Hot side hot: White Sox win the important game today in a 4-3 comebacker

So, there was one pretty terrific game from the Chicago White Sox today, and one that sorta sucked. Which one would you like to hear about first?

Wait. Who am I kidding? You are White Sox fans: Of course you expect the bad news first.

In a game graciously devoid of filmed highlights — in fact, was this game played at all, or a mere figment of Bob Uecker’s “Major League” imagination? — the White Sox’s Triple-A roster got clubbed by Cleveland, 10-2, at Goodyear Ballpark.

Bernardo Flores Jr. got the start and struggled, with no help from his defense (looking at you, Cheslor Cuthbert and Yermín Mercedes), as three runs came home aided in part by a fielding error, a throwing error and a passed ball. Caleb Frare got the early call from the pen to start the second inning, and his wounds were all self-inflicted, allowing three two-out runs.

Down 6-0 in just two innings to the major league Clevelanders, the Charlotte White Sox could’ve just mailed it in from there. But Ricky’s Boys Don’t Quit, even when Ricky is miles away in Glendale managing the other Sox. Thus the White Sox settled down and only lost innings 3-9 by a 4-2 score, pushing the final to 10-2. A minor triumph, eh?

Let’s see, good stuff from this B-game ... Gavin Sheets continued his strong start to the spring, going 1-for-2. Also, among a few decent pitching performances, Danny Dopico was most solid, covering two innings, with two Ks and a hit.

OK, had enough misery? Let’s get to the better stuff, where Renteria ran out a near-Opening Day lineup and pushed the right buttons for a comeback victory.

But first:

All righty then, on to the more inspiring game today, Chicago’s 4-3 win vs. San Francisco.

It didn’t start out too well, as Kelvin Herrera surrendered four straight hits and three runs. It wasn’t the best evidence that Herrera’s 2019 was solely back-pained.

But really, from there, it was pretty much all good.

Eloy Jiménez paced the comeback in the fourth when he —

— WE INTERRUPT THIS RECAP WITH A DEFENSIVE HIGHLIGHT FROM ELOY JIMÉNEZ —
— WE INTERRUPT THIS RECAP WITH A DEFENSIVE HIGHLIGHT FROM ELOY JIMÉNEZ —
— WE INTERRUPT THIS RECAP WITH A DEFENSIVE HIGHLIGHT FROM ELOY JIMÉNEZ —

Now, be honest, when I just typed, WE INTERRUPT THIS RECAP WITH A DEFENSIVE HIGHLIGHT FROM ELOY JIMÉNEZ, this is sort of what you pictured, right? A sort of lumbering, semi-athletic, a bit awkward, but hey not bad type of play?

OK, anyway, Jiménez singled in the fourth to drive in the first White Sox run of the day:

In the fifth it was Luis Robert’s hero turn. Robert was a little lost in this game, but leading off the fifth with the White Sox down 3-1 the ascendant superstar did what ascendant superstars do:

I mean, sweet lord, Robert plays the game at a different speed. He turned a line shot the opposite way — not a towering drive, or a comically-misplayed ball off the wall, but a LINE SHOT — into a triple.

Look at this utter nonsense:

Somehow on a fairly routine hit that got past the right fielder and to the wall, Robert is halfway to third base as the relay man turns to throw. Robert is like, eff this, I’m making something happen. And lest you think Robert is being too aggressive here, well, he forced the defense into a poor throw — and yes, a perfect peg, not exactly Ichiro-level but a fundamentally sound relay and 90th percentile throw would have got him. And it will probably happen this year.

But look again at the play: The right fielder takes a perfect route to the ball, fields it cleanly. Really, the only mistake on the play is that the throw short-hops the relay man. So Robert legged out a triple on a ball that was almost perfectly-defended. Dude is dangerous.

And if you saw at the end of the video, if you managed to not just replay Robert over and over again, was James McCann tapping out to score Robert and cut the lead to 3-2.

Then, the ninth.

With one out, Daniel Palka walked. And thanks to an oppo smash to the wall by Adam Engel taking a slightly wonky, angled bounce, Palkmania lumbered around to score just ahead of yet another crappy throw home from San Francisco. Game tied.

Seby Zavala — helluva first two games, Seby — slapped a single through the box and thanks, again, to a flaccid throw home, Engel scored and the White Sox won the game with two outs to spare.

Outside of Herrera, the pitching for Chicago was very solid: five hits, two walks and eight Ks over eight innings. Jimmy Cordero (three Ks) and Aaron Bummer (two) were especially unhittably-kickass. By and large, the bullpen work has been very, very good for the South Siders so far in early spring.

Tomorrow, the 2-1 White Sox travel to Surprise to face Kansas City in a game under complete broadcast silence. Well, not complete broadcast silence; there could be a K.C. radio feed or something. Anyway, it’s a customary 2:05 CT start, and if the gamethread is rocking, don’t bother knocking, come on in.