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Hey, it only took eight innings for the Chicago White Sox’s bats to finally wake up Wednesday against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Matt Davidson unloaded on a 1-1 pitch from Austin Pruitt and deposited it into the left-center field bleachers to give the White Sox a 2-1 lead. Davidson could be seen swearing during his home run trot and in the dugout, reflecting White Sox fans’ feelings about the team over the past week or so.
The team continued leaving runners in scoring position today. That’s been the story as of late. The White Sox got the first two on in the third inning aaaannndd ... didn’t score.
What about the bottom of the sixth? A leadoff double from Avisail Garcia got things rolling, but he was eventually stranded on third with one out.
Mallex Smith did everything he could to get a White Sox player in scoring position in the seventh inning. He missed a lineout from Omar Narvaez and then overthrew the second baseman, putting Narvaez on third with one out.
After Leury García was hit on the top of the foot, Yoan Moncada stepped to the plate. Third base coach Nick Capra gave the suicide squeeze sign, but Moncada didn’t see it, showing bunt and pulling it back at the last second. Narvaez got trapped, and was picked off after he was halfway down the third base line. The Sox would end up putting yet another zero on the board.
Thank goodness for Davidson in the eighth, but that was it.
The struggling offense overshadowed a strong start from James Shields (yes, you read that correctly). The righthander went 6 ⅓ innings, giving up only one run and striking out six.
Shields started slow, walking five batters in the first two innings; however, he did not allow a walk the rest of the way. Props, Big Game.
The team announced at the conclusion of the game that Gregory Infante was optioned to Class AAA Charlotte. Infante had a 16.62 ERA and a 3.23 WHIP in six appearances this season.
The White Sox improved to 4-7 and now head to Minnesota for a weekend forecasted for lots of snow.