CHICAGO — After rousing offensive efforts in all three games at Fenway Park this weekend, the White Sox fell asleep against Marco Gonzales and Seattle in a 2-0 loss.
Perhaps it was the absence of injured AL Player of the Week Edwin Encarnación, but the 3-7 Mariners marched into Sox Park like they owned the joint.
Gonzales spun a five-hit shutout, walking none and striking out just three. He had a game score of 80, and didn’t allow a White Sox runner to reach third base.
The early story of the game was the major league debut of southpaw Matt Tomshaw, who surprised the Monday afternoon crowd of more than 25,000 by matching Marco pitch-for-pitch. Tomshaw retired the first seven Seattle batters, three on strikeouts, before Dee Gordon singled to right with one out in the third.
Tomshaw went six innings (70 pitches), giving up four hits (all singles) and striking out four, finishing with a game score of 68. It was thought that Tomshaw might shuttle back down to Charlotte as the Knights season opens later this week, but after the game White Sox manager Ricky Renteria said the rookie had earned a second start with the big club.
The best White Sox rally came in the bottom of the eighth, when Danny Mendick led off with a hustle double. Adam Engel’s sac bunt attempt was instead lined directly to a charging Kyle Seager at third base, who spun and picked Mendick off of second base.
After the game, Engel was outrighted to Charlotte, with Yermín Mercedes called up and expected to make his major league debut on Tuesday as the designated hitter.
The game was lost not so much with what Seattle did on offense, but what reliever Jace Fry handed the Mariners. He entered in the top of the ninth and walked the bases full. With Carson Fulmer furiously warming, Fry gave up a two-run single to Seager, giving Seattle the only two runs it would need.
Gonzales disposed of the 2-3-4 hitters in the White Sox lineup with ease in the ninth, and that was the ballgame.
Notes: Alex Colomé was the latest White Sox player to be injured. He pitched two-thirds of an inning in the eighth, retired the side, and then reported a sore hand that caused him to leave the game, precipitating the Fry fiasco ... Colomé will likely miss the rest of the Mariners series ... Seattle did not get a single extra-base hit in the game ... and finally ...
Around the majors
- The First Star of the day was Jurickson Profar, who led the Padres to a 14-6 win over Atlanta by going 4-for-5 with a triple, homer, three RBIs, two runs and a walk. The Padres improved to 10-1.
- Second Star was Mike Ford of the Yankees, who went 2-for-4 with two home runs, four RBIs, three runs and a walk in New York’s 12-6 win over the Orioles.
- The Third Star was Shohei Ohtani, who threw eight innings of three-hit, one-run, one-walk ball, with 12 strikeouts. His Angels teammates failed him, however, losing 1-0 to the A’s on a Ramon Laureano homer.
- Franmil Reyes had two homers in Cleveland’s 8-0 whitewash of Minnesota. The Twins have now dropped three of four games at home this season.
- Nicholas Castellanos hit his first two home runs of the season to pace Cincinnati’s 6-2 win over Milwaukee.