The White Sox went 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position tonight, but the “1” couldn’t have been any bigger.
With the Sox down to their final out in the 10th after failing to so much as advance Manfred Man Drew Romo with their first two bullets, Miguel Vargas unsuccessfully challenged a first-pitch Drew Anderson changeup, then successfully launched a hanging second-pitch changeup into the left field seats for the walk-off homer in a 4-3 victory in the opener of the season series against the Tigers.
“Since Mune wasn’t in the game, I have to step up and take that power hitting,” Vargas said, failing to keep a straight face through his joke. “A lot of emotions happened in those couple of seconds. I want to run, I want to enjoy with the team. It’s a big win for us. This team has been battling the whole game, all this season.”
It could have been the most frustrating of nights for the White Sox, not just because they’d outhit and out-chanced the Tigers for the entirety of the evening, but because Munetaka Murakami exited in the third inning after tweaking his hamstring legging out a potential double play ball.
“Looks like a little hamstring strain on the initial evaluation,” Will Venable said. “He’ll get some imaging tomorrow, but probably a couple weeks.”
Oddly enough, the move initially benefited the White Sox, as pinch runner Luisangel Acuña scored all the way from first on Vargas’ double for their first run of the game. It also could have bitten the Sox at the end, because after Sam Antonacci struck out to start the top of the 10th, Derek Hill came to the plate in Murakami’s spot and lost a righty-righty battle by grounding out to third.
Then again, that the Sox even got to the 10th inning required the kind of fortune that’s characterized their surprising first two months, and the misfortune that’s trapped the Tigers in the AL Central cellar. Andrew Benintendi singled through the right side with one out in the ninth, then took third on Tristan Peters’ nearly identical single. Up came Rikuu Nishida, and given Will Venable’s tendencies this season, it wasn’t surprising to see Nishida square around to bunt, nor for the Tigers to anticipate it as well.
Nishida got the bunt down, but not in a fashion that gave Benintendi a clean break for home on the safety squeeze. He initially held up, but when Kyle Finnegan didn’t look him all the way back, Benintendi restored his momentum toward home and dove in ahead of Spencer Torkelson’s throw to the plate. Nishida’s first career RBI was a Very Nishida RBI that tied the game at 2, but Torkelson was able to keep it that way by smothering Romo’s chopper down the line, sending the game into extras.
“Really heads up play by Beni,” Venable said. “He’s been in those situations before, that’s what you get with a guy that has that kind of experience and that kind of baseball IQ. Really good read by him there and obviously a huge play.”
Bryan Hudson was briefly in line for the BS loss, allowing the Manfred Man to score on a sac bunt and a sac fly in the top of the 10th, but instead came away with the win. A.J. Hinch’s decision to play for one run — admittedly not a bad move, considering the batting averages for Zach McKinstry and Zack Short — was overwritten by the long ball.
Vargas’ home run also overwrote the initial version of this recap, which would’ve led with an inventory of the scoring chances the Sox failed to convert against Detroit starter Troy Melton.
First inning: Antonacci leads off with a single and steals second, but advances no further on a strikeout, popout and flyout.
Fifth inning: Romo leads off with a double, but advances no further after a flyout and two groundouts.
Sixth inning: Chase Meidroth doubles with one out, but is stranded at third after a pair of groundouts.
Melton finished with a line from decades past — 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K — and it looked like it would be enough to outduel the White Sox’s Brandon Eisert-Erick Fedde combination, which worked well enough.
Eisert opened the game by retiring the first four batters he faced. Fedde’s four inning were rockier, but the only damage came on a two-run homer by Dillon Dingler, and Fedde can’t really regret the pitch location. Dingler somehow dug out a changeup at his ankles and hoisted it over the left field wall. What Fedde would’ve been kicking himself over was walking the ninth-hitting Short after getting ahead 1-2, which made it a two-run homer instead of a solo shot.
“In the moment, very upset about it and then you go back and watch it and think well, they’re professional hitters too,” Fedde said. “In a way you’ve got to credit the fans for wins like that. The place was loud, it was electric. It makes the guys play better, makes their team feel pressure. I love seeing it.”
Fedde sidestepped a real chance at disaster in the fourth, when the Tigers loaded the bases with two outs, but Short’s line drive off the end of the bat couldn’t clear Acuña at short, and Detroit left them loaded. He was able to last one out into the sixth, retiring Torkelson on a fielder’s choice for the first out. In came Sean Newcomb, who only needed three pitches to end the sixth on a double play. He pitched around a leadoff walk in the seventh and threw a 1-2-3 eighth, finishing with 2 ⅔ scoreless innings in another lengthy outing that’s providing immense value for Venable. From there, he still had high-leverage for the latest innings, with Seranthony Domínguez in a perfect ninth, and Hudson in a good-enough 10th.
Bullet points:
*Venable used both catchers, but not his entire bench, as Randal Grichuk didn’t appear.
*Jacob Gonzalez was pulled from Charlotte’s game, and James confirmed it was for a likely corresponding move with Murakami.
Record: 30-27 | Box score | Statcast
