2020 OOTP sim: Infield dinks doom White Sox
KANSAS CITY — I'm not able to type too much tonight, but let's just say the Royals may have set a record for infield hits on Tuesday in their 8-4 win over the White Sox.
Chicago entered the series at 31-28, just 5 ½ back of first place, while the Royals, typically mediocre, were far in back of the White Sox, solidly in fourth. The South Siders had won six of nine against K.C. so far in 2020. And as a bonus, the Royals were ready to run out a series of so-so pitchers.
And the game looked good for the first couple of hours. A consummate K.C. run (Adalberto Mondesi walks, steals second, goes to third on an errant Yasmani Grandal throw, scores on a grounder to short) did not hold up, and with Dylan Cease dealing, things looked good.
Down 1-0 in the second on the Mondesi nonsense, the White Sox tied it up in the fifth, on back-to-back doubles from season slumpers Tim Anderson and José Abreu.
And in the sixth, Eloy Jiménez clocked another three-run homer, his speciality of late, to put the White Sox up, 4-1. Against a flaccid Royals offense, it seemed an insurmountable advantage.
Then came the seventh. Cease was bumped from the game after giving up a two-run triple to Nicky Lopez that cut the Sox lead to 4-3.
It got a lot worse from there, as Aaron Bummer came in and let another five runs score. The Chicago defense, already contributing flat feet to all these infield hits for K.C., also committed an error (Yoán Moncada letting a throw on a double-play ball drift off into the outfield).
Alex Gordon singled to tie the game, then Moncada's error loaded the bases back up. Brett Phillips singled in two, and Jorge Soler had another infield single to load the bases. Bummer walked in a run, and one final insult of an infield hit made the game 8-4. Alex Colomé donned his cape and swooped in with a whiff and a fly out to rescue Bummer and the White Sox.
But the damage was done, morale dampened, and K.C. delivered the win in the opener.
On Wednesday, the White Sox try to even the series up by sending out white-hot Dallas Keuchel against punching bag Danny Duffy. Ashley Sanders will have your coverage.
NOTES: Before the game, Michael Kopech was promoted to the White Sox. Kopech was 1-0 with no earned runs in 18 ⅔ innings, with 10 walks and 24 Ks in three starts at Charlotte. Demoted was lefty reliever Christian Friedrich, who had three walks, zero Ks, and a 6.75 ERA in two games with Chicago. Kopech will start on Thursday for the White Sox.
