Sox Machine regularly receives reminders about Lamar Johnson whenever he posts in the comments, but Andrew Benintendi supplied another one by joining Johnson as the second White Sox player to supply all three of his team's hits in a game.
And just like Johnson's Sox back on June 19, 1977, it was just good enough to win.
Benintendi provided all the kinetic offense for the Sox today, delivering an RBI single in the first inning and a homer in the sixth. Both gave the Sox the lead, and thanks to three innings of Sean Newcomb and a 1-2-3 ninth from Bryan Hudson, that blast stood as the difference in the White Sox's fourth straight win.
The fateful swing was actually on a good pitch by Andrew Morris, the first reliever out of the Minnesota bullpen. It just happened to be the second down-and-in cutter that he tried over the course of three pitches after getting ahead 0-2. Benintendi fought off the first one, and after laying off a sinker down and away, he must've been ready for Morris to return inside. Morris tried, but even though it was well below the zone, Benintendi dropped the bat head on it and lofted it onto the right field overhang for a solo shot that put the White Sox ahead 3-2.
Having used Grant Taylor for 2 ⅔ innings on Friday, Will Venable went to his alternate high-leverage arrangement, which started with Newcomb in the sixth after five innings of an effective Erick Fedde. It didn't look like Newcomb would be able to go three innings with the way his afternoon started, because the first one was tough enough.
Kody Clemens led off and believed he'd worked a 10-pitch walk with a pitch off the plate for ball four. Jake Rogers challenged, and the scoreboard showed it barely clipping the low and outside corner for strike three.
That turned out to be a momentous reversal, because Josh Bell and Royce Lewis followed with singles that merely put runners on first and second with one out, rather than tying the game at 3. Newcomb rebounded by getting inside and inducing the useless kind of soft contact -- a pair of popouts over the course of four pitches -- to get out of the inning.
When Newcomb used that same recipe to breeze through the seventh on six pitches, Venable sent him out for an eighth, and he handled that without issue as well. That left just one inning for the rest of the bullpen, which Hudson handled for his second save in as many days.
Now, had the White Sox only been able to rely on Benintendi for scoring runs, the game would have gone into extra innings. But after helping the Sox cross the plate twice on Friday with passed pitches, the Minnesota defense once again offered aid in the fourth inning today. Benintendi led off with a double and advanced to third on Braden Montgomery's grounder to the right side, but Colson Montgomery's weak grounder up the middle was easily stopped, and Benintendi didn't break for home.
When Chase Meidroth hit a routine grounder to short, it appeared a golden opportunity had gone by the boards. Somehow, Kaelen Culpepper let himself get handcuffed by it and couldn't recover the carom in time for a throw, and an unearned run crossed the plate to tie the game at 2.
The Sox needed such assistance against Bailey Ober, who once again bottled up the Chicago lineup. His afternoon started shakily with a pair of walks, a loud lineout by Miguel Vargas, and Benintendi's RBI single. Eventually he dialed in his command, and relegated the Sox to unthreatening outs over the final four innings, Benintendi aside.
Fortunately, Fedde also rounded into form after looking destined for the latest brief start from the White Sox rotation. He immediately lost the first-inning lead by allowing a leadoff double that came around to score on productive outs, and then a leadoff walk in the second inning did the same to put the Twins ahead 2-1.
But with the help of Tristan Peters, who flagged down a Clemens drive to the deepest reaches of Target Field, Fedde retired nine consecutive hitters. And although Braden Montgomery gave up a pair of bases to Walker Jenkins with an unsuccessful dive that turned a single into a double, then forgetting the number of outs on a flyout to right, he was positioned well for Brooks Lee's sharp liner to right and recorded the third out to close out the fifth. A White Sox starter hadn't qualified for a win since Aug. 15, and thanks to Benintendi, Fedde came away with one today.
Bullet points:
*The White Sox are a season-high nine games over .500.
*The Sox were able to draw six walks despite going hitless around Benintendi, but going 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position muted their effects.
*That was one hit better than Minnesota, who finished 0-for-7 in the clutch.
