrew Vaughn singles to center field. Yoan Moncada scores. 2-0 White Sox.
Top 6th: Oscar Colas doubles to left field. Andrew Vaughn scores. 3-0 White Sox.
Top 8th: Tim Anderson doubles to center field. Oscar Colas scores. 4-1 White Sox.
Top 9th: Yoan Moncada homers (2) to left center field. Andrew Benintendi scores. 6-1 White Sox.
Notable Performances
Mike Clevinger: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 8 K
Working off a primary fastball/slider combination, Clevinger worked five strong innings despite battling command issues throughout the game. His fastball averaged 94.7 mph on the day, a full mile and an hour more than his average speed from 2022. It was a positive step forward for Clevinger.
Yoan Moncada: 3-for-4, HR, 2 2B, 2 RBI, BB, K
Moncada continued his early-season tear today, launching his second homer of the season into the Crawford Boxes in left-center field. He has worked excellent at-bats throughout the season – a sign of hopefully many positive things to come throughout this season.
Yasmani Grandal: 3-for-4, 2B, BB
Grandal joins Moncada in his early-season tear, adding another three hits to his game-one performance. Like Moncada, his average sits over .400 in what will hopefully be a bounceback season for the catcher.
Other Game Highlights
Next Game
The White Sox will head home tomorrow afternoon to take on the San Francisco Giants. The game time has been moved up an hour to 2:10 PM CT due to impending inclement weather, so make sure you get going a bit earlier if you’re planning to go!
Michael Kopech will get the start in the opener, opposed by Anthony DeSclafani.
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Featured Image: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
