The White Sox led 4-0 and forced Andrew Painter to throw 42 pitches before their opener threw his first, and they held a five-run lead entering the bottom of the sixth, which is to say they could've made today's victory a lot easier on themselves.
But if a win's a win, especially during a difficult road series to kick off an arduous 12-game stretch, then this game counts all the same.
The White Sox scored six runs for the fourth consecutive game, although this one might've been their least authoritative effort. Sam Antonacci opened the game by taking a Painter fastball to the shoulder, followed by a Miguel Vargas walk. Andrew Benintendi then lined a soft single into left center for the game's first run, starting a steady trickle of offense that Painter and the Phillies defense struggled to stop.
Colson Montgomery drew his own walk to load the bases, and Chase Meidroth followed with a tapper to third. Alec Bohm looked like he might've had a potential force at home, but took the out at first base. The problem was that the other runners moved up a base, setting the same out-for-run swap when Jacob Gonzalez hit his own soft bouncer to the left side.
The White Sox took a 3-0 lead while explaining why Will Venable likes to play the infield in early, and then Tristan Peters added an exclamation point on the rally when he pulled the 10th pitch of his two-out battle past Bryce Harper for an RBI double and the last run the White Sox needed.
That said, they scored two more when Montgomery and Gonzalez hit two solo shots over the course of three batters in the third. Gonzalez's was the first of his MLB career, and it reached the second deck as he detonated a hanging splitter on an 0-2 count.
Those runs might not have been technically necessary, but they were welcome as the Phillies offense began closing the gap.
Sean Burke came on as the bulk option after Brandon Eisert handled the first four outs, and inheriting the 4-0 lead, he initially understood the assignment. Even when he gave up his second solo shot with two outs in the sixth, it only made it a 6-2 game, while Burke appeared to have enough in the tank to pitch into the seventh.
But that second homer via Brandon Marsh scrambled the plans. Burke fell behind JT Realmuto before issuing a walk, and then issued a free pass to Bryson Stott on five pitches. With righty Adolís García coming to the plate, Venable tried for one more right-on-right matchup, but García foiled it by shooting a 2-2 slider through the right side to make it a 6-3 game while bringing the tying run to the plate.
That's when Venable called for Sean Newcomb, and while Don Mattingly countered with a righty in Edmundo Sosa, Newcomb struck him out on four pitches, and the lead was never threatened the rest of the way. Venable made sure of it by going to Grant Taylor in the ninth, and he struck out 8-9-1 on 14 pitches, 13 of which were strikes.
After a game where the White Sox's lefties struggled to subdue Philadelphia's, both southpaws stepped up here. Eisert succeeded as opener, getting through Marsh to start the second and setting up Burke for success, while Newcomb handled the last out of the sixth, as well as the entire seventh and eighth innings. Kyle Schwarber went 0-for-4 with a walk and three strikeouts to help keep things contained.
Philadelphia's lefty relievers also accomplished the task at hand, as old friend Tanner Banks pitched 2⅓ scoreless innings, and Tim Mayza handled the eighth. Between the front end of the Philly bullpen stepping up and Painter recovering from a 42-pitch first with an eight-pitch second, Mattingly is still situated pretty well for the rubber match.
Bullet points:
*Drew Romo helped on the Schwarber front with a great sliding catch in front of the dugout on the third base side to steal an out.
*The White Sox tried to small-ball their way to a run in the eighth when Peters singled on a drag bunt and moved to second on a sac bunt by Romo, but Realmuto thwarted his attempt to steal third, which held up after a review.
*Newcomb's last pitch of his outing was a called strike three to Stott that stranded a runner. Stott should have challenged.
