Elvis Andrus was on second, representing the game-winning run for the Chicago White Sox with one out within the ninth inning.
Andrew Benintendi, a left-handed hitter, was due up with the right-handed hitting Luis Robert Jr. on deck, leaving a tricky alternative for the Miami Marlins with right-handed reliever Dylan Floro on the mound.
They elected to deliberately stroll Benintendi, establishing a possible inning-ending double play.
“It didn’t surprise me because he’s a pitcher that throws a lot of sinkers, and I thought their plan was to face me trying to get a ground ball. But at the same time, they were trying to not face a lefty,” Robert stated via an interpreter.
Robert got here via, ripping the second pitch previous third baseman Jean Segura and down the left-field line for a game-winning single because the Sox beat the Marlins 2-1 in entrance of 21,023 on Friday at Guaranteed Rate Field.
“For any athlete, the best thing you can do is help your team to win a game, and to me it was the most important thing,” Robert stated. “It made me feel very good.”
The Sox (29-36) acquired glorious pitching and simply sufficient offense for his or her sixth win of their final seven video games. They stay 3½ video games out of first place within the American League Central.
“We’ve been on a good stretch lately,” Sox starter Dylan Cease stated. “We’ve played really well in all facets of the game. When we play like that, we’re going to be very hard to beat.”
Cease allowed one run on 4 hits with seven strikeouts and two walks in six innings.
“Dylan did a great job today,” Sox supervisor Pedro Grifol stated. “He was phenomenal. Pounded the strike zone, used all of his pitches. Had a very good recreation plan, him and (catcher Yasmani Grandal). His fastball command was good. His slider was good, it was sharp. He threw some good breaking balls.
“I love the changeup and he threw some good ones there too to mix it up and just keep them honest on the other stuff. Got in a little bit of trouble there in the sixth and pitched his way out of it. That’s what No. 1s do.”
The Marlins had runners on second and third with one out and the rating tied at 1 within the sixth.
The Sox introduced the infield in and Jesús Sánchez hit a tough grounder to shortstop Tim Anderson, who fielded and threw residence to chop down the lead runner on the plate.
“That was a hell of a play right there in a big time situation,” Grifol stated of Anderson’s catch. “I believe the ball was hit off the top a bit. It had some actually powerful spin and he made a fantastic play and a fantastic throw.
“It was probably the play of the game.”
Then second baseman Andrus then tracked down Yuli Gurriel’s foul popup down the right-field line for the ultimate out to maintain the rating tied.
Keynan Middleton, Kendall Graveman and Liam Hendriks adopted with scoreless innings for the Sox, placing the group in place for an additional walk-off win like the ultimate two video games of the final homestand towards the Detroit Tigers.
The Sox offense got here up empty in earlier possibilities, together with not scoring after loading the bases with no outs within the third. Grifol didn’t get annoyed.
“You know why, because that’s good pitching over there,” he stated. “We know the kind of baseball we have to play against these guys. It’s two good teams with really good pitching.”
Andrus started the ninth along with his second single and superior to second on a wild pitch. Anderson struck out and Benintendi was deliberately walked to set the stage for Robert.
The heart fielder was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts at that time. He additionally reached on catcher’s interference in his fourth plate look.
“Every at-bat is different,” Robert stated. “In one at-bat, they can try to get you with breaking balls. And then the next one, you make the adjustments.”
Robert swung and miss on a first-pitch slider. He acquired one other one the following pitch and linked for the game-ending hit.
“That’s why you get four at-bats, five at-bats per game,” Grifol stated. “You will be 0-for-3 and get the game-winner proper there. That’s why each at-bat is totally different and also you’ve acquired to separate at-bats.
“You’ve got to flush the previous at-bat. Because you never know when you’re going to get that chance to win a game. And you know what, he got a good pitch to hit that he can handle and he won the game for us.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com