Luis Robert Jr. drove in half of the South Side runs, and the bullpen came to play with three scoreless innings
The White Sox (23-44) rookie squad played a great game all around while sealing a 4-2 win over the Astros (36-30). Shane Smith (3-3) was excellent while giving up just one run in six innings, and Grant Taylor made his MLB debut and was lights out. The offense also came alive just enough with some timely hitting, the bullpen actually wasn’t horrible, and Luis Robert Jr. is (maybe?) on his way back. Not a bad night at all!
Both offenses were fairly timid for the first time through the order, but started to heat up after batting around. The Good Guys were the first to score in the bottom of the second, however, and Kyle Teel kicked off the mini rally by drawing a walk. Robert had quite a game this evening and ripped a double to right field that allowed Teel to score all the way from first. And let’s be clear, the man was hoofing it, and it paid off as the Sox took an early 1-0 lead.
The South Side bats kept working into the third, and loaded the bases with a Mike Tauchman double and back-to-back walks from Chase Meidroth and Andrew Benintendi. Edgar Quero came up to bat in the DH slot and came through in the clutch with a 99.5 mph single through the left side to score two more insurance runs, making it 3-0, South Siders.
Smith was solid for the first two innings and gave up just one base hit in the first and a walk in the second that eventually turned into an inning-ending double play. The third got a little dicey for Shane as he gave up a base hit to start the frame, followed by a double from Jeremy Peña just a couple of batters later. His first (and only!) run given up came from a sacrifice fly from Isaac Paredes, cutting Chicago’s lead to two, 3-1.
Smith then walked José Altuve on the next at-bat, triggering a mound visit from pitching coach Ethan Katz. Whatever magic words were said seemed to do the trick, and Smith immediately got the last out to strand two Astros on base.
The righthander seemed to totally settle in after that, and while he allowed at least one baserunner each inning, anytime Houston started to threaten, he was able to shut it down. Smith had just two strikeouts through four, and earned his third by striking out Peña for the second time of the night. He got out of the inning without any harm done as Altuve flew out to end the inning, bringing him to 78 pitches through five.
The South Side offense quieted down a bit, but not without Robert blasting a solo shot to left, getting the run back from the Astros, and putting the Sox lead back up by three.
Out for the top of the sixth for the Astros was our old friend, Bennett Sousa. To say Sousa struggled when he was with Chicago would be an understatement. In his brief 20 1⁄3 innings with the Sox, he racked up a whopping 8.41 ERA. He seems to have come a long way, however, as he has posted a 2.14 ERA in 21 innings with the Astros and has given up just five hits all season. And sure enough, he worked through the White Sox in order in the sixth, and though he walked Tim Elko, he shut them down again in the top of the seventh. My, how the tables turn.
Smith made his final appearance in the seventh, giving up a single to Christian Walker, but forcing Jake Meyers to ground into a double play — the third of his outing. He ended his night with a three-run lead, finishing his six innings of work with 89 pitches and just one run scored on seven hits.
Taking over for Smith was Grant Taylor, making his major league debut with the South Siders. He seemed to be amped and ready for the opportunity, and his family was able to join him in Houston.
Taylor’s first big league pitch touched 101.5 mph, which ended up being the fastest thrown pitch of the day across MLB. Taylor quickly forced Victor Caratini to fly out to center to earn his first out as a big leaguer. Somebody grab that ball!
He recorded the second out with just one pitch and completed his first inning in just 12 pitches, of which 10 were strikes. It was an outstanding first outing for Taylor, bringing some hope to a bullpen that has notoriously and consistently been mediocre.
Steven Wilson was out for the eighth, though his 1.80 ERA tells one story, his 14.6% walk rate tells another (speaking of “mediocre bullpen”). He gave up a base hit to start the frame, then naturally walked Paredes to give the Astros a free runner. He proceeded to load the bases by giving up a hit to Altuve, but for some reason, Peña decided not to test Benintendi’s arm and held at third. A run did end up scoring on a sac fly, but that really ended up being the best-case scenario considering the damage that could have been done.
Wilson picked up a very timely strikeout for the second out of the inning and was ultimately bailed out by Robert, who made a sliding catch to get out of the inning.
Brandon Eisert came out to close the game, and a 1-2-3 inning was all it took for Eisert to shut down the Astros and earn his second save of the season. Smith also ended up with his third win of the year, and for once, the bullpen was mostly efficient, even though there were some bumps along the way.
This was a really well-played game all around and was a solid team win, even if the offense passed away after the fourth inning. The Sox are now 5-5 over their last 10 games and have won five of their previous seven.
Same time, same place tomorrow night as the South Siders look to win their second series in a row.