Two hundred and ninety-nine days after the White Sox last played a regular season game, they returned to the field to take on the Minnesota Twins at a fanless Guaranteed Rate Field for the start of the pandemic-abbreviated 60-game sprint.
To sum up what the first night of the season taught us:
- The Twins offense is still very good.
- A week is longer than you think.
Lucas Giolito’s first pitch of the game left the yard, defensive miscues from Leury García at second base compounded his issues, and while the White Sox were able to dig out of one hole, the Twins’ second burial did the trick.
The White Sox were down 4-0 before they came to the plate, but Giolito was only responsible for one of those runs, as off as he was. Kepler got around on an inside-corner fastball and hoisted it just over the wall in right for a quick lead, but after Giolito walked Josh Donaldson, he came back to get a double-play ball off the bat off Jorge Polanco. It should’ve been 6-4-3, but García bobbled the exchange at second despite an ideal toss from Tim Anderson, so it was only 6-4. When Giolito then got Nelson Cruz to bounce to the left side of second, a shifted García gloved it. Instead of throwing to first to get the plodding Cruz, he flipped to Anderson, who was far away from second and lost the footrace to Polanco.
Ten pitches in, Giolito should have recorded three outs with just one run on the board, and headed to the dugout to regroup. Instead, he stayed out there for 20 more pitches as he struggled to stay on top of his fastball/changeup combo. He walked Eddie Rosario to load the bases, gave up a sac fly to Mitch Garver, then a two-run single to Jake Cave before a strikeout of Miguel Sano ended the inning.
Kepler homered off Giolito in the second inning as well, but the Sox managed to reset the scorebord by the bottom of that frame, even with Jose Berríos pitching.
After getting one run back in the first on a José Abreu groundout but leaving another on base, the Sox made up for it in the second. Eloy Jiménez’s leadoff single came around to score on #WILDPITCHOFFENSE, but with the bases empty, Berríos managed to start another rally by walking García with two outs. Tim Anderson shot a single to left, and Yoán Moncada followed with a no-doubt blast to right for a game-tying three-run shot.
But the White Sox didn’t have another counterpunch in them, and the Twins worked the body for crooked numbers in two later innings.
Giolito alternated singles and outs to open the fourth, but his bases-loading walk of Donaldson brought Rick Renteria to the mound. He called on Evan Marshall to face Polanco, and while Marshall got the weak contact he’s known for, it resulted in a flared two-run single to center field that made it a 7-5 game, and the Sox trailed the rest of the night.
In the seventh, it was Jimmy Cordero’s turn for bad batted-ball luck. After giving up a single through the middle to Polanco, he got Cruz to hit a shot right toward García at second. Problem was, it clipped the inner lip of the infield and shot over García head into center to put runners in the corners. Renteria then went to Aaron Bummer, but it wasn’t his night. He allowed both inherited runners to score, as well as one of his own.
White Sox debuts
In order from most successful to least successful…
Luis Robert: Rifled the first pitch he saw into left field at 115.8 mph for his first major-league hit, then capped off his night with a ringing double to the base of the wall in right. In between, he flared out to right and struck out.
Codi Heuer: The seventh White Sox pitcher of the night did his job, pitching a straightforward 1-2-3 inning with the Sox trailing by 5 in the ninth. Garver isn’t a bad first strikeout victim.
Yasmani Grandal: He didn’t impress on either side of the ball. He allowed a blockable wild pitch in Giolito’s rough first inning, then had a passed ball after getting crossed up on an Evan Marshall fastball. He also failed to drive in a runner from third with one out in the first, rolling over a Berríos changeup with an uncertain swing on the first pitch. He at least drew a walk.
Edwin Encarnación: He went 0-for-4 with a strikeout and a popout, missing a couple of driveable pitches. He should have been able to reach on an error, but Polanco’s throw from short hit Encarnacíon on the side of the knee when he was two steps from the bag, and he ended up stumbling over the top of first base without touching it. He was tagged out while lying on the ground.
The aforementioned long week
There are two problems with forcing Nick Madrigal to start the season in Schaumburg to wrestle a year of team control from him: It puts a worse defender at second in García, and with García obligated the infield, the options in right field are dreadful.
Both trouble spots wasted no time acting up on them. García mishandled two plays, then let another grounder get past him despite a diving attempt. Nicky Delmonico, meanwhile, went 0-for-4 with four stranded at the plate, and his contact was miserable. The exit velocities were 59.4 mph (GIDP), 72.5 mph (groundout), 81.9 mph (popout), and 46.1 mph (popout).
The Twins announced that they were scratching Rich Hill from Saturday’s start and using Randy Dobnak instead, and part of me wondered if they wanted to encourage Renteria to keep the same lineup.
Bullet points
*Berríos didn’t rise to the occasion on the Opening Day start, either. He allowed five runs over four innings, and only recorded one strikeout. His breaking ball spun on him.
*The Twins bullpen, on the other hand, allowed just four baserunners over five innings while striking out seven.
*While Bummer struggled, Jace Fry looked like his best self. He retired all four batters he faced with ease.
*The White Sox’s nine hits all came from multi-hit efforts: Anderson (2-for-5), Moncada (3-for-5), jiménez (2-for-3 with a walk) and Robert (2-for-4).
*Anderson passed his first test of the season, ranging to his right and throwing across his body for a force at second.
*Jason Benetti and Steve Stone made it sound relatively normal.
Record: 0-1 | Box score | Statcast
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Twins 10, White Sox 5: An opener not worth the wait - Sox Machine
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