The White Sox were encouraged by what their offense did in the bottom of the ninth inning. Even Dallas Keuchel took some pluses from his outing.
But the bottom line is this: the Sox’ 6-5 loss to the Angels on Sunday was their 11th in 13 games. The lineup was silent for eight innings, and Keuchel’s command issues continued.
Needing six runs in the ninth to overcome those problems, the Sox rallied for five but left the bases loaded on Gavin Sheets’ grounder to first to end the game against former teammate Ryan Tepera. Still, the Sox hoped to build from the inning that included a two-run double from Leury Garcia, an RBI double from Josh Harrison, Tim Anderson’s run-scoring single and Jose Abreu getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
“We fought. We fought in the ninth. That’s a positive,” Luis Robert said through a translator. “We were able to come back in that ninth inning. It was good for us. Even though we didn’t win the game, it was a good battle and we know that we’re not passing a very good moment, but a game like today, the battle that we had in the ninth inning was good.”
For the first eight innings, Sunday looked like another frustrating performance from an offense that entered the day with only 36 runs over its past 15 games. Having thrown 91 pitches through eight innings, Angels starter Michael Lorenzen - who had never thrown more than seven frames - was given a chance by manager Joe Maddon to go for a complete-game shutout.
Despite going scoreless for eight innings, manager Tony La Russa sounded positive about the offense’s performance even before the final frame.
“I was pleased with them not only just in the ninth,” La Russa said. “We had a bunch of hits against a guy who really pitched well. Give him a lot of credit. It’s just what we did in the ninth inning was very special. Could have been real special. We took our shot.”
The Sox found themselves in that position after another rocky start from Keuchel.
Keuchel went five innings, giving up four runs and six hits while walking five (one intentional). Over his last two outings, Keuchel has walked 10 batters.
Clearly his control hurt him again Sunday, as did Angels superstar Mike Trout with a no-doubt first-inning home run and a third-inning double. But just a few minutes after the game, La Russa wasn’t quite ready to fully assess Keuchel, whose sterling track record is becoming a more distant memory.
“The wrong thing to do is try to evaluate in the heat of the moment,” La Russa said. “Trout hurt him twice, but the walks are not good. You evaluate later on when you calm down a little bit.”
Keuchel was disappointed by the walks and said he’s forcing things early instead of letting the game flow. However, he said he likes how the ball is moving, and thought he had good command Sunday except for the cutter that Trout hit for a home run.
Trout - who reached base five times - and Lorenzen were too much for the Sox, even if they came close to coming back.
“Nothing surprises me with what we do as a team, Keuchel said. “As well as we have not played together, that was standard right there. We’re battling and it doesn’t mean if it’s on offense or defense or pitching, we’re in these ballgames. It’s nice to see smiles and hits, instead of sadness and slumber waiting for the next day. I’d like to smile a little bit more and get some more wins.”
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May 02, 2022 at 04:26AM
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Late rally falls short in White Sox 6-5 loss to Angels - Chicago Sun-Times
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