K.C.-Texas 6, White Sox 3: two Ls, one recap

Mar 23, 2023 - 12:25 AM

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Despite still awaiting the returns of Tim Anderson, Luis Robert Jr. and Yoán Moncada to the lineup, the White Sox split their squad today to play a pair of matchups in simultaneity against Texas and Kansas City. Neither game was to be easily found on television, and unfortunately, neither was to be won by the White Sox.

Their road affair with the Rangers in Surprise was simple: Nathan Eovaldi didn’t allow the White Sox to score any runs, nor did the three relievers that followed him. The Rangers managed to post two runs against Sox pitching, of which a Clint Frazier home run in the second inning was the only one actually produced by the offense. The second was a product of a José Ruiz walk with the bases loaded, once again with Frazier at the dish. Yes, the fairy dust of WBC dominance might already have evaporated for José.

The lackluster offense negated scoreless innings out of the bullpen from Reynaldo López and Jimmy Lambert, the former of whom is building a strong case for receiving the team’s save opportunities right out of the gate next month. Eovaldi’s excellent first spring in Texas blue continued with five scoreless innings, scattering five hits — including two from Oscar Colás, springing him from a 1-for-20 slump. Colás appeared to injure himself early in the game (groan) before springing back onto the field seemingly with no issue (huzzah).

Seby Zavala and Leury García were responsible for a single apiece, but the team only had six at-bats with runners in scoring position all day. Elvis Andrus and Yasmani Grandal reached on walks, but were otherwise held hitless along with Gavin Sheets and Adam Haseley.

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Back at Camelback Ranch, the scene doesn’t seem to have been a whole lot prettier. The start was promising, with Erik González doubling home Jake Burger after he had been hit by a pitch and advanced on an Andrew Benintendi single out of the 3-spot.

That was about all they got, though. Yolbert Sánchez manufactured two runs of his own with a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning and RBI double in the seventh after coming on in relief of a hitless Hanser Alberto. Otherwise, the only other baserunners came in the form of players with little hope of seeing Guaranteed Rate Field this year: a single from catcher Evan Skoug and triple courtesy of Nate Mondou.

Davis Martin was not at his finest, struggling with his control, hit batsmen, and home runs en route to allowing four runs in 4 1⁄3 innings of work. He’ll likely have one more start to make his case for staying on the big-league pitching staff instead of heading to Charlotte, if that hasn’t been decided already.

J.B. Olson punched out both of the hitters he faced after Martin departed, and Rule 5 pick Nick Avila threw a strong two hitless innings behind that. Declan Cronin and Edgar Navarro finished off 4 2⁄3 hitless innings from the deep part of the Sox bullpen depth chart in the losing effort, and they would have faced the minimum as a collective were it not for a Wilber Sánchez error in the infield.

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Michael Kopech is scheduled to take the hill for the Sox tomorrow afternoon against San Francisco. We also may see Anderson and Robert in a White Sox uniform for the first time in several weeks, but Lance Lynn has not yet been scheduled to pitch.

Tomorrow’s game will be one of the few broadcast by the team this spring on NBC Sports Chicago. As usual, it will also be broadcast via radio on WMVP-AM 1000.

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