The White Sox's lack of name-brand talent at the bottom of the order has led Will Venable to seek handedness advantages at every turn, and with the game tied at 5 in the bottom of the eighth inning tonight, it led him to pinch-hit three right-handed options against Kansas City lefty Matt Straham.
Edgar Quero batted for Andrew Benintendi and flied out. Randal Grichuk took Jarred Kelenic's place, but Bobby Witt Jr. robbed him of a single with a fine diving stab and throw.
Derek Hill then entered for Tristan Peters, and when Strahm tried burying a slider below the zone, it didn't quite have the biting action he sought. Location-wise, it was at the bottom of the zone, but in practice, Hill was able to drop the bat head on it and launch a no-doubter into the left field seats for the decisive run.
You're used to seeing the reaction of the pitcher give it away, but while Matt Strahm's expression suggested "hoping against hope" ...
... third baseman Maikel García was the one who indicated it was pointless.
Hill then made his defensive presence felt two pitches into the bottom of the ninth when he laid out to catch Witt's slicing liner.
The risk was high -- an inside-the-park homer if it got past him -- but the reward was clean bases and one out for Bryan Hudson, who recorded the final two outs for his second save of the season and his career. Fittingly, the final out, a Salvador Perez fly ball, landed in Hill's glove along the right field line.
Hudson pitched the ninth because Venable had Seranthony Domínguez pitch the eighth. Domínguez pitched the eighth because of a decision Venable made two innings earlier that didn't pan out.
The White Sox spent the first four innings getting handcuffed by Stephen Kolek, but Drew Romo finally drew blood by lofting a flat cutter just over the glove of Jac Caglianone over the right field wall to make it a 2-1 game. The lineup then turned over for the third time, and the rest of the White Sox had all the information they needed.
Sam Antonacci started a fresh rally with a double, and while Munetaka Murakami struck out for the second out, Miguel Vargas picked him up with a single to left center that scored Antonacci and tied the game at 2.
The Sox weren't done. Colson Montgomery, who had stranded four runners over his first two plate appearances, also with two outs, fell behind 1-2 in this one, but was able to keep the inning alive with a walk. Chase Meidroth, who is nobody's idea of a classic No. 5 hitter but has been getting the job done with contrast, also worked the count full, but Kolek came over the plate with a spinning slider. Meidroth whacked it out to left for a three-run shot and a 5-2 lead, and displayed uncharacteristic emotions rounding the bases.
Unfortunately for him, it only ended up being the second-biggest homer of the night.
Let's go back to Saturday, when the White Sox held a 5-1 lead through five against the Mariners. With a four-run lead, Venable made the bold decision to run with Grant Taylor for two innings. It might've been overkill, but because he kept the Mariners in check while the Sox scored one more insurance run, Venable was spared having to deploy Domínguez at the end of the game.
Venable could have chosen the same path tonight after the White Sox took the 5-2 lead, but he tried to first go to Tyler Schweitzer against the lefty-heavy portion of the Kansas City lineup, which could perhaps take an inning off Taylor's plate and save him for an additional appearance during a tough week.
It didn't work. Carter Jensen walked, moved to third on Isaac Collins' double two batters later, and both scored when Nick Loftin pinch-hit for Classy Michael Massey and lined a double over Vargas. With only one out and the tying run on second, Venable went to Taylor, who got Kyle Isbel to fly out, but hung a slider to García, who shot a single to right that knotted the game at 5.
From there, Venable had to manage the bullpen aggressively. Taylor didn't have his best breaking stuff, but he was able to dig deep and strand a pair of runners for a five-out appearance, and then he went to Domínguez in the eighth, even against 8-9-1. They went down 1-2-3, and Hill's homer put Domínguez in line for the win, rather than the save.
Bullet points:
*The rock-em-sock-em nature of the second half of the game made Erick Fedde's performance an afterthought. He gave up two solo shots in the first inning to foreshadow a rough night, but that was the only damage he allowed through five, perhaps because he saved his sweeper until after the Royals saw him once.
*The White Sox now have three wins against the Royals in five chances. They went 3-13 against them last year, and 1-12 the year before that.
