From here on out, Will Venable's only pathway to victory might require a starting pitcher to go six innings.
The White Sox were able to nurse a two-run lead across the final 4 ⅓ innings of Thursday night's game against the Tigers, but even though they had a six-run cushion to work with, another five innings tonight proved to be an impossible ask. Not only did the White Sox pitching staff blow an 8-2 lead, but their offense faced a three-run deficit by the bottom of the eighth.
Paired with a Cleveland win, the White Sox are back in second place by a game, so they no longer control their own destiny for the moment.
It took a village to make this collapse happen. It started with David Sandlin, who gave up two not particularly worrisome runs through four innings -- a two-base wild pitch that Kyle Teel couldn't find in the first, and a leadoff double that came around to score in the third. Miguel Vargas answered that run with a two-run homer off Beau Brieske to give the Sox an 8-2 lead through three, and Sandlin had only thrown 57 pitches through four, so there was no reason to think about activating the bullpen at that point.
But then Sandlin walked Max Clark to open the fifth inning, and he didn't end up retiring any of the four batters he faced. In fact, the contact only grew louder and more painful. Eduardo Valencia followed the walk with a 100.4 mph single, which Hao-Yu Lee followed with a 101.1 mph single that loaded the bases. Kevin McGonigle then unloaded the bases with a 103.8 mph triple to the right center gap that made it an 8-5 game, and also knocked Tristan Peters out of the game, as he hit one of the support poles on the chain link fence with his shoulder and back.
Hagen Smith entered, and while he ended up striking out three hitters after a leadoff walk to strand McGonigle at third, it required 20 high-stress pitches, and thus took him out of the play beyond the fifth, and the next four relievers Venable tried all faltered.
Chris Murphy gave up a one-out single to Clark and a two-out double to Lee that made it 8-6. Jordan Hicks once again retired the first two batters he faced, only to fail to complete the inning. He walked Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson, prompting Venable to call for Sean Newcomb. Newcomb stranded the runners, but not because of anything he did. He let Javier Báez lace a single to right, but Braden Montgomery bailed him out by stopping the ball with a slide, popping to his feet and throwing a perfect one-hop throw home to nail Greene at the plate to keep it an 8-6 game.
That was the first of a few breaks the Sox bullpen was not able to take advantage of. Newcomb got Clark to start the eighth, but hit Valencia on the pant leg with an 0-2 slurve, and then watched Lee hammer a high fastball -- the fifth he saw of six pitches -- over the right-field wall to tie the game at 8. He then walked McGonigle, and Venable came out for Hudson.
If only that were the only trip to the mound Venable made that inning. Instead, Hudson immediately threw a wild pitch that took the double play out of order, then gave up an opposite-field single to Gleyber Torres. The Sox bullpen received Break No. 2 when McGonigle checked up at third even though Montgomery let the ball glance off his glove, as the outfield assist on Greene must have commanded respect. Break No. 3 came when Hudson picked off pinch runner John Peck at first base for the second out. He only needed to get Dillon Dingler to get out of the eighth with the game still tied.
Instead, Dingler floated a single to right to make it a 9-8 game, and Greene crushed a no-doubter over the visiting bullpen in right to put the game on ice. When Hudson failed on his third chance to get the third out on a Torkelson single, Venable pulled him for Trevor Richards, who managed to get the game over with.
And then there's the offense, which knocked out Andrew Sears in the first inning and tagged Brieske for a couple more runs in the third, then went dormant the rest of the night. Over the final five innings, the Tigers limited the Sox to one hit and one walk, and retired the last 14 Chicago hitters that came the plate, including five consecutive strikeouts by Drew Sommers at one point.
It was a stunning collapse for what should've been a laugher. After Sandlin allowed the goofy run in the first inning, the White Sox roared back with six, using Detroit's help to make it happen.
Tommy Pham walked with one out and Munetaka Murakami walked with two, and then Gleyber Torres came up on a Chase Meidroth grounder that ended up hitting his shin to load the bases. Sears then repaid the #WILDPITCHOFFENSE to allow Pham to score and tie the game at 1, but that was only the start of it. He clipped Kyle Teel on the hand to reload the bases, and then Lee bobbled Brenton Doyle's bouncer to third, which allowed a second Sox run to score, and kept the bases loaded for Colson Montgomery.
Montgomery promptly ripped a double to right field that scored all three runners, and after Tristan Peters walked to turn over the lineup, Miguel Vargas followed with a double to left. Montgomery scored, but Peters was cut down at the plate to end the inning. Still, when Vargas crushed his 32nd homer of the season over the White Sox bullpen, it seemed like the out at the plate was something they weren't going to lose sleep over. And they still probably won't, because even if they somehow got Peters home, they would've needed two more runs.
Bullet points:
*So far, the White Sox are saying Peters is day-to-day with a left shoulder/rib contusion.
*The White Sox were outhit 16-7, with Detroit going 6-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
*Newcomb's line in September: 8 IP, 15 H, 12 R, 1 ER, 2 HR, 2 HBP, 6 BB, 7 K.
*Saturday's game was moved up to a 1:10 p.m. start in order to avoid inclement weather later in the day.
