Mercedes homers, White Sox rally late to force tie
Power surge: 2019 first round pick Andrew Vaughn hit a double off the wall to raise his way-too-early spring average to .500 and his way-too-early spring OPS to 1.750. (Sean Williams/South Side Hit Pen)
Offensive highlights were hard to come by this afternoon, as the White Sox tied their Camelback Ranch buddies by a score of 2-2. A decent chunk of the offensive highlights we did see came courtesy of Nicky Delmonico, who went 3-for-3 with two doubles. Unfortunately, nobody was able to drive Delmonico home. Delmonico did not get a fourth plate appearance, as he was pulled for a pinch-runner in the sixth (Jaycob Brugman).
The pitching staff managed to hold the Dodgers off the board for most of the afternoon, as the game remained scoreless until the bottom of the sixth. 26-year-old righty Alex McRae started on the mound for the White Sox, and he threw two innings and set down all six batters he faced. Adalberto Mejía contributed two scoreless innings of his own, and Evan Marshall added a scoreless fifth. Marshall would not have escaped unscathed, however, if not for this excellent defense by Danny Mendick.
The first run for either side crossed the plate when right-hander Ian Hamilton allowed a solo home run to Cody Thomas. Three batters later, Omar Estevez followed with another solo shot off Hamilton. As a result, the Dodgers led by a score of 2-0 after six.Although Delmonico had nearly half of the White Sox's hits, the loudest hit was a seventh inning blast by Yermín Mercedes, which cut the deficit in half. Did I mention this thing was crushed? Because, seriously, it was. Have a look. Hopefully, you will enjoy this as much as I did:
Whether or not the White Sox will have room for Mercedes on the 26-man roster remains to be seen. However, today was certainly a step in the right direction for him. The next batter, Andrew Vaughn, nearly followed with a solo blast of his own. Instead, Vaughn settled for a double off the top of the wall. Last year's third overall pick finished 1-for-2.
In his only other plate appearance, Mercedes led off the top of the ninth inning with a single. That turned out to be a big hit, as the lead runner came around to score on a Matt Skole double to tie the game.
In the latter innings, Codi Heuer, Jacob Lindgren, and Will Kincanon all pitched admirably, as each threw a scoreless inning to make the offense's job easier. As a result, the Skole RBI double was the last time either team scored, as this game ended in a 2-2 tie.
Nick Madrigal was the center of attention for White Sox Twitter this morning. This was because for the second straight season, Keith Law decided not to include him on his Top 100 Prospects list. As a result, I wanted Madrigal to succeed even more than usual today. Though Madrigal did not strike out (of course), he did not reach base, either, finishing 0-for-3. You win this small battle, Keith, but Madrigal will win the war.
With the tie, the White Sox's record stands at 1-0-1 this spring. Tomorrow will be a split-squad day, as there will be a pair of White Sox games, both at 2:05 CST. One will be a road game at Goodyear Ballpark against Cleveland. Left-hander Bernardo Flores Jr. is set to take the mound for the Sox, while Shane Bieber is Cleveland's probable starter. In the other matchup, a home game, Drew Anderson will take the mound for the White Sox against Kevin Gausman of the Giants. The latter game will be streaming on whitesox.com.