Kameron Loe grabbed a victory in extra innings for Seattle on Friday night. Today, Dayan Viciedo was out to even some records.
The Tank absolutely unloaded on a 2-0 sinker that didn't sink, launching a screamer into the left-field seats for the first walk-off winner of the season. And it happened during their debut of the 1983 uniforms, so if the Sox want to wear the doubleknits on days besides Sunday, a victory like this might provide some inspiration.
All seven runs in this game were brought to you by the home run, and Viciedo's assault accounted for the only White Sox run that didn't answer a Seattle score.
Up until the 10th, the Sox could only follow the Mariners' lead. When Michael Morse turned on a Chris Sale slider in the first inning for a two-run shot, Adam Dunn crushed a no-doubter of his own to tie it up. And when Kendrys Morales hit a solo shot in the sixth, Alex Rios evened it up by going to deep to lead off the seventh.
The game needed the occasional thunder, because the pitchers kept the offenses in check otherwise. Sale pitched well even though he didn't have his usual slider command. He used his fastball more often than we've seen for four of his seven strikeouts, and he held the Mariners to just five hits and two walks over seven innings.
But Hisashi Iwakuma was even stingier for Seattle. After Dunn's first-inning homer, he retired the next 16 he faced before Rios clobbered a grooved 89-mph sinker over the bullpen in left.
Despite some more ugly moments, the White Sox defense ultimately helped more than it hurt. Viciedo used The Dayan Cannon to gun down Justin Smoak at second when he led off the seventh with a shot to the wall. He had Smoak out by 10 feet, and he tried spiking Gordon Beckham (or kicking where he thought the tag might be) to no avail.
That play turned out to be huge, and had a more positive impact than the lowlights hurt. Miscommunication is still an issue between Viciedo and Alexei Ramirez, and Adam Dunn and Tyler Flowers collided on a foul ball (with Dunn holding on). Gordon Beckham also threw wider than Dunn anticipated for an inexplicable error in the eighth, but Matt Lindstrom pitched around it.
The bullpen continues to be a strength, as Lindstrom, Jesse Crain and Addison Reed each pitched a scoreless inning. Reed gave up a two-out double and intentionally walked Morales to bring up Morse, and Reed won the seven-pitch battle with a well-located fastball at the knees on the outside corner. Morse swung though it, and the Mariners wouldn't hit again.
Record: 4-2 | Box score | Play-by-play | Highlights