White Sox bullpen extends dominant stretch, Meidroth has 4 hits in win

ARLINGTON -- The sheer bullpen dominance shown by the White Sox during a 4-2 victory over the Rangers Wednesday night at Globe Life Field actually took root hours before the first pitch was thrown in this series finale.

“We are a tight-knit group out there at this point,” said left-hander Bryan Hudson, who earned his fourth save with a perfect ninth. “We are always bouncing stuff off each other in catch play before games, watching guys. We have a good group out there.”

Good would be an understatement for the White Sox relief crew over the last 11 games.

After Jordan Hicks, Grant Taylor and Hudson combined for four hitless innings against Texas (51-51), White Sox relievers have now allowed eight earned runs in their last 45 2/3 innings dating back to July 8. They struck out eight Wednesday, with five coming from the relief force that is Taylor, giving them 47 punchouts during this run.

Opponents are 29-for-161 against them, which translates to a not-so-robust .180 average against.

“You've got to be able to execute pitches and continue to pound the zone, and they did that,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “Obviously, each one of them came out and did a great job.”

“Bullpen’s been nails,” said White Sox starter Anthony Kay, who improved to 7-4 by allowing two runs over five innings. “When you can hand the ball off to guys like that, it’s a little bit easier.”

Kay, who increased his single-season franchise record to 19 hit batsmen, certainly didn’t want to leave after 79 pitches. But Hicks now owns a career-best 11-game scoreless streak since being reinstated from the 15-day injured list on June 21, and even pitched around errors from catcher Edgar Quero and third baseman Miguel Vargas in the sixth.

Taylor is seen as the closer of this group, but not with the heart of the Texas order set to hit in the seventh and eighth. The hard-throwing right-hander, who topped out at 100.4 mph, per Statcast, struck out the side on 14 pitches in the seventh and added two more K's in the eighth. He ranks fourth on the team overall with 72 strikeouts over 51 1/3 innings.

“We wanted to run him there at the top and hoping to get two out of him,” said Venable of Taylor. “And then you got Huddy and Nuke [Sean Newcomb] behind him, Seranthony [Domínguez]. So we felt good about where we were at.”

“It’s unbelievable,” said second baseman Chase Meidroth of the relievers. “You have electric stuff. Hicks has been amazing and GT has been like that all year. You get a lead with one of those guys in and good luck. But, it’s been awesome having those guys come in late.”

Meidroth tied a career high with four singles, driving in two, while Andrew Benintendi’s two singles each drove in a run. There was none of that familiar slug, as the White Sox finished with seven singles and no extra-base hits.

“Our offense is very multifaceted,” Meidroth said. “There are many ways to win a baseball game, which makes this team and lineup really special. It’s a great job by our offense getting ahead there, and a better job by the bullpen shutting it down.”

Prior to the All-Star break, shortstop Colson Montgomery predicted to MLB.com that this White Sox team would come out just as strong after the break, and he has not been wrong. Wednesday’s effort gave the White Sox road series wins in Toronto and Texas, two places where they traditionally have not played well, and lifted their record to 23-30 in games played away from home.

At 54-47, the White Sox matched their season best at seven games over .500. They pushed back atop the American League Central by one game -- as the Guardians lost to the Twins on a night José Ramírez returned from injury to their lineup -- and fly home for three against the Astros and four against the Yankees.

It’s a good position for the White Sox to reside, especially when receiving this great late relief.

“A lot of it is going day to day and not thinking too much about what’s going on the day before,” Hudson said. ”Focus on what’s in front of us and how we can win that day. Just keep going that way. It’s a good feeling.”

“We're trying to find ways to find our path through the game, and what that might look like is going to be different every day,” Venable said. “Having so many guys locked in, it gives them more versatility and ways to find the end of these games on the winning side.”