The White Sox called up Tim Elko while searching for a shot of power, and he certainly provided one today.
Elko's first hit in the major leagues was a three-run homer on a hanging breaking ball from Sandy Alcantara that untied a 1-1 game in the sixth inning. It put the White Sox on course for the third series victory, ending on their second save of the season, and first realized in real time.
Elko strode to the plate hitless in his first five plate appearances, having followed up an 0-for-3 performance in his debut by bouncing into a double play in the second inning, and striking out in the fourth. He had Matt Thaiss on third and Joshua Palacios on first after singles, and after Alcantara started him with a high sinker, he tried a curveball to get back into the count.
But it spun on him, thigh-high, and Elko launched it out to left to put the Sox ahead 4-1. It was exactly the kind of cement mixer that a recently promoted prospect can't afford to miss, but credit Elko for understanding the assignment.
"I was not thinking first hit or anything like that, I was just trying to get a ball in the air and score that run from third," Elko said. "He's a great pitcher and he made some good pitches. That's baseball sometimes. I just was trying to be on time for a fastball that third at-bat, felt like I had been a little late and I was just able to stay back on that slider or curveball."
From there, the White Sox bullpen carried it the rest of the way. Mike Vasil gave back one of the runs in the seventh, but it was his third inning of work. He ended up earning the win, as Tyler Gilbert pitched a scoreless eighth, and Cam Booser handled the ninth for the White Sox's quarterly save, one game into Q2. Their innings were the only 1-2-3 ones thrown by Sox pitchers all afternoon.
In the process, they overwrote a messy start from Sean Burke. He worked around four hits and five walks over four innings, limiting Miami to just one run. The box score shows he threw 49 of 91 pitches for strikes, but that percentage feels high. Statcast says he only threw 48 percent of his pitches in the zone, including a mere 45 percent of his fastballs. The slider and curveball were better for grabbing strikes, which helped a little, but he also benefited from help from others.
"We had a lot to talk about because not much was working for me," Burke said of working with Thaiss. "I was trying to get ahead of guys any way I could. I obviously didn't do a very good job of it. But I was able to use the slider and the curveball when I needed to to get out of those situations."
Credit Thaiss for helping stanch the bleeding. He cut down three runners in four chances, including two baserunners on Burke's watch. Thaiss nabbed Xavier Edwards at second after a game-opening walk, and while Edwards tried to taking off for second with runners on the corners and two outs in the fourth, Thaiss instead fired to third, where he caught Nick Fortes sleeping for the final out.
"That was all [Josh Rojas]," Thaiss said. "He's been great since he's gotten here. We definitely missed him early on in the year and he's always active, always engaged and we talked on Friday that there would be some opportunities. He was all over it from the pitch before trying to get my attention."
It was Fortes' second mistake of the inning, as he came to the plate with two on and nobody out, only to foul off two bunt attempts on pitches out of the zone, then bounced a high fastball to the left side, where Chase Meidroth was able to cut down the lead runner at third. Edwards was able to get a run home despite the failed sacrifice with a two-out bouncer that scooted through into center field, but Fortes' blunder kept the game tied at 1.
On Chicago's side, Andrew Vaughn drove in the White Sox's first run for the third straight games. After hitting solo shots in the first two games of the series, he came to the plate in the third inning with two on and two out and roped a fastball through the left side to score Michael A. Taylor, who had singled and stolen second.
Bullet points:
*Will Venable earned his first ejection alongside Marcus Thames for protesting Bill Miller's engorged strike zone. Pitchers on both sides benefited from calls outside and low, but an Alcantara curveball below the knees of Meidroth after a suspect call against Taylor a batter earlier is what lit the fuse.
"Just give Chase the opportunity to get back in the box and compete and just wanted to do what we can to win a game," Venable said of his thought process. "The frustration was building for some of the guys on some of the calls. Just it was an emotional moment for a second. It happens."
*Burke still hasn't allowed a stolen base in four attempts this season.
*Rojas got handcuffed by a bouncer with two outs in the fifth for an error, but Vasil pitched around it.
*The White Sox bullpen's line: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K.
*Whoever was managing the White Sox at the end of the game -- Walker McKinven, probably -- shifted Sosa to first base over Vaughn to close out the game defensively.
