Whether you're a fan of majestic, violent dingers, savor the finer points of the game, or just want to witness weird stuff, the White Sox had something for everybody tonight.
The middle of the order blasted back-to-back-to-back homers, but the bottom of the lineup executed a safety squeeze. They turned a couple of unusual double plays, and also made a handful of outstanding catches, with Everson Pereira laying out for two in right field.
The Sox jumped out to a 4-0 lead after one, a 7-0 lead after two, and reached double digits in the ninth because Sam Antonacci was gifted an inside-the-park home run opportunity, and he accepted it. As a result, the last pitcher they faced was a former White Sox catcher, although James McCann can't claim a former Chicago teammate from the bunch.
Sean Burke and three White Sox relievers were tasked with not fumbling the bag, and although Osvaldo Bido might be the next reliever riding the shuttle to Charlotte after an unimpressive White Sox debut, the lead remained secure throughout. There were a few points where Arizona could created some tension, but the Diamondbacks ran into a double play to cut short a first-inning threat, and the White Sox made all the plays themselves afterward.
The game wasted no time informing the audience which side the baseball gods smiled upon. Under most circumstances, Munetaka Murakami would have grounded into a 5-4-3 double play to give Merrill Kelly two outs with nobody on. Instead, the ball got wedged in between the fingers of Nolan Arenado's glove, so Murakami reached on an infield single.
Four batters later, the White Sox led 4-0. Miguel Vargas loaded the bases with a walk, and unlike Saturday, they cashed in all the runners on a Colson Montgomery double, Pereira RBI single, and Antonacci triple, which accounted for his first career RBI, but only his second-most impressive hustle play of the evening.
Burke came out only averaging 92 with the fastball and falling behind hitters, walking Geraldo Perdomo to put two on with one out. A lengthy battle with Adrian Del Castillo ensued, and just when it appeared that an inefficient start would limit Burke's night, he was suddenly out of the inning. Del Castillo chopped the eighth pitch up the first-base line. Del Castillo was slow out of the box, but Burke was quick off the mound, and he was able to snag the ball before it rolled foul and apply the tag to Del Castillo for the second out. Ketel Marte, who led off with a single, tried catching Burke unaware by scoring from second, but the right-hander got the ball to Reese McGuire, and Marte gave himself up without a slide.
And just when it seemed like Kelly had a chance to calm down the game on his end by retiring the first two batters of the second, he gave up three homers before he could get the third out. Munetaka Murakami launched a majestic blast to right field, Miguel Vargas buggy-whipped a line drive just over the left-field wall, and Colson Montgomery topped them both with a 440-footer that just kept carrying over the center field wall.
From that point on, the game wasn't in doubt, although Bido did what he could by walking four batters over the final two innings and giving up a three-run homer to Ildemaro Vargas.
The other White Sox made sure of it, and on both sides of the ball. Murakami turned the second unorthodox double play in three innings when he snared Marte's liner and beat Alek Thomas back to the bag for an unassisted double play to end the third. When the Diamondbacks cashed in a leadoff triple for their first run in the fourth, the Sox answered by having Reese McGuire squeeze home Chase Meidroth in the fifth.
Pereira's first diving catch of the evening completed a scoreless sixth and final inning for Burke, and his second stranded two runners in the seventh on Lucas Sims' watch.
And Antonacci put a fitting cap on the evening's craziness. After Ryan Thompson opened the ninth by plunking Pereira, Antonacci sliced a line drive inside the left field chalk. It spun toward the side wall, and toward a ball boy who didn't get his glove all the way down.
Of course, it shouldn't have been down to begin with since the ball was in play, but because it only glanced off his glove, third base umpire Adam Beck confused it for bouncing off the side wall and back into the grass. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. figured it was a dead ball, and Antonacci briefly thought the same as he approached second. But he started resuming a full effort well before Gurriel, and he was able to dive into home before the throw made it to the plate for an inside-the-park homer. Torey Lovullo attempted to challenge it, only to find out that it couldn't be reviewed. Perhaps they understood that an inside-the-parker was the perfect way for Antonacci to notch his first.
Bullet points:
*Burke's fastball gained steam as the evening progressed, but his curveball was the star of the show. It might've been the most useful breaking ball he's ever thrown, as it was his best strike-grabbing pitch early.
*It was a strangely officiated game, in that Doug Eddings refused a couple of challenges from Vargas and Murakami. He didn't seem to see their initial attempts, and he didn't recognize their second attempts to helmet-tap as valid.
*Antonacci had his first awkward outfield moment by mishandling the spin on a blooper that fell in front of him down the left field line, but it might have been a double even if he handled it cleanly. He did make a nice sliding catch on a shallow fly ball behind shortstop, and allowed Tristan Peters to call him off on a fly to left center.
*Antonacci is the first White Sox to have an inside-the-park homer as his first since Kevin Bell in 1976.
*Venable was shown covering his eyes as Bido approached 50 pitches in his relief appearance. Bido didn't necessitate an additional reliever, but my guess is the DAYS WITHOUT A ROSTER MOVE board resets to zero.
