Mariners 6, White Sox 3: More suffering against Seattle

The White Sox (49-77) dropped another game against the Mariners (71-55) as their downward spiral continues.

Andrew Benintendi opened the bottom of the first with a walk from Mariners starter Bryan Woo. With two outs, Eloy Jiménez and Andrew Vaughn hit back-to-back singles, which resulted in the White Sox scoring the first run of the game.

The White Sox took a 1-0 lead into the second inning but did not stay ahead for long. In the second, the Mariners got four singles against [redacted], who started on the mound for the White Sox. Mike Ford’s single tied the game, and J.P. Crawford got the last of those hits to put the Mariners in front. Eugenio Suárez flew out to end the inning, but the Mariners had a 2-1 lead.

In the fourth, Josh Rojas took advantage of a mistake pitch by [redacted]. With two outs, Ford drew a walk to extend the inning for Rojas. On the first pitch of the at-bat, Rojas crushed a deep fly ball to right, and the only MLB parks that would have held it are Kauffman Stadium and Oracle Park. That was the second home run this season for Rojas, and suddenly, the Mariners had a 4-1 lead.

Six Pack of Stats

FanGraphs

Pressure Play

When Andrew Benintendi flew out with two on and one out in the second, that play had a 2.22 LI, making it the play of highest leverage.

Pressure Cooker

Reliever Trent Thornton, who retired exactly one batter without allowing any runs, had a 1.49 LI to lead all players.

Top Play

The two-run home run by Josh Rojas boosted Seattle’s win probability from 59.9% to 79.7% (19.8% WPA).

Top Performer

Josh Rojas had the highest WPA (13.9%) out of everyone. Rojas only had one hit in the game, but it was a big one.

Hardest Hit

The single by Teoscar Hernández in the second inning left the bat at 107.5 mph.

Weakest Contact

The single by Oscar Colás in the second inning had an exit velocity of 35.3 mph.

Luckiest Hit

Ty France’s infield single in the sixth inning registered a .050 xBA.

Toughest Out

Dominic Canzone’s line out in the seventh had an .860 xBA.

Longest Hit

This race could not have been closer. Ty France’s fly out in the first went 389 feet. The home run by Andrew Benintendi went 388 feet. The home run by Josh Rojas went 387 feet.

Magic Number: 3

Entering today, Josh Rojas and Andrew Benintendi had combined for three home runs this season. Both of them homered during this game. It is hard to predict baseball sometimes.

As the bottom of the fifth got started, Tayler Saucedo took over on the mound for Woo, who had a short leash. Woo finished with one run allowed in four innings. With two outs and a runner on second, Trent Thornton entered the game to face Luis Robert Jr., who crushed a pitch down the left field line. The ball cleared the wall, and initially, umpire Shane Livensparger appeared to rule it a home run. However, Livensparger changed his mind as the ball sliced foul by a few inches. The play was reviewed, and the call stood as a foul ball. It was about as close as it could get, but eventually, the crew eventually got it correct. Robert proceeded to draw a walk, but Jiménez flew out to end the inning.

At the beginning of the sixth, Bryan Shaw took over for [redacted], who finished with four earned runs allowed in five innings. After hitting Ford to open the frame, Shaw retired Rojas. However, Shaw’s next 10 pitches were balls, as the bases were loaded, and the count was 2-0 to Ty France. Shaw eventually found the strike zone, and France hit a high chopper to third. Unfortunately, Yoán Moncada had to deal with the lights, and the ball eluded his glove. Everyone was safe, a run scored to make it 5-1, and Moncada was charged with an error. Cal Raleigh proceeded to add a sacrifice fly to extend Seattle’s lead to five. Seattle finished with two runs in the sixth inning without getting any hits.

In the bottom of the sixth, Vaughn and Grandal hit back-to-back singles to open the inning, and the White Sox appeared to be in business. However, Elvis Andrus grounded into a double play. Although that grounder allowed Vaughn to score, the possibility of the huge inning became much smaller, and the deficit was still relatively large.

Down the stretch, Jimmy Lambert pitched two shutout innings, and Lane Ramsey pitched a scoreless ninth. However, the White Sox offense did not have enough gas in the tank. With two outs and nobody on base in the ninth, Andrew Benintendi launched a solo home run. That was Benintendi’s third home run this season and his first at Guaranteed Rate Field as a member of the White Sox. However, the blast merely trimmed the deficit to three, and the White Sox went on to lose by a score of 6-3.

The usual suspects (NBC Sports Chicago and WMVP 1000 AM) will cover the final game of the series. The first pitch is scheduled to take at 1:10 p.m. Central. Michael Kopech (5.12 ERA, 5.87 xERA, 6.59 FIP, -0.9 fWAR) and George Kirby (3.23 ERA, 3.79 xERA, 3.24 FIP, 3.7 fWAR) are the probable starting pitchers.