Davis Martin is truly innovating in the space of early exits, because he managed to depart this game 25 minutes before it was scheduled to start.
Sure, that's because first pitch was moved up an hour in order to create a window ahead of an unfavorable forecast, but that just left more room to expand upon another rocky opening. Martin gave up a pair of homers on rolling sliders to fall into a 3-0 hole in the first, and then was ejected after beaning Sal Stewart to open the third.
"Blister on the finger, probably lost a little bit of a grip," said Martin, who developed the issue on his middle finger. "There’s no intention there. Guys came back and picked me up after the first inning, we are up 4-3. And that’s the last thing I’m trying to do is trying to start something there."
The White Sox offense was able to overcome one crooked number, but an Erick Fedde who was pressed into emergency long relief gave up a four-spot in the fourth, and while the Chicago offense tried twice to stage late reversals of fortune, the efforts came up one run short of avoiding a rubber match defeat.
"We’re in a position to win that Game 1, had some funky stuff going today," said Will Venable. "Tough series, kind of to end the homestand on a whole, some tough stuff that went on. But 3-3 on the homestand. It could be a lot worse with the way things unfolded, so, proud of the guys for continuing to battle."
The game took a turn in the third, at least in tone, when Martin opened the inning by firing a a second-pitch fastball over Stewart's head. Stewart gave him a look that registered as "quizzical," and when Martin's second fastball knocked the helmet off Stewart's head, his next look was "irate." He started toward the mound pointing his bat handle at Martin with his right hand and signaling "that's twice" with the left, and benches cleared. The umpires were able to restore order, but they also convened to discuss Martin's status. Whether it was the two fastballs around the helmet, or that it was two fastballs around the helmet after Stewart homered in the prior at-bat, crew chief Alan Porter decided the circumstantial evidence overrode the lack of a prior warning, and gave Martin the boot.
"Intentionally throwing at a batter is grounds for an immediate ejection," Porter said to James, serving as the pool reporter. "First inning, Stewart hit his home run and probably admired it a little too long at the plate. And the next at-bat, he came up in the third. First pitch, [Martin] threw a strike, and then the next pitch went well above [Stewart's] head, but definitely in his direction. And then he hit him with the next pitch, and at that point we needed to do what we needed to do to keep the game safe."
Whether Porter's decision changed the course of the game is an open matter, because Martin once again looked ragged from the jump. He fell behind 3-0 on a hanger to Stewart, a two-out HBP of Tyler Stephenson, and then another hanger to Eugenio Suárez. He recovered for a 1-2-3 second, but firing two fastballs over the right-handed batter's box didn't inspire confidence about his control going forward.
"Both pitches were supposed to be down and away to set up some breaking stuff," Martin said. "Obviously a little frustrating, but just there are signs that it’s in there. I’m really confident I’m going to find it and I’m going to be a key piece down the stretch."
Yet at the time Martin was ousted, the White Sox actually led 4-3. Chase Meidroth and Randal Grichuk started penning an answer to the Reds' first-inning blitz with consecutive doubles for a first-inning run off Andrew Abbott. The rest of the rejoinder waited for the second inning, and all after two outs. Sam Antonacci flipped a single to left, Luisangel Acuña singled him to third, and Meidroth's second double in as many innings scored Antonacci to make it a 3-2 game. Acuña would have scored if it didn't bounce over the wall and off the foul pole, but Grichuk's second double in as many innings made it a moot point, and put the Sox ahead for the only time all afternoon, although not for a lack of trying.
They just couldn't bridge the gap over the rest of the innings a starter would typically cover. Fedde came in with Stewart on first and nobody out and gave up a single to Stephenson, which Braden Montgomery boxed while attempting to pull up on a charge. Stewart took third on the play and scored on a Suárez sac fly to tie the game.
Collapse followed an inning later. Ke'Bryan Hayes singled with one out to turn over the lineup, and Fedde walked Elly De La Cruz on four pitches. That brought Stewart to the plate, and he avenged the HBP by shooting a middle-middle sinker to right field that put the Reds back in front 5-4. JJ Bleday then popped out, but before Fedde could shut the door with damage limited, Stephenson golfed a first-pitch sweeper over the left field wall for a three-run shot that made it an 8-4 game.
As it turns out, that wasn't enough to decide the game. Instead, Tanner McDougal's MLB debut ended up being what ultimately tilted the scoreboard in favor of the Reds. He got De La Cruz to ground out to start his career, but he walked Stewart, Bleday and Stephenson to load the bases, then plunked Suárez with another high-and-tight heater to make it 9-4. Trevor Richards came in and left the bases loaded with a strikeout and groundout, and although he provided two more scoreless innings to spare the bullpen further, the damage had been done.
"Trying to do too much, trying to be too cute," McDougal said. "Trying to make swing and miss, trying to throw it by them. Me and my dad talk about throwing it by them rather than pitching it by them. I was just overthrowing. And then just trying to find it, but I should have went to a different offering rather than continuing to throw heaters, especially with the way I was missing."
The White Sox offense never quit, giving the fans who hung out in the steady light rain a reason to hang around.
In the fifth, Braden Montgomery walked, moved to second on a Brenton Doyle infield single, then scored on an Edgar Quero outfield single to make it an 8-5 game, although McDougal's wildness the next inning negated its impact.
The Sox summoned their next rally in the eighth, when Quero and Antonacci singled with one out off lefty Sam Moll. Tristan Peters struck out, but Meidroth took a five-pitch walk with ease to load the bases, and Andrew Benintendi won his own lefty-lefty battle by spanking a sinker through the right side for a two-run single. Pierce Johnson entered to face Miguel Vargas, and although Vargas made him throw nine pitches, a middle-middle curveball evaded Vargas' bat to end the threat with Cincy still leading 9-7.
After Jordan Hicks prevented an answer with a 1-2-3 ninth with help from a nice diving stop by Antonacci, the Sox resumed pressure. Braden Montgomery led off with a walk off Julian Garcia to bring the tying run to the plate. Munetaka Murakami came off the bench with hopes of knotting it up, but struck out. Colson Montgomery had the same aspirations, but his dreams died on the right field warning track, with the wind knocking down a fly that might've drifted into the Craft Kave on other days.
Braden Montgomery ended up taking second on defensive indifference and scored when Quero singled through the right side to make it a one-run game. Antonacci then worked a 3-1 count, but although he put decent wood on an elevated fastball and nearly decapitated Garcia, it cleared the pitcher, where it found De La Cruz waiting for a game-ending 6-3.
Bullet points:
*Martin has now given up 15 runs in his last four first innings.
"He’s struggling, no two ways about it," Venable said. "Obviously the first inning has been tough for him to get to the top of the order. We’ve seen some runs scored early. I've seen him settle down after that, but he’s got to go to work and figure out how to get back on track."
*Stewart proved to be a Red Menace, scoring four runs from the second spot.
*Quero went 3-for-5 at the plate and 5-for-5 in challenges behind it; White Sox hitters were 0-for-2.
*With Drew Romo pinch-running for Quero in the ninth, Will Venable emptied his whole bench.
*McDougal threw just eight of 25 pitches for strikes, and was lucky to escape with a 27.00 ERA.
*Venable said the Sox are undetermined on their starter for Friday, and that Martin will need to be evaluated for his blister.
