As a rule, only scoring two runs in a three-game series isn’t a successful strategy, and this series wasn’t the exception that proved that rule.
The White Sox fell behind 2-0 in the fourth when starter Anthony Kay issued a dreaded leadoff walk, followed by a 379-foot shot into the left-field stands by Caleb Durbin. Those would be the only costly mistakes in Kay’s 5 1/3 innings of work, but they were enough, given the feeble state of the offense.
Facing a middish lefty for the third straight game, the Chicago offense sputtered once again, this time against Patrick Sandoval in his first major league game after an injury hiatus of more than two years. Didn’t get shut out this time, though, like last night. Not at all.
Instead, the mighty power lineup that’s fourth in the majors in homers scored an actual run by playing a ball so small it was almost invisible to the naked eye. Luisangel Acuña led off the fifth with a single, went to second on a wild pitch, then to third on another wild pitch — though he was given credit for a stolen base because he might have been headed that way when the pitch went through — and scored when pinch hitter Andrew Benintendi checked his swing and dribbled the ball toward third at an awesome 42 mph.
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That would be the only White Sox hit with a runner in scoring position, though, to be fair, they only had three other chances, because they advanced a runner as far as second only four times, with the rest of the offense consisting of six singles and one walk.
One more run would have been key, since relievers Jordan Hicks, Grant Taylor and Tyler Davis — temporarily up from Charlotte while Trevor Richards is on emergency family leave — shut down the Wrong Sox for 3 2/3 innings without even a hit.
The Red Sox had almost all the hard-hit balls, with Wilyer Abreu alone having three over 106 mph. The Right Sox did have a couple of possible extra-base shots, the first by Miguel Vargas leading off the eighth, which Jarren Duran negated.
The other was by Braden Montgomery in the ninth, wiped out by center fielder Ceddane Rafaela.
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The sweep sends the White Sox to 47-45 and into a virtual tie with the Guardians, who beat the Twins this afternoon. The last series before the All-Star break begins tomorrow night against the A’s, with Sean Burke facing Aaron Civale.
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