Reynaldo López’s slider was low and inside, properly off the plate.
It didn’t matter to Steven Kwan, who hit the pitch into the right-field nook for a tying triple for the Cleveland Guardians on Friday at Progressive Field.
Amed Rosario hit López’s subsequent providing to left for a run-scoring single. And similar to that, a lead turned a deficit for the Chicago White Sox.
Andrés Giménez added a two-run single in opposition to Jake Diekman, and the Guardians pulled away and beat the Sox 5-2 in entrance of 25,521.
The Guardians scored 4 runs within the seventh to take the opener of an necessary three-game sequence. The third-place Sox path the division-leading Guardians by 3½ video games within the American League Central.
“Tough game,” Sox proper fielder Andrew Vaughn mentioned. “Went up early, acquired some alternatives we didn’t money in on, they took some good at-bats, acquired some runs collectively, find yourself beating us.
“Just got to get back out there (Saturday).”
It was a painful loss for the Sox in additional methods than one. Vaughn was hit by a pitch within the eighth on a ball that deflected off his left shoulder and hit his face.
Vaughn remained within the sport for the highest of the eighth earlier than exiting within the backside of the inning.
“It’s definitely scary getting a ball at your head, but thank God it hit my shoulder first, just caught me and all right,” Vaughn mentioned. “Felt like I was fine. Don’t feel any symptoms or anything, just blood (on the lip).”
Eloy Jiménez left the sport after swinging and lacking on the primary pitch of his eighth-inning at-bat.
“He twisted his (right) knee,” Sox supervisor Tony La Russa mentioned. “It looks like right now trainer (James) Kruk is optimistic it’s something that he can deal with. I don’t know if he’ll play (Saturday). (Kruk is) usually right on, so we caught a break there.”
The Sox dropped their third straight, placing out 17 instances.
They had Guardians starter Triston McKenzie on the ropes early, however the right-hander rebounded and fanned a career-high 14 whereas permitting two runs on six hits in seven innings.
“He’s got really good stuff,” Vaughn mentioned. “Last couple times we faced him he’s been right around that 88-, 90-mph mark. That’s what his slider was. He was throwing it well and kept us off balance. He pitched well. Got to hand it to him.”
Both Sox runs got here within the first.
AJ Pollock singled on the primary pitch of the sport and superior to 3rd on a one-out double by Jiménez. José Abreu hit a sluggish curler to 3rd and beat the throw to first for an infield single. Pollock scored on the play. Yoán Moncada, coming off a scorching sequence in opposition to the Houston Astros, drove in Jiménez with a single.
McKenzie prevented extra injury, getting Yasmani Grandal to floor into an inning-ending double play.
McKenzie had three essential strikeouts within the fifth. Josh Harrison started the inning with a double and moved to 3rd on a wild pitch. McKenzie struck out Seby Zavala, Pollock and Vaughn because the Sox squandered a chance to broaden the lead.
“We had one chance to get it bigger in the first and then we had a chance in the fifth to add on,” La Russa mentioned. “And he was pitching properly, so often it comes again to hang-out you and it did.
“He’s got a lot of deception as you can see by a lot of funny swings. You see it whenever he pitches against whoever.”
José Ramírez homered within the sixth, chopping the Sox result in 2-1. That’s the one run Lance Lynn allowed. The Sox starter allowed one run on 5 hits with six strikeouts and a stroll in 5⅔ innings.
“I would have liked to go six,” Lynn mentioned. “But (the sixth) got away from me a little bit. I made a couple of bad pitches. Obviously one left the ballpark. But you’ve got to get through six there so you give your bullpen a better chance to match up as they go.”
The Guardians acquired to the Sox bullpen within the seventh, which included an intentional stroll to Oscar Gonzalez on a 1-2 pitch. The Sox trailed 5-2 on the time when Josh Naylor stole third and Andrés Giménez second on a 1-1 pitch from the left-handed Diekman. The Sox elected to stroll the right-handed Oscar Gonzalez, who got here into the sport batting .306, loading the bases.
“If he leaves the left-hander in, not going to face Gonzalez, he’s hitting .300,” La Russa mentioned. “They stole the base, there’s an open base. So it’s put him on.”
The transfer dropped at thoughts a June 9 sport at Guaranteed Rate Field when La Russa deliberately walked Los Angeles Dodgers right-handed batter Trea Turner on a 1-2 pitch — after a runner superior to second on a wild pitch — to arrange a lefty-lefty matchup. Max Muncy hit a three-run homer in opposition to Bennett Souza, giving the Dodgers a five-run lead in an 11-9 victory.
“The most ridiculous thing in this season has been the (discussion about) 1-2 walk,” La Russa mentioned. “I mean, that’s the most ridiculous.”
On Friday, right-handed Owen Miller hit for the left-handed Nolan Jones, and the Sox introduced in right-hander Jimmy Lambert, who acquired a flyout to proper to finish the inning.
“So it worked, right? Did we get the guy out? Yeah, so it worked,” La Russa mentioned.
When the seventh wrapped up, the Sox discovered themselves down three. They didn’t get out of the opening and discover themselves dealing with a bigger deficit within the division race.
“You are not going to win every one of them,” Lynn mentioned. “If you beat yourself up over every loss, then it’s going to be a long season. We haven’t done that this far, so we don’t plan on doing it now.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com