Pirates 3, White Sox 2: Pittsburgh sweeps season series

Two positives happened today for the Chicago White Sox:

• They didn’t allow a run in the first inning
• They scored runs

In a season where fans have to find the little things to be happy about, both Leury Garcia and Yolmer Sanchez homered, but it wasn’t enough as the Pittsburgh Pirates won, 3-2.

Top of the first inning had some promise to it as Yoan Moncada worked a walk from a 0-2 count to lead things off. After Yolmer Sanchez struck out and Jose Abreu flew out to left field, Nicky Delmonico singled through the shift putting pressure on Pirates pitcher Jameson Taillon. With Matt Davidson batting, Taillon quickly went 3-0 as he had difficulty spotting his pitches. On the fourth pitch, a high fastball, Davidson decided to swing and flew out to center field instead of further working the count.

Thanks to a nifty double play turned by Sox starter Hector Santiago the streak of allowing crooked numbers in the first snapped. Santiago hit Max Moroff to start the game but got Gregory Polanco to fly out to center. With David Freese batting, a chopper hit back to Santiago resulted in a well-turned 1-4-3 double play to end the inning. Again, it’s the little things.

The White Sox had a lead in this one thanks to Leury Garcia taking Taillon deep to right center in the second inning. It was Garcia’s second home run of 2018. That lead wouldn’t last long as Santiago ran into trouble in the bottom half. With one out, Corey Dickerson singled to left field, and Elias Diaz walked on four pitches to put runners on first and second. Sean Rodriguez pulled Santiago’s off-speed pitch down the left field line where Nicky Delmonico’s valiant dive fell short, scoring both Dickerson and Diaz. Delmonico was able to recover quickly, and combo with Yolmer Sanchez to get the ball to Matt Davidson covering third base who applied the tag on Rodriguez. Initially called safe on the field, manager Rick Renteria challenged the call and replay showed that Rodriguez came off the bag while Davidson’s tag was still on. New York replay office overruled the call, and Rodriguez ended up with a double instead of a triple.

The score remained 2-1 until Yolmer Sanchez hit his second homer of the season in the fifth inning tying the game. The White Sox had an excellent opportunity to take the lead in the sixth as they managed to fire up a two-out rally to load the bases. Pinch-hitter Daniel Palka on a 3-1 pitch grounded out to second ending the threat. That was the last best chance for the Sox as they could only muster a single in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings against Pittsburgh’s bullpen.

Reliever Joakim Soria gave up the winning run in the seventh inning. Coming in to replace Jace Fry who pitched a scoreless sixth inning, Soria allowed a double to Diaz on a 3-0 pitch. After Rodriguez popped out in foul territory to Jose Abreu, Soria walked Jody Mercer on four pitches. With runners on first and second, pinch-hitter Josh Bell singled to left field scoring Diaz from second base. It could have been a bigger inning for Pittsburgh as they challenged a force out by Yolmer Sanchez at second. New York overruled that call which led to the Pirates having the bases loaded with only one out. Soria was able to squeeze out of the jam by striking out both Polanco and Freese to end the threat.

In the ninth, both Tim Anderson and Yoan Moncada had loud outs against Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez to center field, but Jose Abreu grounded out to a fielder’s choice ending the game.

Record: 10-29 | Box Score

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