The White Sox had to follow up Lucas Giolito’s all-time performance with a low-stress game for the afternoon matinee on Wednesday. The White Sox as a team kept the good vibes going to take both games from the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Everything was coming up White Sox. They pitched well, smashed the baseball, and played great defense to move their current home winning streak to 7 after the 10-3 beatdown of the Pirates. Dallas Keuchel (6IP 4H 2ER 3BB 7K 1W) moved his overall record to 5-2. He pitched extremely well, aside from the two runs he let come across in the 6th. The White Sox offense is still simmering at the plate and quickly put this game out of reach.
The offense got things rolling early, exploding four runs at the bottom of the 2nd. Luis Robert chipped in with a sacrifice fly to score Eloy Jimenez. Then, Nomar Mazara rocked a single to score Edwin Encarnacion from second. And to cap off the bottom of the 2nd, Danny Mendick smashed a home run into right field to make the score 4-0. In the 4th inning, Encarnacion obliterated a pitch 435FT into the left-field seats to make the score 5-0.
In the next inning, Jimenez destroyed a pitch over the right-field wall for another three runs, extending the lead for the White Sox to 8-0 at the end of the fifth. After Keuchel gave up the two runs in the 6th, Jose Abreu was more than willing to put the cherry on top to sink these Pirates. Abreu smacked a two-run shot over the left-field wall in the 7th, bringing the score to 10-2.
The White Sox won the game with a final score of 10-3 and took the series against the Pirates 2-0. Their overall record now sits at 19-12 as they move into second place, only a single game behind the Minnesota Twins.
The White Sox had 12 hits, and it was nice to see two of the offseason signings finally contribute. Edwin Encarnacion had his parrot trot ready for the Pirates as he went 2-4 with two runs and 1RBI. The biggest thing for me is that both hits were for extra bases (2B and HR). Nomar Mazara has yet to hit a home run or get multiple hits, but the big hit he did have helped in taking that big lead early. The bottom of the order was on point today and is a great thing moving forward. They should be able to keep the pressure on the pitcher in every inning of a game.
The White Sox get a day off and then start a three-game series in Chicago with the Kansas City Royals. The White Sox look for another series sweep as the team shoots for taking over first place this weekend.
Reynaldo Lopez will get the party started on Friday and will build on his previous start. He is still build up strength after coming back from injury.