Indians 11, White Sox 3: So many walks

Tonight’s game featured 383 pitches and 18 walks.

Neither starting pitcher had great control to start the game. Adam Civale for Cleveland allowed a leadoff single to Leury Garcia and walked both Jose Abreu and Yoan Moncada. The White Sox couldn’t cash as Tim Anderson lined into a double play erasing Garcia’s single. Later, Eloy Jimenez struck out looking on three pitches. 

Ross Detwiler walked three Cleveland batters in the first inning and didn’t get away with it. Franmil Reyes made Detwiler pay by hitting a double off the left-field wall clearing the bases. The White Sox couldn’t convert on their offensive opportunity, Cleveland did, and it was an early 3-0 deficit for a team already on a six-game losing streak. 

After escaping another jam in the second inning when Yasiel Puig popped out with runners on second and third, the White Sox began building a rally in the third inning. Garcia doubled down the right-field line and advanced to third tagging up on Anderson’s fly out. Abreu picked up his 104th RBI hitting a slow roller to third base for the groundout to put the White Sox on the board. 

Moncada lined a double down the left-field line that barely hit the chalk, and tired to score on Jimenez’s soft single to center. However, Oscar Mercado showed off his throwing arm by launching a strike to Roberto Perez covering home plate, who was waiting for Moncada to apply the tag. Even though the White Sox hit two doubles and a single that inning, they could only muster one run. 

Meanwhile, Detwiler continued to have difficulty finding the strike zone. After allowing a sacrifice fly when he was ahead 0-2 against Mike Freeman, manager Rick Renteria replaced Detwiler with Carson Fulmer. Detwiler threw 81 pitches with a final line of 2.2 IP 4 H 4 R 6 BB 0 K. 

Matt Skole singled to start the fourth inning and was wiped out on Welington Castillo’s fielder’s choice. During the double play attempt, Freeman’s throw airmailed first base into the White Sox dugout allowing Castillo to move up to second base. Yolmer Sanchez would Castillo in with a double to left field to cut the lead to 4-2. 

Terry Francona pinch-hit Jordan Luplow for Jake Bauers in the fourth inning to face Fulmer. That move paid off as Bauers hit his 12th home run of the season to give Cleveland a 6-2 lead. 

In the fifth, Anderson hit a liner to right field that Puig decided to make a diving attempt for but missed the catch. It appeared that Anderson would have an easy triple, but he held up after rounding second base. Puig’s throw to third base went way off target allowing Anderson to advance to third base on the throwing error. Thanks to another wild throw, this time from Bauers, Anderson would score on Moncada’s sacrifice fly to make it a 6-3 game. 

Down 7-3 in the seventh inning, the White Sox loaded the bases for Jimenez. Facing Adam Cimber, Jimenez could only manage a two-hopper to Santana who turned the 3-6-1 double play ending the threat. 

Manny Banuelos joined Fulmer making his first appearance after a lengthy stay on the injured list. After allowing three runs in the seventh inning, Banuelos was hit in the foot by a line drive from Reyes in the eighth. He was removed from the game with a bruised left foot but not before allowing four runs in one inning of work. 

Cleveland won 11-3 in a game that lasted more than four hours. Welcome to September baseball, folks. 

Game Notes: 

• White Sox pitchers combined to walk ten batters. Most since they walked ten hitters on August 13 against the Houston Astros. 
• White Sox hitters combined to walk eight times tying a season-high when they accomplished that feat in a 4-3 loss to the Kansas City Royals on April 17th. 
• Yolmer Sanchez and Leury Garcia had good OBP nights. Sanchez was 1-for-1 with three walks, and Garcia was 3-for-4 with a walk

Record: 60-77 | Box Score | Highlights

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