Victory was virtually impossible for Nick Nastrini by virtue of the White Sox getting held to one run, but in every figurative sense of the word, today had to feel like a win for him.
Making his first MLB start since June 8, Nastrini cleanly transferred his Triple-A improvement by setting career bests innings (six), runs (1), walks (1), strikes (62) and whiffs (17). The lone mistake he paid for -- an unpardonable sin in the line score, as it turned out -- was an inside slider that stayed elevated to Corey Seager and ended up in the Miller Lite Landing for Seager's 200th career homer.
Otherwise, watching Nastrini was actually an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon, which is something that couldn't be said about him in his first two stints. He spun both his slider and his curveball for strikes or quality misses, which made it a lot harder to square up his fastball, and allowed him to table his changeup, which was the only pitch he didn't demonstrate a feel for. He only struck out three, but lazy fly balls are the next best thing.
He has to settle for moral victories because the White Sox were once again overwhelmed by Nate Eovaldi, who tied his season high in strikeouts with 10. Both games were against the White Sox.
The Sox only notched one baserunner through four, in the form of a two-out walk by Korey Lee. Gavin Sheets broke through in the hit column with a leadoff single in the fifth, but was immediately erased by a Lee double play. Benintendi was the only other baserunner allowed by Eovaldi, but his one-out walk in the seventh was followed by backwards Ks to Andrew Vaughn and Sheets.
They finally posted two baserunners in the eighth off David Robertson, when Dominic Fletcher singeld with two outs, and Miguel Vargas outlasted Robertson for a 12-pitch walk that put runners on the corners (Robertson threw a couple of wild pitches during the sequence). The first and only threat of the afternoon died one pitch later when Nicky Lopez's firm grounder was stopped by Seager, who threw from the seat of his pants to first on the fly to end the inning.
The White Sox only scored in the ninth inning, when Andrew Benintendi took advantage of a second chance with a solo shot off closer Kirby Yates. Josh Jung overran what should've been a catchable popup in foul territory, and after it landed harmlessly behind him, Benintendi returned to the box and rifled a drive over the right-field wall.
Benintendi's homer only accounted for half of the deficit because the Rangers tacked on a run after Nastrini departed, with help from Lenyn Sosa.
Prelander Berroa was already in trouble by the time Sosa made his mistake, because he'd allowed a leadoff double to Nathaniel Lowe in the seventh. Josh Jung followed with a bouncer just left of second base that would've placed Lowe on third regardless, but it ended up putting runners on the corners because Sosa cut in front of Nicky Lopez, whose play was far simpler because his momentum was carrying him toward first base rather than away from it, only to bobble it.
Wyatt Langford followed with a weak grounder that developed slowly enough for Lowe to score, and maybe something similar happens with one out, so Sosa's non-error error didn't weigh as heavily as it did into Game 2's proceedings on Wednesday, but it was still another blunder by a guy who should just be about approaching his limit.
Bullet points:
*The White Sox were swept for a second consecutive series, with all three losses occurring within a 24-hour window. They now have to go 11-16 or better to avoid claiming sole ownership of the most losses in modern MLB history.
*Fletcher made a nifty sliding grab for the third out in the eighth inning, stranding a couple of runners.
*Enyel De Los Santos had his first truly scoreless outing in three chances for the White Sox, stranding the two runners and working around a leadoff HBP in the ninth, even though Langford tagged up from first to second on a deep flyout to Benintendi.
