Michael Kopech was again on the mound one week after leaving his earlier begin for the Chicago White Sox after two-thirds of an inning with proper knee discomfort.
While Sunday’s outing didn’t go as he hoped, it was fairly astonishing contemplating what at first look gave the impression to be a serious setback on June 12.
Kopech allowed 4 runs on seven hits in 5 innings in Sunday’s 4-3 loss to the Houston Astros in entrance of 37,709 at Minute Maid Park.
“I’ve just got to make better pitches and keep us in the game and I didn’t do that,” Kopech stated.
Kopech stated the knee, which led to the early exit towards the Texas Rangers, was “good” after the sport.
“I’m going to feel, I think, a little bit different for a little bit,” he stated. “But there’s no pain. I was able to compete with it.”
Kopech struck out 4 and walked one within the 75-pitch efficiency. The Astros did most of their injury with the lengthy ball as J.J. Matijevic hit a solo house run within the fourth and Mauricio Dubón hit a two-run homer an inning later.
“Overall, he pitched well and we pushed him as far as we could,” Sox supervisor Tony La Russa stated.
The Astros struck first when Kyle Tucker drove in Jose Altuve with a single within the first. Tucker moved to second on a throwing error, giving the Astros runners on second and third with one out. Kopech restricted the injury, getting Yuli Gurriel to come out to second and hanging out Matijevic.
“There’s positives to take away,” Kopech stated. “I was pretty efficient for the most part. I was able to work out of some jams. But overall it was not good enough.”
The Sox had an opportunity within the second, inserting runners on second and third with one out. Josh Harrison popped out and Adam Haseley struck out wanting.
Matijevic’s opposite-field homer within the fourth — his first major-league hit — made it 2-0.
Luis Robert drove in a run with a double within the fifth, however Dubón answered with the two-run homer within the backside of the inning.
“It happens. It got out and I’ve got to live with it,” Kopech stated of Matijevic’s homer.
“The pitch to Dubón was a mistake. He took advantage of it. There were a few other ones in there and they took advantage of mistakes. That’s what a good hitting team does.”
An ESPN replay confirmed Kopech utilizing his proper elbow space to knock an object within the dugout after the inning.
“The truth is I care a lot about this game and I want to play to the best of my ability and be the best competitor I can be every time I go out there,” he stated. “I wasn’t any of those things (Sunday). I had to kind of be challenged with a little bit of adversity and a little bit of an emotional challenge. That got the better of me. It happens, I guess.”
Robert singled and scored on a triple by AJ Pollock within the eighth. Pollock scored on Jake Burger’s grounder to second, reducing the deficit to at least one run.
Harrison drew a leadoff stroll within the ninth, however Haseley struck out and Danny Mendick and Andrew Vaughn flied out because the rally got here up brief.
The Astros took two of three within the collection, however the Sox went 4-2 on the journey.
“If you go 4-2 every trip, you’ll have a good year,” La Russa stated. “I said at the beginning, it’s how you go after it. If you go after it and they beat you, you tip your cap and get ready for the next one.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com