Last year, the White Sox opened their final road trip of the season by setting a new MLB record with their 121st loss, while the Tigers wildly celebrated their otherwise dull 4-1 triumph which clinched a miraculous Wild Card berth.
This year, the Sox opened their final road trip of the season Tuesday with Jose Caballero blooping a walk-off single into short center. Aaron Judge sliding into home completed the quick flip of a nigh-heroic bullpen effort to complete four innings of scoreless relief into a wild celebration of the Yankees clinching a Wild Card berth that figures to be more of a disappointing result given the talent level of the roster, and the insanity level of their fan base.
As far as examples go for how the White Sox viewing experience has undeniably improved, but still is largely a bummer, Tuesday night in New York was pristine.
A quick check of MLB rules confirms that runs count an equal amount in every inning, and the Sox were trying to protect a 2-1 lead for the final four frames. So there's more than just analytical mumbo-jumbo to explain why Jordan Leasure entered in the seventh, which he closed by getting Aaron Judge to roll over a slider for a double play, or why Grant Taylor was handed the eighth, which he finished by dotting 99 mph under Amed Rosario's hands to strand the tying run at third.
That said, even with the bottom of the order up, loyal Sox Machine subscribers will be forgiven for feeling uneasy with Brandon Eisert trying to close out the ninth in a one-run game in Yankee Stadium, and his command didn't ease any fears. Eisert gave up three-straight sharp line drives to open the ninth, but the third one off the bat of Trent Grisham had the lowest trajectory of the group, setting up a 4-6-3 double play to put the Sox on the doorstep of an escape.
But after Judge's second intentional walk of the night, Eisert airmailed ball four to Cody Bellinger over Kyle Teel's head to bring the tying run, before giving way to Steven Wilson. The ninth pitch of Wilson's battle with Caballero was a ball off the low and outside corner, but also the sixth sweeper of at-bat. So Caballero was able to poke a flare that dropped at the feet of defensive replacement Michael A. Taylor in center, who opted to pull up and load up for a throw rather than dive, then proceeded to spike a throw that likely required perfection to be relevant.
Speaking of potions of the game that became irrelevant, it's good fortune that Shane Smith's second half rebound was built around fearless aggression with his fastball, because that was most of what he had working Tuesday night in The Bronx (70 of his 93 pitches were four-seamers or sinkers) and tentativeness wouldn't have aided the situation. Also fortunate was that he came out of the chute sitting 99 mph, and 96-97 represented falling into a happy medium.
Dotting 98 mph on the outsider corner to Stanton wrapped up Smith striking out the side in the first. When he led off the second with a walk to Jazz Chisholm and hung a curve to Austin Wells for an RBI double, challenge heaters paved Smith's way out of the jam, striking out Grisham and Ryan McMahon before Bellinger flied out on more in-zone velocity. After two innings Smith was most of the way toward matching his career-high eight strikeouts, and four walks and the general efficiency of trying to blow away a high-level big league offense meant he did while limited to five innings.
Smith found the wipeout version of his curve to strike out Stanton for the third time and close out the fifth, which kept him as the pitcher of record just as Colson Montgomery tried to put him in line for the win. Yankees starter Luis Gil burned through 27 pitches in the first inning, but collective efforts to exploit his wildness seemed to come at the cost of authoritative swings on in-zone fastballs, or simply moments that required home outfielders to turn around.
Montgomery detonating on a low-and-in changeup from Gil, right after Teel reached base for the third time on the night, addressed one of those two issues and also made up for a fatter changeup he flied out on in his previous at-bat. This offensive opportunity was as good as any that popped up over nine innings, since the White Sox went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position, and three of those came in the process of wasting a Brooks Baldwin leadoff double in the ninth that they really needed to cash in.
Bullet points:
*Teel, a New Jersey native, had dozens of friends and family in attendance to watch him draw a pair of walks, and collect a single on a Yankees outfield miscommunication.
*Smith hit 99.8 mph on a fastball to Judge in the first inning, which is a career-high. In the second inning, he intentionally walked Judge to load the bases to escape a jam.
*Dominic Fletcher's brand of skillful corner outfield defense has returned. An assist to cut down Ben Rice's ambitions for a double on a drive into the right field corner.
*A tier below Fletcher's work was Baldwin making a diving catch on an Austin Wells sinking liner in the fourth. It won't lead any broadcasts but was a nice affirmation for why he's getting reps in center.
*A season worth of covering Michael A. Taylor doesn't grant special levels of insight, but it might enough to say that for the reserved veteran outfielder, slumping his shoulders and looking skyward in frustration after spiking the final throw is his version of screaming in agony.
