The White Sox have been the only team to cool down the Toronto Blue Jays over the last six series, but José Berríos beat them when they met at Rogers Centre a couple weeks ago, and although the scenery changed, the story remained the same.
Berríos, who threw 7 ⅔ innings of one-run ball in the Blue Jays' 7-1 victory over the Sox in Toronto on June 21, threw six innings of one-run ball tonight to take the series opener at Rate Field. The Blue Jays have won nine in a row.
After besting Aaron Civale the last time, he outpitched a different White Sox starter tonight. Sean Burke, whose problems typically come at the beginning of his starts, gave up six runs over five-plus innings in accordance with the Times Through the Order Penalty. Granted, he only got out of the first unscored upon because the wind knocked down Bo Bichette's bid for a solo shot with two outs, but although he survived that close call, later innings proved tougher to quell.
"They make you pay for mistakes," said Will Venable. "They are swinging the bats really well right now. I thought early there, Sean did an OK job and he was all right. Then in the sixth, they really grinded at-bats. Two-strike damage, it was really the difference."
The Blue Jays tied the game at 1 in the fourth when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. led off with a walk, stole second and scored on a Bichette opposite-field single.
Then the contact started growing louder. Joey Loperfido and Nathan Lukes went back-to-back over the course of three pitches with one out in the fifth to put the Blue Jays ahead 3-1, and it all came to a head in the sixth. Bichette led off with a double, and Barger stayed back on a not-terrible changeup and made it look terrible by golfing it some 414 feet out to right. The Blue Jays led 5-1, a subsequent single by Alejandro Kirk chased Burke from the game, and Brandon Eisert didn't find his footing until four batters in, when Lukes squeezed home a run to make it an 8-1 game.
"It’s a good lineup, they’re hot right now," Burke said. "I didn’t really feel great with my stuff, kind of overall tonight. But a few pitches here and there, maybe pitch-selection wise, could have been better. I think some of the pitches, a little bit better execution would have helped. They also hit some pretty good pitches, too."
Berríos had kept the White Sox in check all the while. A control lapse in the second inning -- a Kyle Teel HBP and a Colson Montgomery walk -- allowed Brooks Baldwin to knock in a run when his one-hopper glanced off the mitt of Guerrero giving the Sox a 1-0 lead in the second.
That turned out to be the only damage the White Sox could incur on Berríos, who allowed just a single and a walk over the remaining four innings, which consumed just 44 pitches. He only struck out four and generated just five whiffs on 76 pitches, but the contact resulted in quick outs.
The Sox offense couldn't get re-started until the Toronto bullpen took over in the seventh. Mike Tauchman followed Josh Rojas' two-out double with a two-run single off Robinson Piña to make it an 8-3 game, and then Lenyn Sosa rifled a single to center off Piña in the eighth to score Miguel Vargas, who singled with one out and moved to second on a Teel walk.
The Sox had chances to make it a little closer over the final two innings, but Montgomery struck out with a runner on third, and Baldwin couldn't pick him up, popping out to end the eighth. Likewise, the Sox had runners on second and third with one out in the ninth, but Andrew Benintendi popped out for the fourth time in five chances and Vargas's 106-mph line drive was hit too low, with Loperfido flagging it down on the warning track to keep the tying run on deck.
Highlights:
*Burke's final line: 5 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 3 HR. He generated just three swinging strikes on 85 pitches.
*Tauchman went 3-for-5 at the top of the order, and had enough life in his legs to make a sliding catch in foul territory, getting an out before the back-to-back homers.
*Montgomery went hitless in his home debut, going 0-for-3 wiht a walk and two strikeouts. He made a sensational ranging play in the third inning, stretching out with a dive to stop Kirk's grounder up the middle and making an on-target flip to second for the force.
"Our guys, they pitch their butts off," Montgomery said. "The least we can do is just get a little dirty, lay our bodies out for them."
*Chase Meidroth had a couple of plays that went unmade in the field. He dropped the ball while applying the tag on Guerrero's stolen base attempt, and that led to a run. He also couldn't find the ears on Montgomery's flip and missed a chance to turn a highlight-reel 6-4-3 double play.
