They say the concept of the "hot hand" is a fallacy, but then you see Tristan Peters extend his home run streak even though Will Venable started him against a lefty, and all your behavorial studies can be crumpled up and thrown in the trash.
Peters had another huge game, homering in his fifth straight game and coming up a triple short of the cycle for a second consecutive night, and the rest of the White Sox offense followed suit. They kind of had to, what with Sean Burke walking eight batters over three-plus innings, but the end result is a big series win, and better yet, an off day on Thursday after 16 games without one.
After scoring 11 runs on Tuesday, the White Sox hit double digits again. Peters was a big reason why, but the Sox produced from a lot of unusual sources, or usual sources in unusual places. Every spot in the order reached base once, and Braden Montgomery was the only one who didn't reach base twice.
But Montgomery was the one who struck first, following Chase Meidroth's double with one of his own, then coming home for the first of Brenton Doyle's four RBIs for a quick 2-0 lead.
Burke gave it right back by yielding a two-run shot to Joc Pederson in the top of the third, and that could have marked the start of another agonizing slobberknocker. He should've paid the price earlier, but the Rangers once again ran themselves out of the first inning with a pickoff and a caught stealing. The game-tying shot to Pederson, followed by two more walks around a balk, signaled the start of impending collapse.
But Zach Bove came out for a mound visit, and whatever he said worked ... temporarily. Burke struck out Ezequiel Duran on a curveball and two fastballs, and then rallied from a 2-0 count to strike out Evan Carter on a high fastball to close out the third with the game still tied.
It was a surprise to see Burke return to the mound for a fourth inning after 81 pitches, and it wasn't a surprise to see him issue his seventh and eighth walks of the night before Venable finally pulled the plug. In came Sean Newcomb, who only needed eight pitches to strand the runners, foiling a sacrifice bunt with a popout and a flyout.
Thanks to Newcomb throwing the first of three scoreless innings, it was all White Sox from there.
Peters started the onslaught with a double to the right field corner off said lefty starter Mackenzie Gore. He could only advance to third on Luisangel Acuña's single to center, but he came home one batter later when Miguel Vargas flipped a 3-0 curveball inside the right-field foul line for a 3-2 lead.
Acuña jeopardized the rally by getting cut down at third on a stolen-base attempt, but Munetaka Murakami helped backfill second base by drawing a walk to push Vargas ahead. Skip Schumaker pulled Gore for righty Chase Silseth, Venable countered with Sam Antonacci in the Andrew Benintendi role, and Antonacci fulfilled the duties of bench DH by lining a single to left. Justin Jirschele tested Wyatt Langford's arm in left by sending Vargas, even though Vargas hadn't hit the bag by the time Langford got the ball, and Langford proved the third-base coach correct with a throw well up the first-base line for a 4-2 lead.
After Braden Montgomery navigated traffic with a sliding catch in front of Meidroth and Murakami to end the top of the fifth, the Sox continued pressing their advantage. It started with a four-pitch two-out walk to Jake Rogers, which brought Peters to the plate, and although Schumaker countered with lefty Robby Ahlstrom, the move was pointless. Ahlstrom tried an 0-1 slider, but hung it over the heart of the plate, and Peters socked it over the right field wall for his fifth homer in five games and a 6-2 score.
And in the sixth, the Sox put it away for good. Vargas reached base for the fourth time out of the leadoff spot with a single to start the inning, stole second and took third when the throw sailed into center field. Ahlstrom then walked Murakami to lose one lefty-lefty battle, then watched Antonacci dribble a five-hopper through the left side for his second RBI single as a midgame replacement and a 7-2 lead. Ahlstrom nearly limited the damage by getting Meidroth to fly out and inducing a grounder from Montgomery, but Montgomery beat the turn -- with perhaps an assist from Antonacci running through second base as Justin Foscue was on the pivot -- to keep the inning alive for Doyle.
That's when Doyle iced it. He fell behind 1-2, but worked the count full by laying off high fastballs while fighting off a changeup in between. When Ahlstrom tried one more changeup on the seventh pitch, he left it over the plate, and Doyle lifted it out to left center for a three-run shot that made it a rout.
Although Jonathan Cannon started with some shakes, he eventually settled in to see it through. He gave up a walk, single and double with one out in the seventh to make it a 10-4 game, and when he walked Nicky Lopez, that brought Bove out to the mound as the bullpen started stirring.
Once again Bove had the magic, as Cannon retired the final two batters of the seventh en route to a three-inning save. He probably should've had one more run on his tab after Jake Burger doubled with one out and Langford singled with two down in the eighth, but the Rangers chose to not risk an out at the plate, and after Nimmo flyout, Cannon was able to capitalize on the conservative approach.
Bullet points:
*Peters joins Murakami as White Sox with five-game homer streaks this season, and he's the eighth White Sox to accomplish the feat. If he homers on Friday, he'll be the first to six.
*Newcomb threw three scoreless innings for the second time this season, and his fifth scoreless outing longer than six outs, to pick up the well-deserved relief win.
*Cannon recorded his second career three-inning save, and joined Tyler Schweitzer in that column this year.
*Burke threw 46 of 92 pitches for strikes, and 50 percent felt high. He'd never walked more than five in a game, so eight walks was gilding the lily.
*The White Sox finished the homestand 4-3, and went 9-7 over the stretch of 16 consecutive games.
