The box score shows Lenyn Sosa going 3-for-3 with a homer.
The box score doesn't show Sosa making two of game's biggest mistakes.
Only one actually hurt the White Sox's chances of winning, but the other casts major doubt as to what Pedro Grifol and Chris Getz are actually doing here.
This game was actually tied at 1 entering the seventh when the White Sox knocked Dean Kremer out of the game with singles to start the frame. Brandon Hyde called for lefty Danny Coulombe to face Oscar Colás, and Colás responded by trying to bunt. He's done it before in order to make something of a scary matchup, but he didn't do it this time, popping out to third base.
Sosa followed, and he also bunted. It would've been a great bunt if a sacrifice were called for. It would've been an OK bunt attempt if he were trying to take advantage of a defensive alignment to start a rally. In an RBI situation, it was a bad idea that resulted in a fairly routine out, and passing the buck to Korey Lee resulted in an inning-ending 6-3.
It might've been moot, because Aaron Bummer was the relief call regardless, and he ended up loading the bases for Anthony Santander, who ended up unloading them with a double into the right-field corner to essential decide the game.
But thanks to a disastrous inning from Bryan Shaw in the eighth, the Orioles created a low-enough leverage situation for Shintaro Fujinami and his 7.49 ERA to make an appearance for the second consecutive game, and the White Sox were able to pad some stats. Eloy Jiménez, Yoán Moncada and Andrew Vaughn all singled, while Oscar Colás grounded into a run-scoring fielder's choice to make it a 9-3 game.
Sosa then followed with an inside-out single that moved Colás to third, but one batter later, the game was over. Lee hit a fly to shallowish right-center field that Cedric Mullins flagged down on the run. For some reason, Sosa committed to the ball dropping, and left himself no way to return even though the Sox would've needed to score four more runs after his in order to tie the game. Sosa was doubled off first, and the White Sox's player-development abilities took another hit. Good thing the Sox aren't planning on promoting the guy in charge of that or anything.
Aside from Luis Robert collecting two more hits -- and Austin Hays robbing him of a third on a fly ball that would've been a homer in 27 of 30 parks -- the only bright spot was Jesse Scholtens, who recovered from duds against the Rockies and Athletics to throw 5⅓ innings of one-run ball. He scattered six hits and didn't strike out anybody, but he only allowed singles and avoided issuing a walk. The Orioles were able to string together three of those singles over the course of four batters in the fifth, which tied the game at 1, but Scholtens managed to wriggle his way out of it with a couple of flyouts.
He then retired Santander to start the fifth, but Grifol pulled Scholtens after he allowed a cheap infield single to Ryan Mountcastle. Tanner Banks stranded that runner, then retired the first batter of the sixth, and it was mostly bad news after that.
Bullet points:
*The White Sox matched their 2022 loss total, while the Orioles matched their 2022 win total.
*Sosa started a nifty 4-6-3 double play to bring that five-run eighth to an end, which only underscores how uneven his night was.
*The White Sox offense did not draw a walk, and Sosa's fifth-inning homer was the only extra-base hit.
