So, you think the White Sox offense is too reliant on homers?
After watching the Sox score all nine of their runs in the fourth inning tonight, maybe it’s too reliant on getting plunked.
A White Sox inning that opened with a pair of HBPs ended up resulting in a nine-run explosion despite the fact that they only had five hits, and only two batted balls landed in the outfield. They feasted on San Francisco mistakes, starting with sudden wildness from Trevor McDonald, and then a couple of miscues from the Giants defense.
The Sox didn’t score in any other inning, but they didn’t have to. Davis Martin improved to 7-1 on the season and 6-0 after a White Sox loss by pitching deep enough into the game, even if it was his messiest start since his first.
After battling themselves — and a barrage of high fastballs — over three games in Seattle, the sinker-balling McDonald was perfect through three, even if he needed some hard contact found gloves.
But when the fourth inning rolled around, McDonald started pulling pitches into the left-handed batter’s box. Sam Antonacci opened the inning standing there, and was more than happy to take a pitch off the calf to get the ball rolling. Munetaka Murakami then had a pitch in the dirt graze his shoe to reach in even less painful fashion. Miguel Vargas flied out, but Colson Montgomery — who hit a 114-mph screaming lineout his first time up — tapped a perfect swinging bunt to the left side for an infield single that loaded the bases, which restored the threat’s building momentum.
Chase Meidroth cracked the scoreboard without taking a bat off his shoulder, as he walked on five pitches to bring home the game’s first run. Andrew Benintendi then took the bat off his shoulder on a first-pitch slider, which he guided to a wide open left center for a two-run double that made it a 3-0 game.
That set the table for Edgar Quero, and for the first of two costly boners by the San Francisco infield. In what appeared to be a classic 2026 Quero at-bat, he got ahead 3-0, took an elevated sinker for strike one, then hit a pitcher’s sinker into the ground toward second base. It was located well enough to make Luis Arraez dive to stop it, and with Meidroth running on contact, everybody understood the play was to first base…
… everybody accept Arraez, who threw home to a catcher who had abandoned the plate. Had he thrown to first, the Giants would’ve trailed 4-0, but there would have been two outs, and Tristan Peters’ subsequent strikeout would have ended it right then and there. As it stood, the Giants still trailed 4-0, and the White Sox had the first of their extra outs to play with.
Derek Hill, the ninth hitter who was a late decision to start after Jarred Kelenic was scratched with a back bruise, made it hurt. He fell behind 1-2, and after taking a slider well away to even the count, followed an outside-but-elevated sinker just off the plate and slapped it through the hole on the right side to make it a 5-0 game.
That spelled the end for McDonald, but not the White Sox offense. In came White Sox non-roster invitee Ryan Borucki, and he didn’t make the White Sox regret their spring decision-making. First, he barely grazed Antonacci for his second HBP of the inning to load the bases for Murakami, and while he got ahead 0-2, his attempt to bury a slider stayed thigh-high on the outer third, and Murakami sliced it into right field for a bases-clearing double that basically ended the game right then and there. Adding insult to injury, however, Willy Adames fired wildly on a Vargas grounder for the inning’s only unearned run.
From there, Martin could cruise, but he didn’t quite take advantage of the cushion. He opened the fifth with a five-pitch walk, a Drew Gilbert double, and then a walk to Harrison Bader after getting ahead 0-2. From there, he had to negotiate trading runs for outs, which worked well enough to register for the win, but cost him a couple of streaks. He lost his bid for a 19th consecutive start with three earned runs or fewer, as well as his attempt to lower his ERA for a seventh consecutive outing. Instead, it rose to 2.04 after Martin departed following Colson Montgomery’s error on a Gilbert grounder that extended the sixth inning.
Still, he only required the services of Tyler Davis, Brandon Eisert and Trevor Richards, allowing the high leverage arms in the White Sox bullpen to enjoy a second day of rest. If the HBPs keep flowing, perhaps they’ll get a third.
Bullet points:
*The White Sox offense outside of the fourth inning: 0-for-24 with four walks.
*Nine runs represents the biggest White Sox scoring inning since torching the Reds for 11 runs in the second inning on May 7, 2023.
*Likewise, it’s the biggest inning that accounted for all their scoring since Sept. 17, 2007, which they won 11-3 thanks to an 11-run fifth.
*Antonacci was the first player to get plunked twice in an inning since … CJ Abrams last year. Still, it’s only happened nine times in the last 50 years.
Record: 26-24 | Box score | Statcast
