The White Sox and Reds both started sinkerballers with limited track records, and both got roughed up the second time through the order.
Dylan Covey's beating was far, far worse.
After starting the game by retiring the first nine he faced, Covey didn't make it out of the fourth. He lost an eight-pitch battle to Scott Schebler to start the inning, and after a flyout, the wheels flew off. Six consecutive Reds reached -- four singles, an HBP and another single -- and opposing pitcher Sal Romano sent him on his way with a successful squeeze bunt.
Just like that, a 3-0 lead turned into a 6-3 deficit, and the White Sox didn't have another comeback in them tonight.
It wasn't for a lack of trying. In fact, maybe they tried too hard. Yolmer Sanchez got one of those runs back in the fifth with an RBI double that made it 6-4, but other opportunities evaporated on the basepaths. Adam Engel was thrown out on an Omar Narvaeez strikeout in the seventh, and in the eighth, Jose Abreu was gunned down at home plate by Billy Hamilton on Leury Garcia's second pinch-hit single in as many games.
The Reds tacked on a run against Chris Volstad -- mainly because Volstad short-hopped what should've been an easy throw home for a force, but also because Volstad had to be used in high leverage by default. A short start by Covey after a 12-inning game meant that Rick Renteria had to cover the other four-plus innings with a tired bullpen. Luis Avilan had to hit for himself in order to handle the fifth, Bruce Rondon survived a double off the very top of the left-field wall for a scoreless sixth, and Xavier Cedeno handled the seventh.
Volstad could ony get two outs over 27 pitches, so Juan Minaya handled the other out.
Through the first 3½ innings, this game picked up where Tuesday night left off. Tim Anderson's leadoff infield single in the third allowed the lineup to turn over with two outs, and Yoan Moncada jumped on a full-count hanger and belted it over the wall in right for a 2-0 lead.
An inning later, Daniel Palka crushed a 3-1 two-seamer most of the way up the seats in right field for his 10th homer of the season.
Bullet points:
*Abreu beat another ball off his ankle, which had armor on it this time. Still, it's not much fun watching either him or Avisail Garcia run right now.
*Garcia was able to leg out of a double to extend his hitting streak to 14 games.
Record: 30-56 | Box score
