Going into tonight’s game, the odds weren’t looking good for the Sox. After two ugly losses to start off the series, a struggling Ivan Nova was going up against one of Houston’s aces in Gerrit Cole. However, you can throw all of that out the window because it was a South Side beatdown at Minute Maid Park.
Eloy Jimenez: 2-4, 2 HR (5), 2 RBI, 3 runs
Gerrit Cole learned the hard way what happens when you make mistakes to Eloy Jimenez. In the second inning, the righty hung a slider down the middle and Jimenez crushed it 419 feet to left-center for his fourth homer of the year. This was obviously a welcome sign as Eloy’s had his struggles when it comes to sliders.
ELOY TAKES GERRIT COLE YARD ?pic.twitter.com/2c7ZyZ0oFz
— Sox On 35th (@SoxOn35th) May 23, 2019
But that’s not all because when Eloy hits homers, they come in bunches. His second bomb came in the eighth and it was absolutely smoked off the bat at 109.9 MPH. Just effortless opposite field power.
He’s really, really back.
Eloy Jimenez clubbed his second homer of the night for the #WhiteSox, a combined 846 feet of ??.
Keep up with all @whitesox prospects here: https://t.co/NGqFPyLXxD pic.twitter.com/nfDHRHkfE5
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 23, 2019
Charlie Tilson: 1-4, HR (1), 4 RBI, run
First off, are you kidding me?!?!? With the bases loaded in the sixth inning, there were prime opportunities for both Eloy Jimenez and Tim Anderson to do major damage. Nope, they wanted to let the man, the myth, the legend Charlie Tilson take his hacks. The lefty crushed the second pitch he saw 404 feet to right field for his first career home run.
Charlie Tilson sends one to the moon in GRAND fashion! pic.twitter.com/b7l4Ibw32G
— Charlie Tilson On 35th (@SoxOn35th) May 23, 2019
I said it a few days ago in a recap, Charlie Tilson does nothing but hit. He’s been an animal so far at the plate and he came through when it mattered the most tonight.
Rest of the offense: Finished with 9 runs on 10 hits
Jose Abreu homered to dead center once again for his 12th of the season. He finished the night 2-4 with an RBI and run scored off his bomb. Yoan Moncada also joined the multi-hit club with a pair of singles, while James McCann had a huge 2-run double that knocked Gerrit Cole out of the game in the sixth. Everything was clicking.
Ivan Nova: 7.0 IP, 10 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 HR | 94 pitches – 65 strikes, 29 balls
Despite allowing runners to reach base, Nova was able to induce the ground ball all night long to avoid any serious trouble. The only rough patch for the vet came in the fourth when the Astros pounced for three runs to take a 3-2 lead.
Easy as 1, 2, 3.
3 run 4th puts us right back in front! #TakeItBack pic.twitter.com/M3JkYMyLXv
— Houston Astros (@astros) May 23, 2019
By the end of the night, Nova turned in one of his better starts and provided the team with much needed depth from a starter. All in all, he trusted his defense behind him, kept his pitch count low, and was able to go into the eighth inning.
The Defense: Have a night!
Besides the offensive firepower, the defense was the story of the night. In the first and second, they spun inning ending double plays. They followed with this nifty 5-4-3 triple play, the club’s first since the 2016 season.
? TRIPLE PLAY ALERT ?
— Sox On 35th (@SoxOn35th) May 23, 2019
By the end of the night, Ricky’s Boys turned a total of four double plays to go along with the triple play. You can’t ask for much more.
See the full stats from tonight’s game by clicking here.
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Featured Photo: AP
