Dodgers 5, White Sox 1: Gonsolin dominates

The White Sox (29-39) could hardly get anything going on offense at Dodger Stadium, so they fell to the Dodgers (38-29), 5-1.

Los Angeles wasted no time against White Sox starter Lance Lynn. With one out and nobody on base in the bottom of the first, Freddie Freeman walked after a seven-pitch battle. Will Smith, whose bobblehead was a giveaway at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night, stepped up to the plate and crushed a sinker on the inside corner. Smith’s 413-foot home run cleared the wall in left-center, and the Dodgers already had a 2-0 lead.

Jason Heyward, the first batter after Smith’s homer, followed with a ground ball that resulted in a soft single. Lynn temporarily stopped the bleeding by striking out J.D. Martinez, so with Heyward on first and two outs, David Peralta batted. On the first pitch, Peralta took advantage of a middle-middle cutter. Peralta’s sharp fly ball narrowly cleared the wall in center, and just like that, it was 4-0.

Meanwhile, the South Siders’ bats were quiet against Dodgers starter Tony Gonsolin. Through five innings, Gonsolin had only thrown 72 pitches, only allowing one hit in the process. Andrew Vaughn had the only White Sox safety during that time frame, a single in the fourth. The White Sox picked up their second hit in the sixth, when Yoán Moncada reached on an infield grounder. The Dodgers had some poor communication regarding who would cover first base, and as a result, Moncada beat the throw. Like most mild White Sox scoring threats this game, however, the gift single resulted in zero runs.

Despite the terrible first inning, Lynn recovered and did not allow his overall outing to become a disaster. The score remained 4-0 until the sixth inning, which Lynn had remained in the game long enough to begin. Heyward led off the bottom half with a single, and Martinez walked, so reliever Garrett Crochet inherited runners on first and second with no outs. Miguel Rojas was Crochet’s first opponent, and he reached on an error by Moncada that loaded the bases. Miguel Vargas drove in the Dodgers’ fifth run with a sacrifice fly, so Lynn’s final line was as follows: five innings, five runs (four earned), six hits, two walks, six strikeouts, 105 pitches.

In the seventh, with Crochet still on the mound, the Dodgers nearly added insurance. Mookie Betts led out with a double, but Crochet got back-to-back strikeouts of Freeman and Smith. That brought up Jonny Deluca, who singled to right; Betts tried to score, but Clint Frazier had other ideas. Frazier’s excellent throw home beat Betts, and the score remained 5-0. In the eighth, Tanner Banks made his first MLB appearance since April 25, and he retired all three batters he faced.

In the ninth, the White Sox finally put a run on the board. Vaughn picked up the third White Sox hit with a ground-rule double to open the inning. Moncada followed with a grounder back to the mound, and reliever Tayler Scott got greedy and tried to nail Vaughn at third. However, Scott’s throw was late, everyone was safe on the fielder’s choice, and the White Sox had runners on the corners with no outs. The White Sox picked up a run on a sacrifice fly by Yasmani Grandal, but that would be the only run they scored tonight.

The White Sox will face the Dodgers again tomorrow, and that game is scheduled to start at 9:10 p.m. Central. The probable starters are Clayton Kershaw (2.95 ERA, 3.36 FIP, 2.0 fWAR in 76 1⁄3 innings) and [redacted] (4.19 ERA, 5.03 FIP, 0.5 fWAR in 58 innings). ESPN and WMVP 1000 AM will cover the game. We hope to see you then.