White Sox 7, Tigers 3: Big seventh backs Rodón
The White Sox won their first game against Detroit this season, as Carlos Rodón outdueled Jordan Zimmermann until the calvary arrived in the form of a five-run seventh. “Explosion” would be an oversell, because they more just kept the flow of baserunners steady, much to the consternation of an increasingly irritable Detroit team.
Ryan Cordell — having another good game — started the decisive rally with a walk, then stole second. He moved to third on Yolmer Sánchez’s single. Adam Engel did nothing except avoid interfering with Detroit catcher Grayson Greiner on Sánchez’s stolen base. With the infield in, Leury García squeaked a grounder through the right side to score two.
In came Daniel Stumpf, who pitched like his name sounds. Yoan Moncada shot a single through the left side, Jose Abreu finally made strong contact on a two-run double, and then he rumbled through Nick Capra’s stop sign to score easily when Yonder Alonso’s one-hopper eluded Jeimer Candelario’s grasp on the left side.
Eloy Jiménez — having a pretty bad game — grounded into a double play, but the damage was done.
Rodón was already in line for the win, but with a sudden six-run lead, Joe McEwing could end his evening after six innings and 95 pitches. He didn’t find himself in too many jams despite three walks, due in large part to six strikeouts.
Picking on Gordon Beckham helped. Rodón induced an inning-ending double play from Beckham in the second inning, then got him to swing over a backfoot slider with two on and two outs in the fourth, which was the most sustained Detroit threat of Rodón’s six innings. The only damage was a Josh Harrison solo shot in the third.
Rodón never trailed, starting with a massive Moncada blast to the shrubbery behind Comerica Park’s center field. It looked an awful lot like this:
The Sox then regained the lead in the fifth. Cordell singled with one out, Sánchez walked, and Engel loaded the bases on a single through the left side. After García struck out on three pitches, Moncada worked a five-pitch walk to put the Sox ahead. Ron Gardenhire got tossed for arguing balls and strikes, even though home plate umpire Todd Tichenor might’ve been more generous than anything. According to Statcast, Moncada should’ve walked on four pitches.
Abreu then popped out to end the inning, but at least the double gives him something to hang his hat on as he tries to get back on track.
Bullet points:
*Cordell went 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored, and he made an athletic leaping catch on the warning track in right. It wasn’t the smoothest route, but it was cold and windy out there.
*Sánchez teamed up with Cordell to give the top of the order runners to work with. He singled and walked three times, along with the stolen base.
*Jiménez, conversely, went 0-for-5 with a strikeout and a double play, and he also failed to successfuly track a pair of fly balls in the ninth inning that made Alex Colomé’s job harder than it had to be. One dropped in front of him by the foul line, and he mistimed his leap on the warning track on the other. A 4-6 double play on a line drive into the shift erased the first “double.”
*García played shortstop as Tim Anderson served his one-game suspension. Likewise, McEwing managed this one because Renteria was also serving time.
Record: 8-11 | Box score | Highlights
Amazingly accurate perspective on the HR graphic.
Also, Omar Narvaez just hit his 5th HR of the season, 12th RBI. .303/.915
Eh. Try to imagine this bullpen without Colome so far and that will tell you whether that deal was worth it.
Also, I should add that I railed against the McCann signing multiple times in these comment sections before. But I have to admit, he’s looking pretty good defensively so far. The framing leaves something to be desired but his game-calling is superb from what I’ve seen and at least runners aren’t waltzing into second anymore.
The White Sox have a CS% of 13% this year, and that includes 2 pickoffs.
A 90 to 100 loss team doesnt need 2 years of a closer vs 4 years of a catcher who hits and gets on base. Also, if they wanted to move a C for a closer they could of signed grandal or ramos who are off to great starts as well.. but you know jerry and his money
Yeeeah. I dont know where I fall on this trade. I think ultimatley Narvaez was/is too promising a hitter to trade for a closer in 2019/2020. Coulda kept Narvaez and went and spent another 20M on a reliever.
That said from the two games I’ve seen narv catch this year he still looks terrible behind the dish. Rodon should be so much better this year just having somebody who can adequately receive his slider.
I was and probably still am in favor of the deal; although I wasn’t expecting this kind of power output from Narvaez. I was also expecting some sort of upgrade at the position, not McCann.
Yeah, Narvaez hasn’t looked great, or even good, behind the plate for the Mariners, at least in the Sox series and in the one game my wife and I were at in Seattle opening weekend.
He hits the ball well, but that’s offset by a mediocre return behind the plate and with the pitching staff.
Omar is a passed ball machine. He’s never going to throw out more than a few runners. His hits were mostly soft singles, and runners rarely scored, or even went from 1st to third. It was nice that he wasn’t an automatic out, but that was about it.
As far as him hitting 5 home runs, good for him, but he never did that here.
Sample size caveats acknowledged, the Sox coaches deserve some credit for getting Moncada and Anderson on track but what the Mariners seem to have managed with their new approach up and down their whole lineup still leaves the Sox lightyears behind the curve.
Narvaez being a prime example.
Relievers were the deep end of the free agent pool. It wasn’t Colome or bust.
Can we finally move on from Adam Engel? How long does it take for this team to realize he is not a major leaguer? Give Tilson a chance now, so that when Jay comes back, we can keep the better of him and Cordell. Though from a small sample size, Cordell looks infinitely better than he did last year.
Rodon doesn’t look great, but he’s getting results. I’m hoping that he will continue to get more comfortable on the mound as the season goes on.
Nice win without Anderson. But not having Ricky in the dugout certainly helped!
Ricky told Moncada,”I can be with you today but, bring me a shrubbery!”
I know Leury got a big hit last night, but he’s driving me nuts as a leadoff hitter. If Yolmer keeps it going (.500 OBP over the past week) any chance Ricky flips them, at least vs. RHP?
Today’s game has been postponed because of weather.
Will be made up as part of a doubleheader on August 6.