White Sox blow great Chris Sale start with ninth inning meltdown
Welcome to The Walk Off, the nightly MLB recap from Big League Stew. Here we’ll look at the top performers of the night, show you a must-see highlight and rundown the scoreboard. First, we start with a game you need to know about.
The Chicago White Sox needed to kick off the second half of the season with a bang in order to assert themselves as contenders. That hasn’t gone so well. Chicago was swept by the lowly Los Angeles Angels coming out of the break, putting them below .500 on the year.
But the club had a strong reason for optimism Monday. Ace Chris Sale would return to the mound for this first start of the second half. With Sale on the mound, the White Sox were sure to get back to their winning ways, right?
If Sale had anything to do with it, that would be the case. He proved as much, tossing eight shutout frames against the Seattle Mariners. He gave up just one hit and walked three. Sale struck out six during the contest. He threw exactly 100 pitches.
With Chicago up 3-0 heading into the ninth, manager Robin Ventura elected to turn things over to closer David Robertson. That’s when everything started to unravel.
Franklin Gutierrez started things off with a leadoff single, but was thrown out at second on a fielder’s choice during the next play. Robinson Cano took Gutierrez’s place on first.
Nelson Cruz then walked, putting men on first and second. Dae-ho Lee struck out against Robertson, leaving the White Sox just one out away from victory.
That victory never came. Kyle Seager singled in a run from center. That brought the winning run to the plate in the form of first baseman Adam Lind. On the second pitch he saw, Lind smacked a 92 mph cutter from Robertson to right center field for the walk-off blast.
After being down 3-0 to open the frame, the Mariners would go on to win the contest 4-3. With the White Sox currently in the middle of a tailspin, this loss has to hurt more than most. How the team bounces back may determine whether they wind up as buyers and sellers as the trade deadline approaches.
TOP PERFORMERS
Jarrod Dyson: Kansas City Royals outfielder isn’t normally the one to show off his power, but he did just that during the club’s 7-3 win over the Cleveland Indians on Monday. With the bases loaded in the eighth inning, Dyson unloaded on the first pitch he saw from Jeff Manship, sending the ball to right for a grand slam. Dyson also tripled and walked earlier in the contest. He finished 2-for-3 with one run scored and four RBI in the win.
Matt Boyd: Detroit Tigers pitcher Matt Boyd earned his first win of the season Monday, during the club’s 1-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins. Boyd kept the Twins off the board for six innings. He allowed three hits and one walk, but managed seven strikeouts during the contest. Boyd now has a 4.91 ERA in seven starts this year after the strong performance.
Mike Trout: Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout was up to his usual antics during Monday’s 9-5 win against the division-rival Texas Rangers. He put the final nail in the Rangers’ coffin after the Angels managed to claw back on top in the seventh inning. With his team up 6-5, Trout smacked a three-run homer, giving them a 9-5 lead and putting the game out of reach. He also singled earlier in the contest, finishing 2-for-3, with two runs scored and three RBI.
MUST-SEE HIGHLIGHT
Los Angeles Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons always finds a way to make the impossible look easy. He did that again Monday during the team’s 9-5 win over the Texas Rangers. With the Rangers up 4-3 in the top of the sixth, Adrian Beltre was hoping to give the Rangers a chance to extend their lead with a hit to open the frame.
Beltre reached out in front of a changeup, breaking his bat when he made contact. While the ball wasn’t hit hard, it looked like it had a shot to drop into shallow left field for a base hit. In many cases, it might have, but not with Simmons out there.
The shortstop immediately turned and ran, tracking the ball in the air even though his body was running toward the outfield. As the ball began to drop, Simmons reached out his glove, snagging it out of the air. He didn’t have to jump or dive to make the play, he simply made the difficult catch with ease.
REST OF THE SCOREBOARD
Yankees 2, Orioles 1: Kevin Gausman pitched well for Baltimore, but was slightly outmatched by Ivan Nova, who gave up just one run over six strong innings.
Cubs 5, Mets 1: Jon Lester gave up just one run over 7 2/3 innings, picking up his 10th win of the season.
Marlins 3, Phillies 2: Neither Jose Fernandez nor Aaron Nola picked up the win, though both players were deserving. The game was decided in extras on a Martin Prado solo shot.
Reds 8, Braves 2: Joey Votto hit his 15th home run of the year, helping Brandon Finnegan pick up his fifth victory of the season.
Cardinals 10, Padres 2: Mike Leake struck out 11 Padres over six innings. He did not walk a batter. Stephen Piscotty, Randal Grichuk and Jedd Gyorko each homered in the win.
Rockies 7, Rays 4: Drew Smyly was tagged for five runs over five innings, picking up the loss. Trevor Story smacked his 22nd home run of the year.
Athletics 7, Astros 4: Mike Fiers was tagged for six earned runs over just 3 2/3 innings. Five different Athletics had at least one RBI in the win.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
