White Sox 10, Mariners 1: South Siders snag their first win

The South Siders pulled one out for me on my birthday, winning 10-1, and they are now 1-2 in Spring Training competition. The Sox secured their first exhibition win, AND I get cake tonight. This girl is winning at life for today.

Pedro Grifol sent out his A-lineup for this game, and it felt good. Of course, Spring Training is meant for the players to get their work in and see how some of the young guys are developing, but seeing what this lineup can do top to bottom when playing together was a sight for sore eyes.

Jesse Scholtens and Chris Flexen, the starting pitchers, made for a quick first inning, retiring their respective sides in order. Then, Seattle first baseman Evan White flexed some power and put up what would turn out to be the M’s only run with a solo home run in the top of the second. White was a 2020 Gold Glove Award winner but has been sidelined for most of the last two seasons with hip and hernia surgeries. Ty France is undoubtedly a lock at first base, but if White can stay healthy, he should be a significant contributor for the Mariners in 2023.

Overall, Sox pitching fared well today. Scholtens’ Sox debut was decent, pitching two innings, surrendering only the solo home run, and striking out three. Reynaldo López pitched the top of the third and had a solid inning despite being dinged with his first pitch timer violation of the spring. Sean Burke looked good in his two innings of work in the fourth and fifth, retiring the side in order both times. Matt Foster and Nick Avila pitched a clean sixth and seventh, respectively. Franklin German gave up a double but worked around it and pitched a scoreless eighth. Lastly, Sammy Peralta gave up a walk but closed out the game in short order.

The Sox finally generated some offense today, and scored their first run of the game off of reliever Brennan Bernardino in the bottom of the third. Elvis Andrus tripled, and TA drove him in with a double. Andrus continues to win this Sox fan’s heart with his offense, defense, and style of play.

Something you don’t see often occurred in the bottom of the fourth, when Gavin Sheets scored on a balk with the bases loaded and José Rodríguez at bat.

The Sox singles machine was also cranking today (10), and thankfully they converted some of the safeties into runs. Andrew Vaughn and Yasmani Grandal had two apiece. It felt good to watch both of them see the ball well.

Jake Burger continues to launch bombs, hitting a monster off of the batter’s eye in center field to score Leury García in the bottom of the sixth inning. Burger’s power is much-needed in this Sox lineup; however, it remains to be seen if there will be any room for him on the 26-man roster when the team breaks north.

Some of the youngsters had themselves a day. Zach Remillard and Bryan Ramos were spotted hustling on the bases, and Oscar Colás had a single in the eighth. Catcher Adam Hackenberg made his first appearance of the spring and hit safely in both of his at-bats.

The next game is tomorrow at 2:05 p.m. CT against the Arizona Diamondbacks. It’s not his birthday, but Joe Resis will have our SSS coverage.