White Sox 6, Rockies 4: Leury Legend and the bullpen lead to third win

It was a beautiful day for baseball, indeed. The South Siders snagged their third win of Spring Training, 6-4 over the Colorado Rockies, bringing their record to 3-3. Of course it’s only Spring Training and the games largely don’t matter — but it wouldn’t be the White Sox without the hanging out at .500 for at least a little bit, right? (ducks)

The White Sox had quite a few players get some reps today, and while they played without most of the usual starters, they were able to jump on the Rockies pitchers early, fight back when they were down, and provide some insurance when it counted. I’d say that was a pretty successful day! Andrew Vaughn flashed some of his power with a double in the first inning, but Rockies rookie Noah Davis was able to work his way out of the inning before the Good Guys could cause any damage.

Hanser Alberto kicked off the third inning with a triple, paving the way for Victor Reyes to drive in the first run of the game with a sac fly. We certainly love production from guys who were signed to minor league contracts within the last couple of months. The party didn’t stop there, though! Seby Zavala walked to get on base just in time for the man, the myth, the LEGEND. That’s right, everyone, fans were blessed with a Leury García home run, something we didn’t even know we needed. Make that 3-0, South Siders! Davis did recover for his final three outs in the third, but those three earned runs are etched in stone.

After the White Sox gave that three-run lead away, Jake Marisnick was able to answer back in the fourth to tie that game back at four with a sac fly, and the White Sox were able to get themselves to a victory, even after subbing out nearly two-thirds of the starting lineup. A fielder’s choice fifth run and a Lenyn Sosa base-hit RBI in the eighth would propel the White Sox the 6-4 final. Rockies pitching had a rough time today, giving up 12 total hits, and the South Siders were able to take advantage and exploit those weaknesses.

On the mound, Lance Lynn looked sharp for the first two innings. He retired his first six batters, throwing just seven pitches in the first inning, and 10 in the second. Once we got to the third inning, however, things seemed to get out of control very quickly. Cole Tucker led off the inning with a single, and Lance was able to recover and get two outs — but the Rockies were able to claw all the way back and then some, taking the lead, 4-3. Charlie Blackmon kicked off the first of back-to-back-to-back-to-back singles to score four straight runs. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought I was watching the 2022 White Sox — although they probably would have found a way to (maybe) score one run, not mulitples.

The runs would stop there, though, as the almighty bullpen took over to stop the bleeding. Joe Kelly and Gregory Santos both retired their three batters in order, Jimmy Lambert and Tanner Banks were able to work through the two hits they (collectively) gave up, and Matt Foster was able to secure the W to end it. As a group, the arm barn gave up two hits, struck out six, and walked no one, so an excellent day ... a round of applause, please.

Spring Training continues tomorrow, as the White Sox face off with the Cincinnati Reds. South Side Sox will have Melissa Sage-Bollenbach on the gamethread and Mystery Writer 2023 on game coverage, starting at 2:05 pm CT. And hey, after five straight days of nothing but a few team videos from the dugout and still photos, we actually get a home broadcast. How about another W? Those are kinda fun.