White Sox 15, Tigers 2: 11 Walks + 13 Hits + Shutdown Pitching = Fun

A lineup reminiscent of 2016/2017/2018 and gave me goosebumps was quite successful this afternoon and early evening for the 2021 Chicago White Sox against the Detroit Tigers.

This was an incredibly enjoyable game unlike those previous miserable seasons, but those are in the past and this is the 15-2, winning present, where we are also leading Major League Baseball in many categories.

I present to you all, today’s successful starting lineup:

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Tim Anderson, SS: 3-for-5, 3 R, 2 RBI

He opened the game with a leadoff double, and he and the White Sox never looked back. Tim saw his second at-bat of the game in the second inning, a single, and he saw his third at-bat that inning, fly out to center for the third out. Through two innings and three ABs, Tim was 2-for-3 with two runs scored. In the fifth, Tim tallied an RBI single, but he lined out in the sixth.

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Brian Goodwin, CF: 2-for-5, 3 R, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SO, 1 HR

Goodwin was determined to have a good win in his White Sox debut, but he contributed to much more than his original goal. He helped make it a runaway, extraordinary win.

Goodwin followed Tim’s leadoff double in the first with an RBI double, but he was not content, so he came back in the second inning with a three-run blast. That home run made it a 6-2 game, and it had the best WPA, at .155.

Goodwin did ground out in the third (on a 3-0 count, GASP), but he walked in the fifth. To pull off the Adam Dunn (HR, BB, SO), Goodwin struck out in the sixth — as a tribute, of course. Before Goodwin’s night was done, he pushed home another run with a ground out in the eighth for a 15-2 White Sox score.

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Yasmani Grandal, C: 1-for-4, 2 R, 1 BB (duh), 1 SO

Why do we like Yasmani Grandal? He gets on base. He was hit by a pitch in the first, and it would not be a White Sox game that Yaz played in if he did not walk, so he took a stroll in the second. Finally, in the third, Yasmani used his bat to record a single, but his bat missed the baseball entirely in the fifth for a strikeout. He also grounded out in the sixth, so that was not very fun, but he had already been on base thrice. A pop out against a position player pitching (Jake Rogers) ended Yasmani’s evening at the plate in the eighth.

Noted, Yaz loves the afternoon portion of afternoon-evening games.

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José Abreu, 1B: 1-for-5, 1 SO, 6 LOB

Pito has been struggling, and I was getting nervous because he was one of a few Sox players who had yet to record a hit during today’s blowout win. After reaching on a fielder’s choice in the first, popping out to second base in the second inning, grounding into a double play in the third, and striking out in the fifth, Abreu doubled to left field in the seventh. Andrew Vaughn pinch-ran for him, and was one of several defensive substitutions in the seventh inning onward.

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Yermín Mercedes, DH: 2-for-6, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 SO

With the bases loaded in the first, the Yerminator singled home two runs for a 3-0 score. He flew out to center in the second, struck out in the fourth, but he broke out in the fifth for an RBI single for a 10-2 score at the time. He did ground out in the seventh and flew out to left in the ninth (against a position player pitching, Harold Castro).

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Adam Eaton, RF: 0-for-4, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 SO

Eaton’s two walks today save his 0-for-4 at the plate. His walk in the second resulted in a run, but a walk in the fifth just left him stranded at third base.

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Jake Lamb, LF: 0-for-4, 2 BB, 1 SO

Lamb had an eerily-similar line to Eaton. In an 0-for-4 game, Lamb walked twice, but he never made it around the neighborhood and back home. He just stayed at his friend’s house on third street in the second, and second street in the fifth.

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Leury García, 3B: 2-for-3, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB

Leury and his big ol’ smile was out to-day-night. He did start slow with a ground out to first in the first, but his two-RBI single in the second quickly turned his night around and added to the Sox’s lead at 8-2. Leury found himself walking in the fifth, twice. Yeah, Leury so loved the fifth inning that he went for a stroll twice. However, in the eighth, he told himself to snag a single off of the position player pitching, so he did.

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Danny Mendick, 2B: 1-for-2, 3 R, 3 BB, 1 SO

Danny had to one-up the three guys right ahead of him who all had two walks, so he notched three. He did tie Leury in the second inning, with two walks of his own as well. Don’t worry; Danny doubled in the fifth, which was a ground-rule double due to a fan snagging the ball right out of play. At the time, it kept Leury from scoring, and the fan and his kids were in danger of being escorted out of the game; however, Tim Anderson would drive in Leury and Danny, and the fan was allowed to stay. Danny took his third walk in the eighth, and soon scored for the final 15-2 score.

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Dylan Cease, P: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 7 SO, 1 HR

Always having a lead when pitching during this game, Dylan just did his thing. Although he gave up a walk that led to a two-run shot in the first, he was on cruise control for the following four innings. He would give up three more hits, zero more walks, and struck out seven. He remains undefeated in his eight career games against the Tigers, at 8-0.

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The Bullpen: 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 3 SO

Ryan Burr and Matt Foster each pitched two innings, but made sure to allow the Tigers nothing in the runs column.

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The weekend series finale ends tomorrow starting at 12:10 p.m. CT on NBC Sports Chicago. I know, I know; it’s been a great weekend show, but the series will pick back up again in July. Hannah LaMotta is on the game coverage on Sunday, with yours truly shifting over to the Six Pack.

Until then, keep it going.