White Sox walk off for series win over Reds
CHICAGO -- The White Sox captured their fifth home series victory in five tries, claiming a 4-3 walk-off victory on Sunday afternoon at U.S. Cellular Field to take two of three from the Reds. The winning run scored when Gordon Beckham singled home Avisail Garcia with the first run scored this season against Reds closer Aroldis Chapman, connecting on the fifth straight fastball at 100 mph or above. The winning rally started with two outs in the ninth against Chapman.
"Luckily I was able to get enough of it and get it over the infielder's head and get it in the outfield," Beckham said. "Better to be lucky than good sometimes."
Cincinnati tied the game in the ninth with the first two runs scored off of closer David Robertson as a member of the White Sox. Zack Cozart's double to left brought home pinch-runners Brennan Boesch and Kristopher Negron, after the two runners moved up a base on Geovany Soto's passed ball. But the Reds could get no more despite having a runner on second with nobody out.
"I tried to get the pitch in, and I actually threw a great pitch. I have to tip my cap to him," said Robertson of Cozart. "He did a great job of hitting. He got it out in the outfield and found a hole."
Emilio Bonifacio's single in the second off of Michael Lorenzen gave the White Sox an early 1-0 lead, but the Reds tied the game in the fourth on Devin Mesoraco's two-out triple that eluded J.B. Shuck in center. The White Sox pushed across the go-ahead run in the seventh without a hit against Tony Cingrani.
Lorenzen yielded one run on seven hits over five innings for the Reds, striking out two and walking four. John Danks fanned four and walked three in his best start this season, covering seven innings and 118 pitches.
Bonifacio, Garcia and Tyler Flowers for the White Sox and Brandon Phillips, Brayan Pena, Cozart and Mesoraco for the Reds turned in multi-hit efforts.
"I put myself in a lot of bad situations. I didn't feel right out there," said Lorenzen, who put 11 base runners on in the game.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Cozart comes through: With runners on second and third base and no outs against closer Robertson in the top of the ninth of a 3-1 game, Cozart delivered when he tied the game with a two-run double lined near the left-field line. It was Cozart's third hit of the game. Despite missing three games with wrist and finger injuries, he was 10-for-23 (.434) on the road trip.
"You're always a little skeptical no matter how good you feel in batting practice," Cozart said of his wrist. "Going into a game, there's nothing like hitting a 93-mph fastball or whatever. I haven't had any problems with it. It's felt good."
First RBI for Mesoraco: With his triple off of the center-field wall in the top of the fourth, Mesoraco notched his first RBI of the season. Because of a left hip impingement, the All-Star catcher has been limited to pinch-hitting duty until he was the designated hitter the past two games. Mesoraco also singled and scored a run in the ninth. His previous hit came the last time he started a game behind the plate -- April 11 vs. the Cardinals.
Video: CIN@CWS: Mesoraco brings in Phillips with a triple
Nobody out, nobody in: By virtue of Flowers' walk, Shuck's single and Bonifacio's bunt single, the White Sox loaded the bases with nobody out in the fourth against Lorenzen. But Melky Cabrera lined out to third baseman Todd Frazier, and Joey Votto started a slick double play on a Jose Abreu grounder to keep the White Sox without a run.
Video: CIN@CWS: Lorenzen escapes jam with nice double play
"When Abreu came up, I told myself I could give up and give in, or I can compete and go after him," Lorenzen said. "I'm not going to give up. I went after him, challenged him in, threw a slider, then went back in there and got the job done."
No hits? No problem: The White Sox scored a go-ahead run in the seventh inning without the benefit of a hit. Reliever Cingrani walked Abreu and Adam LaRoche, throwing nine straight pitches outside of the strike zone to open the fame. The two moved up on Garcia's long fly ball to center, and Abreu scored on Alexei Ramirez's sacrifice fly.
Video: CIN@CWS: Alexei gives White Sox lead with sac fly
QUOTABLE
"We didn't play well. We walked [seven]. I don't know how many leadoff hitters were on. We had no business being in that game, and here we are, 3-1 in ninth with one of the better closers in the game in there. We get Mesoraco and Pena to get base hits. We needed to get a bunt down after Zack hit that two-run double. That didn't happen. But we got ourselves right back in that game. Then the improbable -- three straight two-out hits, and we lose that series. I thought we were going to steal that game. We had some opportunities. We just didn't get it done." -- Reds manager Bryan Price
"They like playing here. It could be the new clubhouse, I don't know. We need to start doing that on the road, too. Baseball fields are all the same." -- White Sox manager Robin Ventura More >
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
With the loss, the Reds moved to 0-8 this season on "getaway days," or on days where they travel postgame.
ANOTHER RAMIREZ MILESTONE
Sunday's start for Ramirez marked the 1,100th game of his career. Ramirez only trails Luke Appling (2,218), Ozzie Guillen (1,724) and Luis Aparicio (1,508) in terms of games played by White Sox shortstops. Ramirez has played 977 games at shortstop.
REPLAY REVIEW
In the top of the fourth, White Sox shortstop Ramirez made a spectacular diving stop of a Phillips grounder to his right. Ramirez also spun and threw to first base from the ground as Phillips slid headfirst into the bag. He was ruled out by first-base umpire John Trumpane. Price challenged the call and got it overturned. Video replays showed Ramirez's throw pulled first baseman LaRoche off of the bag.
Video: CIN@CWS: Out call at first overturned in the 4th
In the top of the fifth, Cozart was ruled safe at second on a stolen-base attempt by umpire John Hirschbeck despite a reaction from Bonifacio and Ramirez to the contrary. The play was challenged by Ventura and was overturned. Video replay showed that Cozart was tagged by Bonifacio before getting to the base.
Video: CIN@CWS: Stolen base call overturned in the 5th
WHAT'S NEXT
Reds: Returning home for a seven-game home stand, the Reds will start a three-game series vs. the Braves at 7:10 p.m. ET Monday. Starting pitcher Mike Leake is taking a streak of 16 scoreless innings into the game and will be opposed by Atlanta's Shelby Miller.
White Sox: Jeff Samardzija returns from his five-game suspension to make the start in the road trip and series opener in Milwaukee, with a first pitch of 6:20 p.m. CT. Samardzija, who was suspended for his involvement in an on-field fracas with the Royals on April 23, won his last start against Detroit on Tuesday.
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