Whatever number of fans that showed up to Rate Field specifically for the postgame concert by Marshmello were treated to a surprise in-game show featuring Mitch Spence None The Richer.
Even though the Royals opened this game with a righty in Steven Cruz, the White Sox stacked left-handed hitters in the middle of the order in anticipation of the right-handed Mitch Spence coming in next.
They anticipated correctly, and were handsomely rewarded for doing so. Spence was able to complete the second inning Cruz started to keep the game scoreless through two, but by the time his tab closed in the third, he had 10 runs on it.
Spence absorbed all of the damage from the White Sox's biggest inning of the year, as they topped their nine-run outburst against the Giants in San Francisco back on May 22. And unlike that game in Oracle Park where they were held scoreless and hitless in the other eight frames, the White Sox kept doing damage. They not only blasted by their season-high in runs while setting a season high with 23 hits -- they ended up scoring 22 runs, which is both tied for the second-highest single-game total in franchise history, and tied for the most runs allowed by the Royals in one game.
"It was a special night," said Will Venable, who saw some value in running up the number of relievers used, if not the score. "It’s part of this. They are going to be in a spot where I’m sure they will make some adjustments and have these guys ready to go the next couple of days. Having them use so many guys is to our benefit."
And as White Sox pitchers can attest in recent bullpen blow-ups, it all started with a free pass to the No. 9 hitter.
Jacob Gonzalez worked a seven-pitch walk with one out in the third to turn over the lineup, and the White Sox offense put it into overdrive. Sam Antonacci singled, and then Miguel Vargas lofted a center-cutting cutter into the White Sox bullpen for a sudden 3-0 lead.
The margin could have been limited there, because while Kyle Teel walked and Andrew Benintendi doubled him to third, Colson Montgomery struck out, and Chase Meidroth followed with a grounder up the middle. Fortunately for the White Sox, the Royals didn't play it well on either side of the equation. First, old friend Josh Rojas had the hop clank off the heel of his glove, and it took him several steps to collect it. Then he tried to rush a throw to first to make up for lost time, but Sal Perez came off the bag and ceded the infield "single" when a stretch might have gotten Meidroth.
That kept the inning alive, and the White Sox wouldn't die. Braden Montgomery walked to load the bases, and Tristan Peters came up with one of two bases-loaded hits with a two-run single through the middle. Gonzalez then returned to the plate and put his Truist Field training to work, golfing a low-and-in slider over the right field wall for a three-run shot and a 9-0 lead. Antonacci singled for the second time in the inning, and Vargas came through with his fourth RBI of the frame with a double to left-center that chased Spence from the game.
"Just obviously went through a little drought hitting-wise but I never felt like I was overmatched," said Gonzalez, who snapped an 0-for-28 on Wednesday. "[Derek] Shomon and Joel [McKeithan] told me, and [Ryan] Fuller, this is probably what was wrong. I was twisting my hips too soon, so that when I was coming out, they were late. I couldn't get all the way around. They were like 75 percent there when I was making contact, instead of 100 percent turned. I made a little adjustment and hopefully it keeps up."
Not that the White Sox let up. They faced five other actual relievers and hit them all, be it gated community street name Beck Way, Dane Dunning nemesis Lucas Erceg, John "John Schreiber" Schreiber, mock turtleneck enthusiast Alex Lange, or 1993 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic winner Daniel Lynch IV.
Among the big games:
*Antonacci reached base four times from the leadoff spot and scored twice.
*Vargas drove in five runs with a 3-for-6 night from the second spot, coming up a triple short of the cycle.
*Teel went 2-for-5 with a two-run homer and a walk.
*Benintendi went 2-for-4 with a solo shot before giving way to Junior Pérez the rest of the way.
*Meidroth went 4-for-5 and contributed a pair of hits to the White Sox's 9-for-20 showing with runners in scoring position.
*Peters drove in six runs by going 2-for-5 from the eighth spot, including a grand slam in the seventh.
"My goal in that at-bat was to, especially on the first pitch, just hit it as hard as I could and that’s what I tried to do and I did it," Peters said. "It’s a ton of fun when everybody is doing well and seeing the ball well and everybody wants to hit."
*Gonzalez drove in five runs from the ninth spot while going 3-for-4 with a walk, so the White Sox drove in half of their runs from the bottom two spots in the order.
Utiltyman Tyler Tolbert closed it out for the second game in a row, and he had better luck than Thursday night, perhaps because he faced Braden Montgomery. After giving up a single and a four-pitch walk, he got Montgomery to ground into a double play, capping off the only hitless night in a White Sox lineup. Tristan Peters' bid for a second homer died on the left field warning track.
David Sandlin benefited from the cushion, although he flirted with squandering all goodwill when he opened the top of the fourth after the 10-run outburst by walking the bases loaded on 13 pitches. But he got Classy Michael Massey to ground into a 4-6-3 double play and struck out Perez to limit the damage to Kansas City's only run, and the remainder of his six innings were a cakewalk.
"The two games I've pitched at home it's been like, 37 runs of support, so it always feels pretty good to have that," Sandlin said. "Obviously got away from me for a second. But having [Zach] Bove and Teel come out and tell me to take one pitch at a time, slow down, throw it through 'em, not to 'em. Kind of heard my wife's voice in the back of my head saying 'Stop trying, just do it.'"
Jordan Hicks and Brandon Eisert kept it scoreless in the seventh and eighth, and Trevor Richards pitched a perfect ninth for his 12th game finished, and the good kind.
Notes:
*The only larger victory occurred back on April 23, 1955, when the White Sox trounced Kansas City's previous franchise 29-6. They'd also scored 22 runs on May 31, 1970.
*The Royals gave up 22 runs to the Red Sox back on April 12, 1994.
*Sal Perez's defense also complicated matters in the seventh, when bobbled a potential 3-6 fielder's choice and fired a low throw to Schreiber, which loaded the bases for Peters' grand slam.
*The White Sox ran into some unwritten rule territory with challenges. Sam Antonacci unsuccessfully challenged a first-pitch strike with a 16-run lead, and Will Venable overturned an inning-ending double play that made it 21-1 in the seventh. The latter was legit, because Miguel Vargas deserved to be rewarded for his hustle up 19 runs. The White Sox indeed pick up every $5 bill they see.
"It’s about Vargas there, his effort down the line," Venable said. "He did everything he could to put himself into a spot to get the RBI and not have them turn a double play. We don’t want to give them an out there that they haven’t gotten and to have Lynch pitch more makes a difference too. Really started with Vargas just running so hard, he deserved that one."
*Chase Meidroth closed out the 22-1 win with a diving stop and throw across the diamond, so the effort remained characteristic even as the margin expanded to ridiculous territory.
“Trevor’s out there throwing his ass off in the ninth inning, I’m playing hard for him," Meidroth said. "It doesn’t matter the score. We come out, put in our innings every day and win or loss, we’re gonna play hard. It’s a testament to us and the guys that we have."
