White Sox miss chances for key hits in loss

CHICAGO -- There were numerous chances for the White Sox to score during Saturday's 6-1 loss to the Tigers at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Some were literally knocked down by the 9-mph wind and the 32-degree first-pitch temperature, such as Tim Anderson's long drive to right-center off of Alex Wilson with Welington Castillo on second in the sixth, which had a 78 percent hit probability per Statcast™, and Yolmer Sánchez's ensuing drive to right to end the inning, which had a 69 percent hit probability.
But Detroit starter Michael Fulmer had only one perfect inning among the 5 1/3 he threw, stopping rallies in the second, third and fifth, as the White Sox finished 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

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"He threw the ball pretty well," said Anderson of Fulmer. "We put together some good ABs and kind of fell a little short."
"I'm sure as we move forward we'll get those opportunities again," White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. "Hopefully we'll be able to capitalize. All in all, we just fell short today."
Miguel Cabrera singled home two runs off of White Sox starter Lucas Giolito in the third, while Dixon Machado doubled home two in the sixth. Both hits came with two outs. The only run scored by the White Sox came in the seventh, when Yoán Moncada doubled and came home on Avisaíl García's line drive sacrifice fly to left.

Castillo's popup stranded two in the third, while Matt Davidson's double play took the White Sox out of a first-and-second, one-out situation in the fifth. The White Sox's best chance came when they loaded the bases with nobody out in the second, but Sanchez flew out to short center, Adam Engel struck out and Moncada hit a hard grounder to second.
"We couldn't get the timely hit," Renteria said. "Ended up having [a big opportunity] with the bases loaded and nobody out, and we weren't able to get a run in. We had a couple other opportunities and weren't able to cash in."

Giolito, who threw 49 of his 94 pitches for strikes, walked three and hit three with four of those baserunners scoring. Detroit has won the first two games of this three-game set. The White Sox have lost four of five since a 2-0 start.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Free passes, free runs: With two outs and José Iglesias on first in the third, Giolito issued consecutive walks to Leonys Martin and Jeimer Candelario to load the bases. Cabrera followed with a two-run single to right, giving the Tigers a 2-0 lead. The White Sox loaded the bases with nobody out in the second against Fulmer but did not score.
"It's difficult, but I mean, you have the rosin bag back there," said Giolito of pitching in the cold. "I didn't think I went to that enough today, but it's part of baseball. Early in the year you have some cold weather to deal with and that didn't really affect anything today. I just didn't pitch well."

Replay saves a run: A video replay challenge from Renteria saved a run during a two-run sixth. Iglesias reached safely on a grounder off Giolito's glove, beating his flip to José Abreu at first. But the challenge quickly overturned the safe call on Iglesias, giving the Tigers runners on second and third and two outs instead of the bases loaded and one out. Machado's ensuing double to left would have cleared the bases. Renteria has gone 3-for-3 in challenges against the Tigers and 4-for-4 in challenges this season.

QUOTABLE
"Every walk, D-Bo gets a hug." -- Anderson, who promises to hug first-base coach Daryl Boston on every walk, drawing his fourth in 27 plate appearances after walking 13 times in 606 plate appearances in 2017
IT'S COLD OUTSIDE
The 32-degree first pitch temperature marked the coldest game at Guaranteed Rate Field since April 9, 2016, when it also was 32 in a game against Cleveland. The White Sox played in 31-degree cold on April 4 against the Indians and April 7 against the Twins in 2007.
MITEL REPLAY OF THE DAY
JaCoby Jones originally was ruled out on a steal of second after drawing a walk with two outs in the fourth. A video replay challenge from manager Ron Gardenhire overturned the call, with Jones being awarded a stolen base.

WHAT'S NEXT
Reynaldo López finishes off this three-game weekend set for the White Sox with a 1:10 p.m. CT first pitch on Sunday. Lopez posted a no-decision in his first start on Monday at Toronto despite allowing one run on two hits over six innings.
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