Indians 6, White Sox 2: Over-Bauered

Dylan Covey has been a light in the deep darkness that has been the 2018 White Sox rotation. However, he got roughed up in this one, giving up five runs on six hits in five innings. More troublesome were the five walks, two strikeouts, and of course, ham-handed defense, to which Covey contributed significantly.

That defense allowed the Indians to score three quick runs in the second inning. After Lonnie Chisenhall led off with a sharp single, Rajai Davis hit a chopper up the middle, and Yoan Moncada, in his haste to turn two, had the ball conk off his glove. Jason Kipnis then laid down a bunt toward third, and Covey went over to field it, then gave up on it and let it go through his legs, as if Yolmer Sanchez was going to be able to make that play.

Covey’s “I-got-it-you-take-it” loaded the bases with nobody out, and Hernan Perez promptly ripped a 2-0 ground-rule double that got stuck in the chain link fence in right. Three fly balls and one intentional walk later, Covey was out of the inning and trailing 3-0.

The Indians tacked on single runs in the third (Kipnis RBI single), fifth (Kipnis solo homer), and sixth (bases-loaded walk). That third-inning run was able to score because Covey made a wild pickoff throw with Davis at first, so you can’t exactly say Poor Dylan was just let down by the defense behind him.

Of course, none of that really mattered, because Trevor Bauer was brilliant. He struck out eight Sox hitters over seven scoreless innings and allowed just five runners on base. Two of those runners were erased by double plays; a strike-him-out, throw-him-out of Moncada and Sanchez in the first, and then a 3-6-1 by Sanchez in the third. Bauer was throwing five pitches tonight and getting strikes with all of them; even Good Dylan Covey wouldn’t have been enough to stop him.

By the time the Sox were score single runs in the eighth and ninth, it was far too late. Sanchez made up for the aforementioned double plays by putting a run on the board with an RBI single, and Matt Davidson hit his 13th home run off of Dan Otero in the ninth.

Other Stuff

• The Sox committed three errors on the night: Covey’s pickoff throw, Moncada’s muffed grounder, and a throw into center field by Kevan Smith. That, of course, doesn’t include the weird play by Covey on Kipnis’s bunt.
• After I singled out Moncada in the gamethread for his struggles of late, he reached base three times, via two singles and a walk.
• Carlos Rodon will be up against Mike Clevinger tomorrow.