If the White Sox lineup lived up to expectations against a left-handed starter in Game 1, Chris Bassitt lived up to expectations against the White Sox's righty-heavy lineup in Game 2. A strange decision by Bob Melvin then shredded the entire plot.
Bassitt departed after Tim Anderson's leadoff single in the eighth, but with a 5-0 lead, Melvin went to closer Liam Hendriks with no backup. Hendriks ended up facing 10 hitters and throwing 49 pitches, and he didn't even get the job done. He left the bases loaded with the go-ahead run at the plate for Jake Diekman, who ended up nailing down the save, but not before walking in a run himself.
The White Sox weren't able to end the series after two games, but at least they were able to compromise Oakland's potential pitching plans for Game 3. Hendriks probably isn't available, and Diekman has thrown in both games.
It should've been way easier for Melvin. Bassitt took advantage of an early cushion to throw seven shutout innings, stretching his scoreless streak against the team that raised him to 20. He should've been able to avenge the White Sox's relatively relaxed victory with one for Oakland.
But Hendriks made a mess of things. He ended Bassitt's scoreless streak by serving up another eighth-inning blast to Yasmani Grandal, followed by a single to José Abreu. Nomar Mazara should have drawn a walk to bring the tying run to the plate, but Mike Muchlinski called a 3-2 fastball two inches inside a strike to ring up Mazara, and Luis Robert's foul tip stuck in Sean Murphy's mitt to end the threat.
Hendriks stayed in and struck out the first two batters he faced, including another questionable backwards K of Jarrod Dyson that had the White Sox dugout barking. Nick Madrigal, who had a miserable game in other respects, kept the game alive with a two-out single, followed by a base hit by Tim Anderson. Yoán Moncada, who was the first batter to face Hendriks, rallied from a strikeout the first time by drawing a walk to load the bases, and that's when Melvin decided he'd seen enough.
He turned to Diekman to turn around Grandal. That didn't work, because Grandal drew a walk that made it a 5-3 game and brought Abreu to the plate. That at-bat had less drama, as Abreu couldn't elevate his inside-out swing on a first-pitch fastball, and his 96-mph two-hopper found Nate Orf at second for a game-ending groundout.
It was an admirable rally, but the White Sox dug too deep a hole. The middle infield put a couple runs on Dallas Keuchel's tab in the first, as Anderson couldn't convert one tough grounder to his left into a third out. That infield single loaded the bases, and two runs came home when Madrigal got eaten up by a hop off the lip on Matt Olson's otherwise routine grounder.
The other innings were on Keuchel, who lived too high in the zone. Sean Murphy almost homered off Keuchel with one out in the second, but the fly over the left-field pole was called foul and held up under the review. He returned to the batter's box and settled for a single, and allowed Marcus Semien to make up for it with his own two-run blast for a 4-0 Oakland lead.
Khris Davis then put the fifth run -- third earned -- on Keuchel's line with a leadoff homer in the fourth. Keuchel struck out Stephen Piscotty, but with a couple righties coming around, Rick Renteria went to the bullpen.
The bullpen kept the White Sox in the game, with a stout 2⅔ innings from Jimmy Cordero leading the way. Dylan Cease threw a scoreless seventh, and when the game drew closer, Codi Heuer came in to handle the eighth. Alex Colomé was seen warming during the White Sox's final rally.
The White Sox were just a little too late getting on the board, and Madrigal spoiled their first best chance at scoring. He led off the third with a single, then took off for second as Anderson singled to right. He didn't pick up the ball as he slid into second, and he didn't pick up his third-base coach, either. He actually retreated back to first a little bit before realizing what happened, but he didn't make it to third, and when Mark Canha made a leaping catch at the wall to take extra bases away from Moncada, no run crossed the plate.
Bullet points:
*Madrigal committed a second error by throwing wide to first after tagging a runner near second base on an attempted 4-3 double play. His actions look frenetic more than fast.
*Renteria pinch-hit Zack Collins for Leury García with one out and two on in the seventh and the Sox trailing 5-0. There were no other choices for left-handed power, but perhaps the solution wasn't a guy who hadn't been trusted to get at-bats during the regular season.
*Mazara replaced Edwin Encarnación and had two good plate appearances, even if one ended in the bogus strikeout.
Here's the postgame show.
Series: Tied at 1 | Box score | Statcast
