White Sox 6, Marlins 2: Enjoying the opponents’ late-inning meltdown

For once, the Chicago White Sox enjoyed their opponent having a late-inning meltdown. 

Tied 2-2 heading into the seventh inning, the White Sox scored thrice off a sacrifice fly, a safety squeeze attempt, and a bases-loaded walk. That good fortune was enough as the White Sox snapped their four-game losing streak by beating the Marlins 6-2. 

White Sox got to Marlins starting pitcher Max Meyer in the seventh inning when Josh Rojas led off with a single, and Lenyn Sosa followed up with a double down the left field line. Next was Brooks Baldwin, who drove a hanging sweeper to deep left field. Kyle Stowers made a great catch at the wall, but Rojas scored easily to give Baldwin a sacrifice fly. 

Now up 3-2, the offensive rally continued when Mayer walked Taylor, putting runners on the corners. With Jacob Amaya batting, the Marlins brought in the infield corners, expecting a bunt. Sure enough, Amaya laid down the first pitch he saw, but placed it perfectly as it rolled away from Meyer. The safety squeeze resulted in a bunt RBI single. Meyer couldn’t get back on track as he walked Miguel Vargas to load the bases to end his night. 

Reliever Ronny Henriquez entered the game and had a terrible time locating the strike zone as he walked Matt Thaiss on four pitches, drawing another run. More damage could have been applied with Luis Robert Jr. and Andrew Vaughn approaching, but both chased after breaking pitches out of the strike zone. 

Perhaps the thought of losing plate appearances to Tim Elko was the kind of motivation Vaughn needed in his first at-bat. Leading off in the second inning, Vaughn swung fast and hard on a 2-1 fastball that traveled 403 feet into the bleachers. A solo shot, Vaughn’s fourth home run of the season tied the game at 1. 

Later in the same frame, Michael A. Taylor gave the White Sox a lead. After Baldwin got plunked, Taylor lined a double that split the gap between center and right field. Baldwin scored from first base, and the White Sox led 2-1 after the second inning. 

It was a sloppy start for the White Sox in the first inning. Starter Bryse Wilson walked Xavier Edwards, who then swiped second base.. Next was Jesus Sanchez, who singled to right field, scoring Edwards and giving Miami an early 1-0 lead. That deficit could have been larger. Sanchez followed Edwards by swiping a second base and advanced to third base off Wilson’s errant pick-off attempt. Now standing at third, all Sanchez could do was watch Agustin Ramirez line out with the infield drawn in and Stowers grounding out, ending the threat. 

Speaking with CHSN’s Brooke Fletcher after the game, Wilson shared that he made an adjustment to his drop foot in the second inning, which helped him find his groove. While strikeouts were limited, Wilson finished the night with an otherwise strong line: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K. The three stolen bases allowed are concerning, but Wilson accomplished his task. 

White Sox relievers covered the last four innings, only allowing one run. That came off Caleb Freeman, who gave up a solo home run to Liam Hicks in the seventh inning. After some wild pitch offense in the eighth put the White Sox ahead 6-2, Brandon Eisert shut the door in a non-save situation.

Game Notes

• Cam Booser picked up his first win with the White Sox 
• Lenyn Sosa went 2-for-4
• Matt Thaiss was 0-for-2 with two walks, RBI, and his first stolen base of the season

Record: 11-28 | Box Score | StatCast