OK, that kicked some serious ass

Depression is dotted all over this site, a dreary, 100-loss 2018 team that’s gotten a smidge (?) better this offseason, losing out on the top beef in a wide-open free agent season.

The heavy, heavy, heavy, heavy, heavy mood of the past few ... er ... years? got just a little bit lighter late on Friday, as Luis Robert clouted a slider out to left for an eventual game-winning, three-run blast that led the Chicago White Sox to their second victory of the spring.

A prescient Daryl Van Schouwen caught the blast during the broadcastless game at Surprise! vs. the Texas Rangers. Note Tim Dillard’s classic mound collapse, as he realizes that doubling or tripling up on Robert with sliders did not work:

Another angle, from athletic’s Levi Weaver:

And Daryl — yeah, BB’s onetime running mate had as crushing a social media victory as you can get, today — even got Robert talking postgame:

A quote Van Schouwen tweeted out later, from Robert, addressed his home run heroics even more directly.

“Yes, of course it feels great,’’ Robert said. “When you hit a homer to help the team win, it is good. I did it last year with the grand slam against the Reds. It was a special feeling. I enjoy it.”

We enjoy it too, Pantera. Man, we really needed that, in fact.

So, yeah, the White Sox won an otherwise meaningless March 1 game in stirring fashion, 8-5.

Doubling up on the good news was a pretty sharp effort from Iván Nova, who threw the longest spring outing of any starter so far, at 2 ²⁄₃ innings, six ground ball outs, one earned, one hit.

Besides Nova’s start and Robert’s heroics, there were some other highlights for the White Sox:

• Leury García doubled and tripled as part of a 2-for-3, one RBI day.
• Robert had an RBI triple in his first at-bat of the game, in the seventh inning.
• Bernardo Flores was aces in holding the Rangers down late, earning the win with 2 ¹⁄₃ hitless innings from the sixth to eighth, with two Ks.
• Zach Thompson got his first spring save, pitching the ninth and getting one K while giving up just one hit.

Zack Collins was a bit of a mixed bag at catcher, committing an error and striking out subbing for Welington Castillo (who doubled a run in the game), but finished the day on a good note, singling in an insurance run in the ninth to set the final score at 8-5.

Luis González had a rough day, with two Ks in three at-bats, but got picked up a bit by his sub, Steele Walker. Walker hit a ground-rule double in the ninth, scoring on Robert’s home run.

On the pitching side between Nova and Flores/Thompson, it was a mixed bag. Nate Jones had an adventuresome fourth, with two singles, two Ks (including ex-teammate Matt Davidson), a botched pickoff attempt, then another, final, K. And José Ruiz was roughed up, getting knocked out of the sixth inning after three hits, three runs (one earned), a walk, and a K.

Tomorrow, the White Sox try to make it two in a row, hosting onetime future White Sox free agent prize Nolan Arenado and the Colorado Rockies. Carlos Rodón and SSS writer Joe Resis will make their spring debuts.

More information on today’s game.