On one hand, at least the White Sox scored a run tonight.
On the other hand, they showed more nobility in being shut out.
The White Sox were blanked by the Orioles on Thursday, but the Orioles earned it with fantastic outfield play snuffing out a half-dozen attempts at seeing a rally through.
Tonight, the Sox were held to one hit by an Austin Voth-led parade of Baltimore relievers. Jake Burger tagged Voth for an RBI double in the second inning, and an Andrew Vaughn walk was the only thing the offense produced the rest of the way, as the five Orioles pitchers combined to retire the last 19 White Sox they had to face.
The Orioles instead provided all the life, driving Michael Kopech crazy with their legs.
Cedric Mullins set the tone in the first by reaching on a bunt single, stealing second, moving to third on a groundout and scoring on a wild pitch.
In the second, Kopech drilled Jorge Mateo with a 99 mph fastball on a 1-2 count. The situation suggested it wasn't intentional, but Mateo must not have liked Kopech's vibe. Glares and words were exchanged before benches cleared, and Mateo lived well afterward. He stole second and scored on Richie Martin's single, and giving the Orioles the deciding run.
Kopech met the minimum requirements for a quality start, but all the runs scored in frustrating ways, as he yielded the third run on a two-out balk that stumped Steve Stone. A pair of doubles off Vince Velasquez in the eighth inning provided the fourth utterly unnecessary tally.
Bullet points:
*Kopech struck out just two Orioles and only got five whiffs on 91 pitches, which was indicative of his lack of command, but also allowed him to pitch economically enough to complete six and pitch to a batter in the seventh.
*Leury García started despite an opportunity to give Lenyn Sosa some run and went 0-fro-3 from the eighth spot. Gavin Sheets hit for himself against a lefty with two outs in the seventh inning and grounded out.
*The White Sox went 0-for-1 with runners in scoring position, as Burger's RBI double drove in AJ Pollock from first.
*Pollock made a nice diving catch on a slicing liner by Adley Rutschman.
