Just like the front end of this doubleheader, the White Sox were limited to a pair of runs. Yet even though they used their better part of the bullpen in their Game 1 loss to the Royals, this narrow margin somehow held up. In the process of salvaging a split, they also ended a six-game losing streak while beating the Royals for the first time this year.
I followed this game between radio and TV, including an hour where I was simultaneously wrangling a toddler at a brewery, so feel free to fill in any details I missed with this bullet-point recap:
*Erick Fedde picked up his first win as a White Sox with 5⅔ scoreless innings. He allowed three of his six baserunners in his final inning of work, but he erased the first single with a double play, and Tanner Banks stranded the other two baserunners by striking out MJ Melendez to end the threat.
*Banks carried the game through seven, and Deivi García continued his comeback story with a two-inning save, because Michael Kopech, Jordan Leasure and Steven Wilson were already used earlier in the day.
*While Paul DeJong delivered two more hits, other White Sox were responsible from the runs in this one. After Andrew Vaughn doubled off Michael Wacha to lead off the fourth, Dominic Fletcher drove him home with an opposite-field single.
*Two innings later, Gavin Sheets provided the winning margin with a solo shot off the right-field foul pole.
*Korey Lee did what Martín Maldanado couldn't in Game 1. In the first eighth inning of the day, Bobby Witt Jr. stole second early because Maldonado's throw sailed to the backup man. This time around, Dairon Blanco pinch-ran for Vinnie Pasquantino with the express purpose of stealing, only for Lee to cut him down at second to end the inning. Nicky Lopez completed the play with a great pick and tag.
*The White Sox went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Lenyn Sosa capped off the team's lousy game in the clutch by bouncing into a double play after the Sox had two on with nobody out.
*Fedde's full arsenal was on display. He threw a plurality of sweppers (29 out of 94 pitches), but his sinker generated more swinging strikes. He accumulated a total of 30 strikes looking and whiffing over the course of the game, and yielded just two balls hit over 100 mph.
