White Sox 3, Orioles 1: Doubleheader Sweep

Did it work? Well, no. I think a case could be made for it giving them worse luck, because Freddy Galvis went from a home run-heavy Game 1 to only being able to get on base during a walk in the nightcap.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that the game started with “poor visibility” for the hitters, which is the favorite topic of Steve Stone.

The White Sox got to John Means early, forcing him to throw 35 pitches in the first inning. After going strikeout, walk, strikeout, Means hit José Abreu with a pitch and then walked Yermín Mercedes to load the bases. In a prime opportunity, Andrew Vaughn swung on a 3-0 pitch and managed to fly out to right, squandering the bases loaded opportunity. Looking at this sequence just irritates me.

There will be A Consequence™️ for swinging away on 3-0 with an ace pitching opponent on the ropes, right?

As the game rolled on, Means regained his control and things were moving steadily along for the birds of orange. That changed in the bottom of the fourth, when Billy Hamilton hit a home run dart to left to give the White Sox the lead.

Abreu followed up with a two-run home run of his own in the bottom of the fifth, putting the White Sox up, 3-0.

But the Orioles finally managed to break through in the top of the sixth.

Aaron Bummer came in to relieve starter Lance Lynn and promptly loaded the bases. Billy Hamilton saved a run by catching a Maikel Franco liner (and received an assist from Galvis, who had a brain fart on third and didn’t tag up).

Galvis did manage to score, forced in after Codi Heuer (in to bail out Bummer) hit Stevie Wilkerson. Thankfully after that, Heuer managed to find some semblance of control, striking out Ryan Mountcastle and getting Chance Sisco to ground out.

The bottom of the sixth went 1-2-3 for the White Sox, and it was time to finish this long-ass day.

Liam Hendriks came out for a second time today to close out the seventh inning. Watching Hendriks yell at himself on the mound will never get old. Hendriks struck out the side, and the White Sox swept the doubleheader.

Random game bits

• Anthony Santander has an international fan club that is based on the UK. You can read more about that here.
• My favorite thing about watching games in the ballpark during spring is seeing how the crowd moves to follow the sun.
• Liam Hendriks played Australian rules football. I’m assuming this was in Australia, and not Oakland.
• With Adam Engel’s return fast approaching, what shuffling is going to start happening to the outfield?
• Still waiting on that Consequence™️ for swinging away on 3-0 with an ace pitching opponent on the ropes.