White Sox get routed by Boston in capper to rough weekend
It was not a good weekend for the White Sox, as a team and on an individual basis.
After rallying to beat the Red Sox Thursday night on Nicky Delmonico's 3-run homer in the ninth inning, the White Sox lost three straight to Boston while being outscored 30-5.
In Sunday afternoon's 9-2 loss to Boston before a capacity crowd of 36,553 at Guaranteed Rate Field, the White Sox were in pretty good shape to split the four-game series against the defending World Series champs after first baseman Jose Abreu's solo home run in the sixth inning tied the game at 2.
But much like Saturday's 15-2 loss to the Red Sox, in which starter Manny Banuelos gave up 9 runs on 10 straight hits with two outs in the third inning, the White Sox were run over in another big inning.
This time, it was the eighth.
Still locked in a 2-2 tie, throwing errors on the same play by shortstop Tim Anderson and Abreu opened the door and Boston blew the game open with 7 runs.
"It's baseball," Anderson said. "Things happen. You guys saw what happened so I don't think I need to touch on it."
Kelvin Herrera was on in relief for the White Sox in the eighth inning, and he gave up 5 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks before exiting with two outs due to lower back stiffness.
Called up from Class AAA Charlotte earlier Sunday, relievers Caleb Frare and Juan Minaya gave up the Red Sox's other runs.
After the game, outfielder Adam Engel and Frare were optioned to Class AAA Charlotte. The Sox will make corresponding roster moves before Monday night's game at Cleveland.
A defensive marvel, Engel was dragged down by another poor showing with the bat. A .207/.260/.314 hitter with the White Sox in 2017-18, Engel slashed .212/.281/.346 this year.
"Just go down there and get some at-bats," Engel said. "Just try and kind of iron some things out. I think it's an opportunity to go and just play every day and try and get into that rhythm again and hopefully come back up sooner rather than later."
There was a bright spot Sunday: starter Dylan Covey.
Moved into the rotation after Carlos Rodon was diagnosed with left elbow inflammation Thursday, Covey allowed 2 runs in 4.2 innings.
"Felt good today," Covey said. "Just trust my stuff. When I think out there, that's when things are going awry. I just have to trust and know that my body is going to put me in the right position to execute every pitch.
"I thought I did a good job today. I knew I didn't have a long leash, so I just wanted to be as efficient as possible and go as deep as I could."