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If there were a potential August match to be made between the Red Sox and Miguel Gonzalez, they couldn’t have been too impressed with what they saw tonight.
The White Sox’ most reliable starter of late looked like the rest of them. Boston knocked him out before he could finish the second inning, scoring seven runs on seven hits, including a pair of homers.
The Red Sox hit most things hard, with five different batted balls registering a triple-digit exit velocity, and two more in the mid-90s. Four straight one-out hits led to four runs, with Rafael Devers’ two-run homer capping that surge. In the second, Mookie Betts’ followed Jackie Bradley Jr.’s deep flyout to center with a no-doubter over the Green Monster for a two-run shot, and a Hanley Ramirez single tacked on another run later.
The White Sox were able to make a game of it after both rallies, making Rick Porcello sweat. They answered Boston’s four with two in the top of the second. Yoan Moncada walked, went to third on Nicky Delmonico’s single and scored on a Tyler Saladino single. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch, and Delmonico scored on a Tim Anderson groundout to make it a 4-2 game.
In the third, Delmonico regained those three runs with his first career homer, jumping on a first-pitch hanger and driving it out to right for a two-out, three-run blast that narrowed Boston’s lead to 7-5.
Alas, Porcello settled in to get into the sixth with no further damage, and five Boston relievers were better than the five Chicago relievers, combining for 3 2⁄3 innings of perfect ball.
Bullet points:
*Delmonico had an action-packed game. Besides the two hits, he comically misjudged a flyball to left with two outs in the second, but immediately atoned by recovering to start a 7-6-2 putout, saving the run. Two innings later, he stayed with a sinking liner and made a difficult diving catch.
*Gonzalez finished with a game score of 3, beating Derek Holland’s 9 on June 2 for the worst White Sox start of the year.
Record: 41-65 | Box score