The Chicago White Sox wasted a bases-loaded, no-out alternative early of their recreation Thursday towards the Cleveland Guardians.
Late within the recreation, the Sox had a much-needed grounder that wasn’t fielded cleanly.
Instead of finishing their first sequence sweep of the season, these moments proved pricey for the Sox in a 3-1 loss to the Guardians in entrance of 11,900 at Guaranteed Rate Field.
The Sox clicked offensively, on the mound and defensively within the first two video games of the sequence.
That wasn’t the case Thursday. The pitching was nonetheless on level with Dylan Cease, however the Sox couldn’t overcome the shortage of clutch hitting and the error.
“A loss is a loss,” Sox supervisor Pedro Grifol mentioned. “But this loss proper right here, we had alternatives to do some issues right here. We had received the earlier two video games, we had a chance to win this third one and that second inning was a pleasant alternative to place a crooked quantity up there and get forward early with our opening-day starter (Cease) on the mound.
“We didn’t capitalize in that second inning and just kept the game zero-zero and at that time, anything can happen. (Guardians starter Logan Allen) threw the ball really well. I thought we got more comfortable as the game went on against him. We had a chance to just bring that momentum, keep that momentum, over to our side and we didn’t do it early.”
The Sox loaded the bases with no outs within the second. Hanser Alberto popped out and Seby Zavala and Jake Marisnick struck out.
“(Allen) has a sneaky fastball, it’s 90-92 but it doesn’t play like that,” Grifol mentioned. “Numbers don’t play like that and the communication from our hitters inform us that it’s not taking part in like that. It performs increased than that. He pitched effectively, he made pitches.
“We chased a little bit, but at the same time, I don’t know if you can just say we chased because he was around the strike zone the whole time and a lot of those were strike to balls and those were good pitches. But again, bases loaded, nobody out, we score a couple there we bring the momentum to our side and with Cease on the mound we’re feeling pretty good.”
The Sox completed 1-for-7 with runners in scoring place.
“It’s not a secret we’ve struggled with runners in scoring position this year,” Zavala mentioned. “If we cashed in those runs, it gives our pitchers a little more room, a little bit better chance. We have to figure out how to get those runners in.”
The one hit with runners in scoring place got here within the fourth when Zavala drove in Andrew Benintendi with a two-out single to present the Sox a 1-0 lead. The Guardians tied it within the fifth on Gabriel Arias’ two-out homer.
The Guardians threatened within the seventh, with runners on second and third with one out. The Sox introduced the infield in, and Brayan Rocchio hit a grounder to shortstop that Tim Anderson couldn’t discipline cleanly. A run scored on the error.
“He was in good position, he moved his feet, just one of those plays,” Grifol mentioned. “I’m sure he’ll make it nine out of 10 times but (Thursday) he didn’t.”
The Guardians added a run on an RBI single from Cam Gallagher towards reliever Gregory Santos. Cease was the tough-luck shedding pitcher, permitting three runs on 5 hits with three strikeouts and one stroll in 6⅓ innings.
“Just filling up the zone and getting those early outs is nice for going deep,” Cease mentioned. “Unfortunately in those last couple of innings, I wish I took it to another gear.”
There was optimistic information for the Sox within the ninth when Garrett Crochet pitched an ideal inning in his first outing after lacking all final season following Tommy John surgical procedure.
“It was really important to get that first one out of the way,” Grifol mentioned. “He’s worked his butt off to get to (Thursday). He looked under control, he was throwing strikes, he’ll be a big asset to this bullpen and to this club.”
Yoán Moncada singled to deliver the tying run to the plate with two outs within the ninth. But Zavala struck out to finish the sport. The Sox (16-29) needed to accept taking two out of three within the sequence.
“We definitely need to win games we should win,” Zavala mentioned. “Feel like we had a good chance to at least score some more runs (and) give us a better chance.”
Sox to guage Liam Hendriks on Friday
Closer Liam Hendriks will throw both a dwell batting follow or in a bullpen session Friday, and the Sox will consider the subsequent steps afterward.
“We’ll sit down and talk to him and see where we’re at,” Grifol mentioned earlier than Thursday’s recreation. “He’s on schedule. We’ve just got to really communicate well. He’s a really good self evaluator, he’ll be telling us what he feels.”
Hendriks, nearing a return after present process remedy for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, was at Guaranteed Rate Field on Thursday after spending time with Triple-A Charlotte.
“He’s close, so now we’ve got to really do a good job of just evaluating him, how close he really is to being Liam Hendriks, not how close he is just to pitch here in the big leagues,” Grifol mentioned.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com