White Sox 4, Royals 2: An incomplete-game win

White Sox win

Jordan Lyles entered this game with as a pitcher with an 0-5 record and a 6.69 ERA, and it would’ve been ideal if the White Sox made him look like one.

But the did make Lyles an 0-6 pitcher, even though he threw a complete game against them, and that’s good enough for now.

The White Sox only posted six hits and zero walks against Lyles over nine innings, but two of those hits left the yard. Luis Robert Jr. hit a game-tying missile in the fourth inning, and Andrew Vaughn’s two-run shot two innings later put them ahead for good, because Lucas Giolito pitched six strong innings, and the bullpen went nine-up-nine-down behind him.

Again, you probably would want the other team to have to use a reliever in the second game of four, but after Monday’s disaster, the competence elsewhere halted the bad vibes for a night.

Giolito did not throw a complete game, but he went six innings for the sixth consecutive start, and this one featured his best stuff yet. He averaged 94.3 mph with his fastball, which allowed him to deploy a straightforward pitch mix — sliders against righties, changeups against lefties. He racked up 18 whiffs over 93 pitches, and it looked pretty simple.

He rolled a slider to Vinnie Pasquantino in the first inning for a solo shot, but until Bobby Witt Jr. led off the sixth with a triple, he settled in nicely.

Witt came home on a bloop Pasquantino single to make it a 3-2 game and trigger flashbacks of Monday’s sixth inning, but while Giolito loaded the bases with his only free passes of the game just like Dylan Cease before him, he was able to get out of it. He got Hunter Dozier to pop out, and Elvis Andrus nicely navigated a screen attempt by the runner to handle Freddy Fermin’s one-hopper for the third out.

In between the White Sox offense did just a little bit more, at least after the third inning.

Lyles started his night by retiring the first 11, but Robert prevented a fourth perfect inning by crushing a first-pitch hanging slider onto the concourse behind the left-field seats that finally answered Pasquantino’s first-inning shot.

Two innings later, the White Sox finally had a first batter reach base via a Lenyn Sosa double. He moved to third on Andrew Benintendi’s checked-swing sac bunt, which brought Vaughn to the plate.

Lyles’ plan was to bury sinkers down and in, and when Vaughn chopped the first one foul to the left side, you could understand the strategy. Problem was, his second sinker stayed up and on the inside corner, and Vaughn was ready for it. The only question was whether he could keep it fair, and it had room to spare inside the foul pole.

The Sox led 3-1, and while the Royals made it a one-run game in the bottom of the inning, the bottom of the order restored the two-run cushion. Hanser Alberto doubled with one out, and two batters later, Seby Zavala singled him home.

The Royals never brought the tying run to the plate, as the White Sox bullpen made quick work of it. Joe Kelly, Reynaldo Lรณpez and Kendall Graveman only combined for two strikeouts, but nobody complains when they totaled 30 pitches. Besides, they combined for four pop-outs, and those are almost the same thing.

Bullet points:

*Graveman is the third White Sox pitcher with save this season, joining Lรณpez and Keynan Middleton.

*The start of the game was delayed by two hours, and the game only lasted two minutes longer than that. It joins April 23 against the Rays as the shortest White Sox game of the year, although this one required both teams to bat in the ninth inning.

*Lyles is a throwback to a simpler time:

https://twitter.com/CespedesBBQ/status/1656142970221895680

Record: 13-24 | Box score | Statcast

Author

  • Jim Margalus

    Writing about the White Sox for a 16th season, first here, then at South Side Sox, and now here again. Letโ€™s talk curling.

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itaita

The sox getting 4 off a soft tossing righty with a high era in KC might as well be 15 runs in terms of rarity, so ill take it. Also, this bullpen must be so frustrating to manage for Pedro. One day they go out and give up 8 runs in an inning then the next they shut the team down. And it feels like any of the relievers could be involved in each scenario at any given time.

StockroomSnail

White sox baseball: even our wins portend doom!

FishSox

Vaughn’s numbers with RISP, .464/.543/1.071 are very impressive this year. RISP with 2 outs are even better, .714/.818/1.714

ChiSoxND12

Junior was a classmate of mine at Wendelstedt Umpire School in 2011. In a lot of ways itโ€™s like any other school, with cliques/crowds/rumors.
Junior was in the โ€œheโ€™s really goodโ€ crowd. โ€œHeโ€™s gonna get (MILB) placement for sure once we graduateโ€.

Itโ€™s very neat seeing a half dozen or so of my classmates get the call-up the past few years. They definitely toil in the minors just like the players.

Last edited 1 year ago by ChiSoxND12
ChiSoxND12

Jeramie Rehak, Malachi Moore, Alex Tosi (good guy, local kid), & Alex McKay were classmates.

Another handful of then-MILB, Wendelstedt instructors for the 2011 school session have gone on to MLB careers. Tripp Gibson, Stu Scheurwater, Dan Bellino, Jansen Visconti, & David Rackley.

jorgefabregas

Thatโ€™s much better than the game I saw him call on Friday, where he called 12 balls strikes. https://twitter.com/UmpScorecards/status/1654857376116219904

Yolmer

The White Sox are 6 1/2 games behind the Twins for first place in the AL Central.

Danetc85

Wonder how close they have to be to first to avoid a trade deadline sell-off. I donโ€™t think weโ€™re in โ€œanyone who thinks we can catch Minnesota is crazyโ€ territory.

ChiTownMax25

I’m not calling people crazy, but if you were to take the most favorable set of projections out of Fangraphs/Pecota/FiveThirtyEight, and double them for safe measure (if you’re one of the people here who thought before the season that all projections are BS), the White Sox have 16% playoff odds.

If you were to just take the three of them and take a simple average, they have 6% playoff odds.

That’s playoff odds, division odds are smaller.

bobsquad

Honestly there isn’t overwhelming incentive to sell at the deadline.

Draft pick compensation: Giolito
Would have to eat salary + no org depth to replace: Grandal, Lynn, Clevinger
Selling low: Moncada, Jimenez
Relievers: Graveman, Kelly, Lopez (but I wouldn’t call trading an underperforming reliever “selling”)
Someone told Hahn “don’t you dare trade that guy”: Romy

FishSox

It was Romy’s Mom.

upnorthsox

Do you even get a 1st rounder anymore though? Isn’t it a 2nd or 3rd end rounder? I’m not sure its worth it and I have no faith in our talent evaluators to make a good pick. I think I’d rather have someone else’s pick.
I’m not sure you’d need to eat salary but I agree there’s nothing to replace Lynn or Clevinger with.
I put selling low right there with sunk cost, when are you not selling low? There’s an old saying that skid row is full of guys who tried to time the market. If you want/need to sell then sell. Was trading Moncada last winter selling low or having waited, is he now an asset that will cost you to trade? Same with Eloy, has his value increased by holding on to him?
Relievers, I agree with you, who was the last team to actually get something of value for a non-closer? Trade them because they have no value to you, not because they’ll bring value in return.

Romy Who?

The depressing part is that this is the year to be drafting high which of course we are mired in the mediocre middle and FA class is pretty poor (if you’re not in the Ohtani chase which we are most definitely not). Hell Gio might be the top non-Japanese pitcher available. The whole thing really sucks, I just hope that change comes to the FO.

bobsquad

You’re right, it would be a pick following the 2nd round.

Moncada’s contract is underwater, I don’t see any opportunity cost in holding onto him and hoping he gets hot. Jimenez would get a better return, but he has 2.5 years left on a pretty fair contract: barring anything catastrophic I don’t see his value depreciating over the next year.

I’m not saying I don’t want to sell, but if late July comes around and the FO feels they’re still in it, they might not be making a ruinous sacrifice by standing pat.

FishSox

Maybe they’ll draft Connor Bedard with a trade pick?

Last edited 1 year ago by FishSox
ChiSoxND12

For someone whoโ€™s so invested in saying nothing that could come back to haunt him, Hahn sure does find a lot of ways to say things that age pathetically poorly.

Last edited 1 year ago by ChiSoxND12