Mariners 8, White Sox 2: Ryon Healy is the difference

This game might have ended differently, but for the offensive meddling by way of Ryon Healy.

In the first, Reynaldo Lopez got scorched for five runs on three hits by the Mariners, with the decisive blow coming off the bat of the Mariners’ first baseman. With one out, Jean Segura got things started for the Mariners, hitting an infield single that Tim Anderson couldn’t quite get over to first in time. Segura stole second and Mitch Haniger walked, then Nelson Cruz singled off the glove of Jose Abreu who was playing back. This might have been the second out, but Lopez neglected to cover first and so the bases were loaded for Kyle Seager. Lopez walked in the first run, as he wasn’t able to get a third strike on Seager. Denard Span was next, and he flied to left; Leury Garcia’s throw was offline, and the Mariners were up 2-0. The major damage came off the bat of the next batter, Healy. Lopez threw a fastball down the center of the zone, and Healy didn’t miss, smashing a home run to left field to make it 5-0.

Then, in the bottom of the eighth, the Sox were down by three at 5-2, when up came Healy again with runners on first and second. On a 2-2 count from Hector Santiago, Healy took a 92 MPH sinker and once again deposited into left field to put the game out of reach at 8-2.

In between these events, though, the Sox put up a fight after that shaky first by Lopez. Lopez gutted through five without much control of his pitches, while Sox pitching combined to retire 13 in a row at one point. Luis Avilan and Jeanmar Gomez both had nice outings, pitching two scoreless, striking out two and walking none.

Marco Gonzales was on the mound for the Mariners today, and he pitched brilliantly through the first five innings. Gonzales didn’t allow a hit until there were two outs in the sixth, getting all of his outs to that point via strikeout or within the infield. TTOP seemed to get to him, though, as a single by Adam Engel gave Tim Anderson his third look at the Mariners’ left-hander. Anderson took an 0-1 changeup off the scoreboard in left to make it 5-2 White Sox. Then in the seventh, Jose Abreu and Matt Davidson touched up Gonzales for two singles to put runners at first and second with just one out. 2 runs were all the Sox would end up with in this game, though, as the Mariners’ bullpen came on in relief of Gonzales, combining for 2 2/3 innings, striking out five, walking none, and allowing just an infield single to Tim Anderson in the eighth.

The White Sox travel to Anaheim tomorrow for their next series. Giolito starts for the Sox while Jaime Barria takes the mound for the Angels. Game time is 9:07 pm Central.

Bullet Points

  • Lopez was able to get out of trouble in the third by way of the ol’ 5-2-5-1-6-7 double play. The Sox caught Denard Span in a rundown between third and home which was not, shall we say, particularly well-executed. It did, however, last long enough for Ryon Healy to try to advance to third; the Sox finally got Span and then nailed Healy.
  • Reynaldo Lopez used forty pitches in the first inning.
  • The 6-run win by the Mariners gives them a +1 run differential for the season.

Record: 34-64|Box Score

Author

Take a second to support Sox Machine on Patreon
Become a patron at Patreon!