Kyren Paris Hits Late Home Run As Angels Beat White Sox 3-2 After Rain Delay
CHICAGO – After a rain delay of two hours and 48 minutes, Angels center fielder Kyren Paris broke the tie with a solo home run in the eighth inning off of White Sox reliever Cam Booser.
That proved to be the game-winning blast in the Angels’ 3-2 win over the White Sox Sunday at Rate Field as Los Angeles took two of three games on the road to begin the season.
Saturday’s game was scoreless until the eighth inning, but Sunday’s rubber match came with immediate action on the basepaths. Angels leadoff hitter Taylor Ward hit a ground ball through White Sox shortstop Jake Amaya’s legs for an error, and Nolan Schanuel reached on an infield single as second baseman Brooks Baldwin couldn’t cleanly glove the ball on a diving play.
Jorge Soler put the Angels on the board with a sacrifice fly, and Yoan Moncada reached on a fielder’s choice to make it a 2-0 game. Both runs were unearned for White Sox starter Davis Martin.
“Tough play to start there for Amaya, the ball kind of stayed down on him,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “He's one of our guys out there that we trust and is a great defender. Tough to start the game like that, but I thought Davis did a good job of pitching around that. Really happy with the way that our offense responded after that too. I think that was great."
“I came in the dugout and I was more frustrated with how we executed with two strikes to all those guys,” Martin said. “I think most of those hits were two-strike hits. Just a lot of things to clean up for me. But just doing your job and try to execute when you can. Those guys are going to make plays for you whenever."
Venable made a few lineup changes and put designated hitter Nick Maton in the top spot after third baseman Miguel Vargas led off the first two games. Venable expected a heavy dose of fastballs and sinkers from Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz and saw that as a good matchup for Maton.
Venable was right, as Maton blasted a 95 mile-per-hour sinker for a 399-foot home run with an exit velocity of 104.4 miles per hour over the center field fence. The White Sox jumped on Kochanowicz early as the first five batters each hit the ball with an exit velocity of 100 miles per hour. Catcher Matt Thaiss had the hardest hit ball of the inning at 106.2 miles per hour, good for a single that drove in Luis Robert Jr. and tied the game 2-2.
After some defensive miscues early, Amaya and Baldwin teamed up for a double play to end the second inning. The starting pitchers settled in, too. Martin faced the minimum number of batters from the second through the fifth innings, and Kochanowicz did so from the second through the sixth.
Venable thought Kochanowicz kept the White Sox hitters off balance by using a four-seam fastball more frequently as the game went on.
“Really our game plan today, we knew he had the four-seamer, but we were really trying to get under the sinker and that's what we talked about early in the day,” Venable said. “Then he used the four-seamer more, which we had to make an adjustment on and weren't really able to do it like we wanted to."
Martin pitched six innings and allowed four hits and two unearned runs while walking two batters and striking out two. He called his changeup the backbone of what he’s trying to do, and he leaned on it heavily today. Martin also felt good about his cutter but just OK about his slider and other things, so there’s still room to improve.
"I think last year when Katz talked about hey we're going to throw [the changeup], we're going to throw it often, I think I'm very much buying into the results that I'm seeing,” Martin said. “I think it's just a comfort pitch that I can throw when I need to. I think the difference is being able to set it up better than last year and not just solely relying on throwing it over and over again. Just try to set it up correctly and get to that spot."
Trying to mount a comeback after Paris’ home run, Venable turned to pinch hitters Austin Slater and Michael A. Taylor in the eighth, but they grounded out and struck out, respectively. Robert reached for a pitch low and away and poked it to center field for a single, then stole second base. But Rengifo made a slick back-handed snag and threw across his body to get Benintendi out at first and end the White Sox rally.
With one last chance to tie or take the lead, White Sox first baseman Andrew Vaughn led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a double to the left field corner off of Angels closer Kenley Jansen, who walked Thaiss in the following at-bat. But Vargas popped out and Baldwin grounded into a double play to end the game.
After a 1-2 series loss to the Angels, the White Sox stay home to host the Minnesota Twins Monday at 1:10 p.m. CT at Rate Field.
Related stories on the Chicago White Sox
- WATCH MATON'S HOME RUN: In the leadoff spot for the first time this season, Nick Maton put the White Sox on the board with a home run off Angels' starter Jack Kochanowicz. CLICK HERE
- MIKE TAUCHMAN INJURY UPDATE: White Sox outfielder Mike Tauchman is on the injured list with a right hamstring strain. Will Venable updated his status before Sunday's game. CLICK HERE
- WHITE SOX FALL 1-0: The Chicago White Sox pitching staff logged another sharp day, but the bats went quiet in a close loss to the Los Angeles Angels Saturday at Rate Field. CLICK HERE
- ANDERSON BACK IN CHICAGO: Los Angeles Angels second baseman and former White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson spoke to the media prior to his first game back at Rate Field. CLICK HERE
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Jack Ankony is the beat writer for “Chicago White Sox on SI.” He has been with the Sports Illustrated network since 2022. He graduated from Indiana University's Media School with a degree in journalism in 2022. Follow Jack on Twitter @ankony_jack