The White Sox’s lack of name-brand talent at the bottom of the order has led Will Venable to seek handedness advantages at every turn, and with the game tied at 5 in the bottom of the eighth inning Tuesday night, it led him to pinch-hit three right-handed options against Kansas City lefty Matt Strahm.
Edgar Quero batted for Andrew Benintendi and flied out. Randal Grichuk took Jarred Kelenic’s place, but Bobby Witt Jr. robbed him of a single with a fine diving stab and throw.
Derek Hill then entered for Tristan Peters, and when Strahm tried burying a slider below the zone, it didn’t quite have the biting action he sought. Location-wise, it was at the bottom of the zone, but in practice, Hill was able to drop the bat head on it and launch a no-doubter into the left field seats for the decisive run.
“[Venable] always plays chess, feel like he’s been making incredible moves all year,” Hill said. “I just think of it as next man up. If not me, then the next guy behind me. That’s how we roll over here.”
You’re used to seeing the reaction of the pitcher give it away, but while Strahm’s expression suggested “hoping against hope” …
… third baseman Maikel García was the one who indicated it was pointless.
Hill then made his defensive presence felt two pitches into the bottom of the ninth when he laid out to catch Witt’s slicing liner.
The risk was high — an inside-the-park homer if it got past him, as Hill acknowledged postgame — but the reward was clean bases and one out for Bryan Hudson, who recorded the final two outs for his second save of the season and his career. Fittingly, the final out, a Salvador Perez fly ball, landed in Hill’s glove along the right field line.
“As cool as that home run was, I love that diving catch,” said Chase Meidroth. “Everyone out here is laying their bodies on the line every single day for this team and for this city. We love playing.”
Hudson pitched the ninth because Venable had Seranthony Domínguez pitch the eighth. Domínguez pitched the eighth because of a decision Venable made two innings earlier that didn’t pan out.
“There might not be a reliever in the game that I feel more confident coming in,” said starter Erick Fedde. “That confidence to be able to put Ser in a little early and be able to get out that part of the lineup, and have Huddy come in to maybe face a little different matchup, it’s huge. It gives the team flexibility and he came up big today.”
The White Sox spent the first four innings getting handcuffed by Stephen Kolek, but Drew Romo finally drew blood by lofting a flat cutter just over the glove of Jac Caglianone over the right field wall to make it a 2-1 game. The lineup then turned over for the third time, and the rest of the White Sox had all the information they needed.
Sam Antonacci started a fresh rally with a double, and while Munetaka Murakami struck out for the second out, Miguel Vargas picked him up with a single to left center that scored Antonacci and tied the game at 2.
The Sox weren’t done. Colson Montgomery, who had stranded four runners over his first two plate appearances, also with two outs, fell behind 1-2 in this one, but was able to keep the inning alive with a walk. Meidroth, who is nobody’s idea of a classic No. 5 hitter but has been getting the job done with contrast, also worked the count full, but Kolek came over the plate with a spinning slider. Meidroth whacked it out to left for a three-run shot and a 5-2 lead, and displayed uncharacteristic emotions rounding the bases.
“A bunch of craziness, to be honest,” Antonacci said of dugout and clubhouse atmosphere. “We have a lot of characters so it’s fun. You never know what you are going to get coming to the ballpark. It’s kind of, honestly, the best part.”
Unfortunately for Meidroth, it only ended up being the second-biggest homer of the night.
Let’s go back to Saturday, when the White Sox held a 5-1 lead through five against the Mariners. With a four-run lead, Venable made the bold decision to run with Grant Taylor for two innings. It might’ve been overkill, but because he kept the Mariners in check while the Sox scored one more insurance run, Venable was spared having to deploy Domínguez at the end of the game.
Venable could have chosen the same path tonight after the White Sox took the 5-2 lead, but he tried to first go to Tyler Schweitzer against the lefty-heavy portion of the Kansas City lineup, which could perhaps take an inning off Taylor’s plate and save him for an additional appearance during a tough week.
“Just trying to find a way to get to the end there,” Venable said. “Just thinking Schwietz in that spot against the lefties, maybe they make some moves, open things up for righties down the road. Just had to hand it from one guy to the other.”
It didn’t work. Carter Jensen walked, moved to third on Isaac Collins’ double two batters later, and both scored when Nick Loftin pinch-hit for Classy Michael Massey and lined a double over Vargas. With only one out and the tying run on second, Venable went to Taylor, who got Kyle Isbel to fly out, but hung a slider to García, who shot a single to right that knotted the game at 5.
From there, Venable had to manage the bullpen aggressively. Taylor didn’t have his best breaking stuff, but he was able to dig deep and strand a pair of runners for a five-out appearance, and then he went to Domínguez in the eighth, even against 8-9-1. They went down 1-2-3, and Hill’s homer put Domínguez in line for the win, rather than the save.
Bullet points:
*The rock-em-sock-em nature of the second half of the game made Erick Fedde’s performance an afterthought. He gave up two solo shots in the first inning to foreshadow a rough night, but that was the only damage he allowed through five, perhaps because he saved his sweeper until after the Royals saw him once.
“Would love to stop giving up homers,” said Fedde, who has allowed 10 in 43 innings. “Really testing the ‘solo home runs don’t kill ya’ theory but would like to not do that next start. That would be the goal.”
*The White Sox now have three wins against the Royals in five chances. They went 3-13 against them last year, and 1-12 the year before that.
Record: 20-21 | Box score | Statcast
