2020 OOTP sim: Texas squeaks by Sox, 2-1
CHICAGO — What on paper seemed to be anything but a pitcher's duel ended up exactly that, as Texas Rangers righty outthrew White Sox southpaw Matt Tomshaw on Friday, 2-1.
The game turned on two early plays at home plate, both working against the hometown heroes.
Yoán Moncada led off the White Sox first with a double, but was thrown out at home when Nick Madrigal followed with a single. Somehow, Rangers outfielder Nick Solak threw Moncada out, with a thrown on the fly, from deep left field. Still, Eloy Jiménez picked Moncada up by singling home Madrigal for a 1-0 White Sox lead.
Solak wasn't finished tormenting the White Sox, however, in the very next Rangers at-bats, the youngster clocked a two-out, 2-2 pitch deep to left to put Texas up, 2-1.
As has been their wont, the White Sox punched right back in their next half — or, in this case, tried to. Yermín Mercedes singled and was pushed to third on a James McCann double to start the Chicago second. Next, the scuffling José Abreu hit a deep fly ball to left-center and somehow managed to peg Mercedes out at home tagging up. Danny Mendick popped out to short to leave McCann stranded.
And that — yes, in the second inning — was the last best White Sox scoring opportunity.
Lyles entered the game 0-1 with a 5.17 ERA and absolutely handcuffed the White Sox for seven innings (six hits, one run, six Ks, walk, 66 game score).
For his part, Tomshaw stepped up as well. Rather than melting down after his first two, heavily-trafficked innings and the long ball to Solak, the rookie basically matched Lyles pitch-for-pitch (seven innings, two runs, six hits, walk, five Ks, 61 game score).
The White Sox still have a hope of splitting this series with the best-in-AL Rangers. Saturday is a battle of aces, with Corey Kluber (0-0, 5.21 ERA) facing Dallas Keuchel (2-0, 2.31).
NOTES: Jordan Lyles struck out the side in the fourth ... James McCann caught Robinson Chirinos stealing (?), his first CS of the season in four attempts.
AROUND THE MAJORS
First Star of the day was Aaron Nola, who threw a six hit shutout (six Ks, no walks) against Miami.
Josh James of the Houston Astros was the Second Star. James through eight shutout innings at the Angels (four hits, three walks, nine Ks) for a 4-0 win.
The pitching trifecta was completed, as Jacob deGrom was the Third Star of the day, pitching seven innings of scoreless, two-hit ball with a walk and six Ks in a 7-1 win over badly slumping Milwaukee.
Mike Moustakas hit his 11th home run in a 3-1 Reds win that sank the Yankees to 8-12.
Host Boston helped the White Sox remain just a half-game out of first place by knocking off Cleveland, 7-6.
But the Twins moved into a tie with the White Sox at 11-9, with a 7-1 dumping of the Tigers fueled by four Minny homers.
Mookie Betts fueled a two-out rally in the 10th that saw him later score on a Max Muncy single, sending the Dodgers to a 6-5 win over Pittsburgh.
Actor (final credit: murdered by Albert Einstein in "Carnage Hall"), musician (Ethnocentric Republicans), and Nerf hoops champion, Wiffleball aficionado and onetime bilingual kindergarten teacher, Brett Ballantini also writes about baseball, basketball and sometimes hockey, for the NBA, MLB, NHL, and Slam, Hoop, Sporting News, the Athletic, SB Nation and others. He was CSN Chicago’s Blackhawks beat writer when their 49-year Stanley Cup drought ended in 2009-10, and took over the White Sox beat after that. He currently is the editor-in-chief of South Side Hit Pen and beat writer for Inside the Rays. He also wrote a book about Ozzie Guillén but is running out of space, so follow him on Twitter @BrettBallantini and he'll probably tell you even more about himself than you ever wanted to know.
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