Not too many games feel like “must-win” games in July. However, this was certainly one for the White Sox, and they found a way to take care of business.
Leury Garcia ended up today’s hero in a back-and-forth affair, as his walk-off single in the bottom of the tenth inning prevented the White Sox from being swept at home by the Twins. The White Sox trailed at five different points in today’s game, trailing 1-0, 3-1, 5-3, 6-5, and 8-6 throughout the entirety of the game. A Jose Abreu RBI double tied the game at one. Eloy Jimenez’s homer in the fourth tied the game at three. Luis Robert’s homer in the fifth tied the game at five. Eloy Jimenez struck again in the seventh with a game-tying RBI single. Andrew Vaughn tied it up at eight with a two-run homer in the eighth, and finally, the White Sox finished it off in the tenth. A truly wild game for a team that refused to quit.
On the other side of the ball, Lance Lynn didn’t have his best stuff in this one, battling through five innings of five-run baseball. He was followed by single innings from Reynaldo Lopez, Kendall Graveman, Matt Foster, Liam Hendriks, and Jose Ruiz, with Graveman and Foster giving up the other three runs in the game. Credit to Jose Ruiz, who worked out of a jam in the top of the tenth by getting Ryan Jeffers to hit into an inning-ending double play and give the Sox a chance to walk it off with just a single.
With the win, the White Sox improved to 39-41, gained a game on the Twins, and now sit five and a half games out of first place. It could’ve been a lot worse, Sox fans.
W: Jose Ruiz (1-0) | L: Jovani Moran (0-1)
StatCast Breakdown
Box Score
Offensive Recap
Pitching Recap
White Sox Scoring Recap
Bottom 1st: Jose Abreu doubles to LF. Tim Anderson scores. 1-1 Tie
Bottom 4th: Eloy Jimenez homers (2) to LF. Gavin Sheets scores. 3-3 Tie
Bottom 5th: Luis Robert homers (9) to LF. Andrew Vaughn scores. 5-5 Tie
Bottom 7th: Eloy Jimenez singles to LF. Luis Robert scores. 6-6 Tie
Bottom 8th: Andrew Vaughn homers (8) to LF. Seby Zavala scores. 8-8 Tie
Bottom 10th: Leury Garcia singles to LF. Adam Engel scores. 9-8 White Sox
Notable Performances
Lance Lynn: 5 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
It wasn’t Lynn’s strongest effort on the mound today, but the offense helped him out to give him a no-decision. In return, he gave us a great gif. So, a win-win.
Eloy Jimenez: 2-for-5, HR (2), 3 RBI, R, 2 K
Credit to Jimenez, who came off the IL and immediately delivered some of the power that has been missing from this White Sox offense all season. If the White Sox are going to make a run at the division in the second half, they’re going to need more performances like this one from Jimenez.
Luis Robert: 2-for-4, HR (9), 2 RBI, 2 R, BB, 2 K
Luis Robert’s at-bats haven’t looked phenomenal lately, but they looked a lot better at points today. He worked counts, laid off tough pitches, and hammered mistakes. Hopefully, this is the start of a breakout once again for La Pantera.
Leury Garcia: 1-for-4, RBI, K
He only had one hit on the day, but he made it count.
Other Highlights
The Next Matchup
The White Sox will welcome the Detroit Tigers to town for a four-game series starting tomorrow evening. Dylan Cease will head to the mound looking for his eighth win of the season, and he will go against Beau Brieske.
The game will start at 7:10 PM CT over on NBC Sports Chicago.
Follow us @SoxOn35th for more updates throughout the season!
Featured Image: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
