After spending 11 innings trying and failing to come up with the big hit in a 12-inning loss to Minnesota on Thursday, the White Sox figured out a way to strike two big blows tonight.
Elvis Andrus hit a three-run shot that tied the game in the fifth, and Luis Robert Jr. hit a two-run blast in the sixth that put the Sox ahead for good. Robert also should be credited for a save, because his tremendous throw to double off Jake Fraley and erase a leadoff walk in the ninth made Reynaldo López's job considerably easier.
The White Sox have now won four of five games, and they managed to eke out a win against Cincinnati's toughest starter on paper to open the set.
Hunter Greene certainly looked the part early, racking up seven strikeouts on 12 whiffs over the first three innings. Lance Lynn cracked faster, allowing three runs on an array of underwhelming contact in the third and fourth innings. Jonathan India's fifth-inning solo shot that helped Cincinnati retake the lead was the Reds' only ball hit over 100 mph.
Fortunately for the Sox, Greene cracked louder. He struck out the side in the third inning, but Robert and Yasmani Grandal opened the fourth with sharp singles. Hanser Alberto didn't feel as confident and tried bunting his way aboard, but it resulted in a fielder's choice and a much slower lead runner.
But at least he didn't hit into a double play, and Andrus made it easier to look at the bright side when he got around on a 99 mph fastball up and in and hoisted it two rows deep into the left-field seats to make it a 3-3 game.
An inning later, the Sox once again strung together well-hit balls. TJ Friedl robbed Andrew Vaughn of a homer at the right-center fence to start the inning, but after Eloy Jiménez lined a single through the right side and Gavin Sheets lined out to right, Robert blasted a thigh-high, plate-splitting fastball in the same direction as Vaughn's, but his went about 30 feet farther and put the Sox ahead 5-4.
That's where the scored stayed, even though the Sox's run-prevention unit flinched a couple times. Lynn should've been able to complete seven innings, but Yasmani Grandal dropped a sky-high pop-up about 25 feet up the first base line in fair territory to keep the inning alive. Joe Kelly balked the runner to second, but he ended up getting the final out of the third, followed by a perfect eighth while facing the heart of the Cincinnati order.
That lightened the load for López, who walked Fraley on five pitches to open the inning. Henry Ramos followed with a line drive to center, but while it initially looked like trouble, it floated long enough for Robert to coast to it without issue.
Fraley, however, didn't get the same read. He hung out most of the way toward second base anticipating a drop, and Robert encouraged a slow retreat with his initial body language. Then he exchanged the ball to his throwing hand and heaved a perfect strike to Vaughn in one urgent motion, beating Fraley's hand to the base by a few inches for the 8-3 double play. López then survived a deep foul ball from Nick Senzel before ending the game with a K.
Bullet points:
*Grandal might've hurt his back again. He twisted awkwardly chasing a low changeup, and Seby Zavala ended up catching the ninth.
*Robert joined Sheets in the outfield assist category, as he cut down Friedl at third base when he tried stretching his bloop RBI double into three bags. Credit Alberto for keeping the tag on as Friedl lost contact with the bag.
*The Sox also lost a baserunner via an Andrus pickoff, but Cincinnati's TOOTBLANs were far more costly. Andrus also had a great game otherwise, reaching base all three times and making a great diving stab-and-throw to his right i1n the seventh inning.
*Lynn gave up four runs over 6⅔ innings, so he didn't put the kind of dent in his ERA that you'd like to see (it's now 6.86). At least he forced the Reds to hit their way aboard, as he finished without a walk or a hit batter.
