Gavin Sheets singled with one out within the ninth inning Monday in opposition to the Kansas City Royals. AJ Pollock pinch ran, representing the tying run for the Chicago White Sox.
He was rapidly erased when Tim Anderson grounded right into a game-ending double play.
The Sox had 10 hits however little to point out for it in a 2-1 loss in entrance of 17,500 at Guaranteed Rate Field.
“One run,” Sox supervisor Tony La Russa mentioned. “Credit the pitching. (Royals starter Daniel) Lynch, he shut us out earlier within the yr. Good pitcher. Bullpen shut us down. Couple of balls hit onerous.
“(Lynch) moves the ball around. He’s got a good, live fastball. Nice slider and a good changeup. I don’t know how many outs he got on his changeup, probably a half-dozen. Two strikes, 3-2 counts. That’s good pitching.”
The Sox wasted a strong outing from starter Michael Kopech and misplaced floor within the American League Central to the first-place Minnesota Twins and second-place Cleveland Guardians, who beat the Detroit Tigers and Arizona Diamondbacks, respectively, in walk-off trend. The Sox path the Twins by three video games and the Guardians by two.
Kopech saved the Sox within the recreation, permitting two runs on six hits with three strikeouts and a stroll in seven innings. He tied a profession excessive for innings whereas throwing a career-high 100 pitches.
He allowed a 452-foot homer to Salvador Perez within the fourth and one other solo homer to Whit Merrifield within the sixth.
“I was happy with how I threw,” Kopech mentioned. “I acquired forward of much more guys than I’ve been previously. It gave me an opportunity to get deeper within the recreation, which is all the time a giant aim for me.
“I made two — it’s tough to say mistakes because that ball Salvador hit was off the plate. But he obviously liked it. And the pitch to Merrifield backed up on me. Those are two good hitters and if I’m going to get those guys out, you’ve got to execute pitches. Other than that, I was happy with what I did.”
Kopech battled after waking up with a “tight back.”
“I tried to work it out in the weight room and in the training room before I got out there and it never really loosened up until a few pitches into every inning,” he mentioned. “I was just trying to stay moving and not let it get stiff. But it didn’t really affect me. It was just bothersome.”
La Russa mentioned Kopech was “outstanding” earlier than including: “Our offense just got shut down. Didn’t create enough opportunities.”
Lynch pitched six shutout innings in opposition to the Sox on April 26, permitting two hits whereas placing out seven. He struck out seven extra Monday whereas permitting six hits in 5⅓ scoreless innings.
Andrew Vaughn led off the sixth with a double in opposition to Lynch. Trailing 2-0, the Sox had their Nos. 4, 5 and 6 batters due up.
José Abreu lined out to second, and after a pitching change Wyatt Mills acquired Eloy Jiménez and Yasmani Grandal to floor out to shortstop Maikel Garcia.
The Sox scored within the seventh on Sheets’ sacrifice fly to left to get inside a run. They had one-out singles within the eighth and ninth however got here up empty to fall again to .500 at 51-51.
Before the sport, the Sox added to their bullpen by buying left-hander Jake Diekman from the Boston Red Sox in alternate for catcher Reese McGuire and a participant to be named or money concerns.
“I know that he can be very nasty,” La Russa mentioned of Diekman. “He’ll help us. Reese has been a really great teammate and he’s going to a good position there with Boston, so he ends up on his feet.”
Sox nearer Liam Hendriks performed with Diekman in Oakland.
“He’s got one of the highest ceilings of any left-hander in the league,” Hendriks mentioned. “His stuff is unreal. Not solely that however he’s going to mesh rather well on this clubhouse.
“Great dude. Good family. Excited to have him and he’s an add to our pen. Especially with that high-octane left-handed stuff and with everything he can throw up there, it just brings a different look to what we’ve got.”
The commerce deadline is 5 p.m. Tuesday, so the Sox have a couple of extra hours to deal with any wants.
“I expect that (general manager) Rick (Hahn) is going to be trying,” La Russa mentioned when requested if he expects extra offers. “I don’t know what more to say. I know he’s trying.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com