CHICAGO – It took Derek Hill approximately 5 minutes to make an impact during the White Sox 6-5 victory over the Royals Tuesday night at Rate Field.
Let’s change that wording to portray his immense, game-winning impact.
Hill pinch-hit for Tristan Peters with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, extending a string of three straight right-handed-hitting pinch-hitters facing southpaw Matt Strahm, and launched a go-ahead, and ultimately game-winning, 417-foot home run. It was his third career pinch-hit homer, punctuating a third straight victory for the White Sox and moving the South Siders to 20-21 on the season.
“That’s kind of my role over here and a lot of guys’ roles over here,” Hill said. “They are able to put us in the right spot to succeed, and tonight was one of those nights. It’s a blessing.”
“You don’t know when these opportunities are going to come and sometimes there’s a lot of space between opportunities and you’ve just got to stay ready,” said White Sox manager Will Venable of Hill. “Derek does a great job making sure that he’s prepared, the things he does before the game and then during the game to put himself in a position to take advantage of opportunities.”
Those opportunities for Hill did not end with his prodigious power in the eighth.
Bobby Witt Jr. opened the ninth against Bryan Hudson – who would eventually record his second save – with a line drive to right featuring a .780 expected batting average, according to Statcast. Hill reduced that chance to zero with his stellar diving catch to retire one of the fastest players in the game.
“Don’t let it get by you,” said a smiling Hill of the thought process during Witt’s line drive. “That’s an inside the parker because he flies. He rolls out.”
“Yeah, a special five minutes,” Venable said. “Can’t make much more of an impact on a game than that in such a quick span. Great to see him do it.”
Venable didn’t throw a pitch or take a swing, but once again made a difference for the White Sox from the dugout. Along with using Edgar Quero (switch-hitter), Randal Grichuk and Hill to pinch-hit in the eighth for scheduled left-handed hitters, Venable also worked Grant Taylor for 1 2/3 innings in relief of Erick Fedde and Tyler Schweitzer and then brought in Seranthony Dominguez in the eighth for a tied game.
Dominguez had been used almost exclusively in a closer role this season, protecting leads. Saving Hudson and his now 0.90 ERA for the ninth gave Venable flexibility to make his maneuvers.
“He's been nails,” said Fedde of Hudson. “It feels like there might not be a reliever in the game that I feel more confident coming in.”
“One of the things is you really want righties against [Maikel] Garcia and Witt,” said Venable of his moves. “Ended up where they ended up splitting them, but we wanted to make sure 'Ser' was in a spot to be able to face Garcia and Witt there.”
Witt and Salvador Perez homered in the first off Fedde, who gave up nothing more through five. The White Sox erased that 2-0 deficit with five runs in the fifth off Stephen Kolek behind Chase Meidroth’s three-run blast and Drew Romo’s solo shot.
Kansas City (19-23) scored three in the sixth to tie the game, setting up Hill’s eighth-inning heroics.
“I just think of it as next man up. If not me, then the next guy behind me,” Hill said. “That’s how we roll over here. It’s my job. That’s what I’m here for. So it would be an insult to my teammates and the staff if I wasn’t ready.”
“Strahm has a lot of success throwing that pitch, sweeper down. I don’t know how he got to that one,” Perez said. “He made a really good play in the ninth inning, too. It looked like the day’s going to be for him. God’s plan. He put a pretty good swing on a nasty pitch.”
The White Sox had a 15-36 record in one-run games last year and were 47-95 combined over the last three seasons in games decided by one run. They improved to 7-5 in one-run games this season on Tuesday.
Call it a different feel, a different time. A crazy time leaving them as a Wild Card if the playoffs were to start today.
“This is just a great team win,” Fedde said. “A win that kind of proves the growth of this team and where it's headed."
“Oh my god, it’s the most fun I’ve ever had playing baseball. It’s incredible,” Hill said. “Every guy is pulling from the same side, whoever gets called up, traded over here, it doesn’t matter. Everybody is pulling from the same side in this clubhouse.”