Phillies 8, White Sox 6: Sox southpaws struggle against Phillies lefty hitters

The weather in Philadelphia was hot tonight, and so were the offenses. Both the Phillies and White Sox combined for 14 runs as neither pitching staff covered itself in glory. Especially White Sox southpaws Anthony Kay and Bryan Hudson, who had unexpected struggles against the Phillies' left-handed hitters in a 8-6 loss.

The White Sox struck first with a two-out rally. Sam Antonacci, in his typical way, got the party started by getting hit by a pitch, his 13th of the season. Then, on a low changeup, Luisangel Acuna hit a scorcher into the left-center gap with an exit velocity of 109 MPH. It hit the outfield wall so hard that Phillies left fielder Brandon Marsh fielded it cleanly and made a strong throw to cutoff man Trea Turner. But the relay to home plate was not in time as Antonacci slid in safely to give the White Sox an early 1-0 lead.

Next was Tristan Peters, who did not have a hit against a left-handed pitcher this season, roped a single to right field. Acuna easily scored, and the White Sox were up 2-0.

Kay did not have a good time in the bottom half of the second inning. It started with a leadoff walk to JT Realmuto, and then Brandon Marsh launched a two-run homer to tie the game, the first Kay has allowed to a left-handed batter in 2026. Adolis Garcia and Kyle Schwarber would later single to put runners on the corners. On a slow chopper off the end of the bat from Trea Turner towards first base, Miguel Vargas charged in on the play and made a throw to home plate. But it was toward the first base side, and Garcia slid in safely, giving Philadelphia a 3-2 lead.

With two outs, Alec Bohm hit a deep fly to left field. As it was nearing the warning track, Antonacci tried to make the bold diving catch, but he fell short. Two more runners scored, and quickly the Phillies turned a deficit into a commanding lead.

Randal Grichuk helped chip away at the Phillies' lead by hitting two solo home runs, one in the third and another in the fifth inning. He now has six home runs on the season and continues to surprise in a good way. Thanks to his power, it was a 6-4 game heading into the sixth inning.

Despite dealing with hand soreness, Derek Hill blasted his fourth home run of the season to lead off the sixth, making it a 6-5 game. Then in the seventh inning, Chase Meidroth created some chaos. His infield single to Phillies pitcher Jonathan Bowlan turned into a runner on second base thanks to an errant throw to first base. While Andrew Benintendi and Miguel Vargas couldn’t cash in the run-scoring opportunity, it was Colson Montgomery’s exploding bat bloop single to right field that tied the game.

Just like the second inning, those good vibes didn’t last long. With the Phillies top of the lineup batting, manager Will Venable went to one of his aces in the bullpen, tasking Bryan Hudson to put up a zero. Instead, the trio of Kyle Schwarber, Turner, and Bryce Harper all reached. A sacrifice fly by Edmundo Sosa put the Phillies back ahead, 7-6, but the White Sox were still dealing with a bases-loaded jam when Seranthony Dominguez took over for Hudson but walked Realmuto. Then Dominguez promptly spiked a pitch in front of home plate to allow another run via a wild pitch.

Down 8-6, the White Sox looked to have a good opportunity to chip away again against Phillies reliever Brad Keller. Jacob Gonzalez had a pinch-hit single, and Antonacci reached on base when Harper fumbled a grounder hit to him.

Venable called for Rikuu Nishida to pinch hit. Instead of laying down a bunt to move both runners into scoring position, Nishida swung away and hit a line drive back up the middle. But a nice play made by Keller to not only catch Nishida's liner, but also spin around and throw out Gonzalez at second base, squashed the White Sox rally.

Jhoan Duran made quick work of the White Sox in the ninth, racking up his 15th save of the season. After a 6-1 homestand, the White Sox have now lost three of their four games on this road trip. 

Game Notes

• Kyle Schwarber went 4-for-5 and Bryce Harper was 2-for-3 with a walk. Anthony Kay had only allowed five hits in 58 plate appearances against left-handed hitters prior to tonight, but gave up four hits to Phillies lefties. Kay finished with a line of 4 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 4 K.
• Bryan Hudson picked up the loss as he went 0.2 IP 2 H 2 ER 1 BB 0 K. 
• Miguel Vargas was 1-for-3 with two walks
• White Sox outfielders made some terrific catches. Tristan Peters robbed a hit with a great diving grab and Sam Antonacci made a leaping catch at the wall to rob extra bases. 
• Luisangel Acuna and Randal Grichuk both had multi-hit games

Record: 33-30 | Box Score | StatCast