The White Sox locked in a series victory to close out the first half. Now they’ll have a chance at a sweep, and a good one at that, assuming that a lopsided pitching matchup once again transfers from paper to practice.
Brian Goodwin went 4-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs and Leury Garcia had two run-scoring doubles, but Jake Burger might’ve been the one to land the knockout blow on the Orioles’ pitching plans. He opened the third by lining a 105-mph off Thomas Eshelman’s leg, and while the starter remained in the game, he couldn’t retire any of the five batters he faced in the inning. He walked Zack Collins, after which Tim Anderson and Yoán Moncada both doubled to right field. That gave the White Sox a 4-0 lead, and Eshleman departed a batter later when he walked José Abreu.
That set the tone for another lopsided game, with enough of a cushion to absorb a couple rough innings. Lucas Giolito’s control unraveled in the sixth, missing the spot by a considerable margin on 18 pitches to three batters, including his first two walks of the game. Ryan Burr entered with runners on the corners and one out, and while he gave up Domingo Leyba’s second two-out RBI single over the course of three innings, the White Sox still maintained a healthy 6-2 cushion.
And each time Leyba singled with two outs, the Sox found a way to answer with two runs. In the top of the fifth, Goodwin smashed a single through first baseman Ryan Mountcastle to score one run, and García followed an Andrew Vaughn double play with a double to left-center for a 6-1 lead.
Likewise, the same guys came through in the seventh. After Abreu doubled with one out and advanced to third on a wild pitch, Goodwin singled through the right side for his third RBI. Goodwin advanced to second on Vaughn’s groundout, and came home when García doubled to right.
The White Sox didn’t need the additional cushion, although it was appreciated when Jose Ruíz supplied a scare in the eighth. Usually reliable in low-leverage situations, Ruiz issued three walks around one hit, throwing just 12 of 29 pitches for strikes over his two-thirds of an inning. Liam Hendriks had to enter with the bases loaded after Ruiz walked in a run, but he brought the inning to a rather simple end by blowing away Ryan McKenna on three fastballs. Hendriks then finished the ninth, which is an unconventional way to pick up his 23rd save (corrected).
Bullet points:
*Gavin Sheets was tagged with his first error when he made an ill-advised throw to third from right field, and the trailing runner advanced to second as the throw trickled past Burger.
*The White Sox went 6-for-14 with runners in scoring position.
*Giolito finished the first half 7-6 with a 4.15 ERA. He got 16 swinging strikes on 106 pitches, and his slider led the way in whiffs with seven.
Record: 53-35 | Box score | Statcast
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White Sox 8, Orioles 3: Goodwin and García go off - Sox Machine
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