2020 OOTP sim's flat Friday: O's whitewash Sox
CHICAGO — The game was quick, but it was not sweet.
The White Sox put up just six hits against Baltimore starter Aaron Sánchez, who handcuffed the home club into a 4-0 loss.
But even on the Baltimore side, things were short and sweet. The only true menace of the game was Trey Mancini, who among three hits opening the scoring with a first-inning triple, then hit a straight inside-the-park home run (Luis Robert style?!?) in the fourth to add a second run.
Michael Kopech, in his first start of the season, was the victim of both Mancini belts. The flamethrowers, still being monitored closely as he comes off of Tommy John surgery, threw four innings and picked up five Ks.
In the seventh, Steve Cishek put the game out of reach by serving up a two-run blast to Renato Nuñez.
Friendlier surroundings did not seem so sunny on Friday for the White Sox, who have now fallen a season-high two games below .500 at 15-17. Enigmatic starter Reynaldo López — 2-0 on the season in spite of being battered like a batting-practice pitcher in April — is charged with ending the White Sox slide on Saturday.
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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