Help from above? White Sox win one for most famous fan
Since the White Sox are playing up their status as the favored team of Pope Leo XIV, maybe they should claim their red City Connect uniforms are actually a tribute to the College of Cardinals.
It's probably too late for that, since they already connected their City Connects to the Bulls' red and black. But the Sox should be able to milk a few more days of Vatican love.
Video surfaced appearing to show proof future Pope Robert Prevost was in the seats at Game 1 of the World Series in 2005. His brother John confirmed the Sox fandom a day earlier, and of course, the Sox played that clip on the scoreboard before Friday's first pitch.
White Sox manager Will Venable was asked if he's counting on some divine intervention directed at Rate Field.
“We'll take it,” Venable said. “It's great to have him on our side, for sure.”
We'll never know if the Pope played a role in Friday's 6-2 victory over the Miami at Rate Field, or whether Poseidon or Aqua Man were using their powers to help the Marlins.
But the Sox are now 2-0 in the red City Connect uniforms. They've also won four of their last five home games, dating back to the series finale against Milwaukee last week. Considering the circumstances, that probably qualifies as a minor miracle.
This game was tied 2-2 in the middle of the seventh, then the White Sox scored 3 runs in the bottom of the inning.
“To push multiple runs across there was huge, give our bullpen a little bit of breathing room,” Venable said. “The guys did a great job executing.”
The seventh inning began with a single by Josh Rojas and double from Lenyn Sosa. Brooks Baldwin was robbed of extra bases by a great catch at the left-field wall, but it counted as a sacrifice fly and sent home the go-ahead run. Jacob Amaya's bunt single brought in a second run, then Matt Thaiss drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 5-2.
After the Sox fell behind 1-0, Andrew Vaughn tied it up with a solo home run, his first since April 20 and fourth on the year. An RBI double by Michael A. Taylor later in the inning made it 2-1.
The Sox got the best outing of the season from starting pitcher Bryse Wilson, who allowed 1 run and 3 hits over 5 innings. After starting the season as a reliever, Wilson stepped into the rotation in place of the injured Martin Perez. He had 52 previous starts in the big leagues for a variety of teams.
“It felt like I've thrown the ball well the last two outings before today and just didn't get the results that I wanted,” Wilson said. “But today, I felt like it's kind of coming together and I'm feeling like my normal self. Here going forward, I feel like I can throw 100 pitches every time out and the body's going to hold up.”
Wilson left with a 2-1 lead, but a home run by Miami's Liam Hicks against Caleb Freeman in the seventh tied the score.
· In other news, Venable confirmed the White Sox finally plan to call up first baseman Tim Elko, who was hitting .348 with 10 home runs at Triple-A Charlotte through Thursday. Venable said he expects Elko to be in Saturday's lineup, either at first base or DH.
· Infielder Chase Meidroth was scratched from the lineup with shoulder soreness, the result of a dive in Thursday's game against the Royals.
· Outfielder Mike Tauchman is about ready to begin a rehab assignment. The Palatine native opened the season on the injured list with a right hamstring strain, came back to play in three games, but reaggravated the injury on April 9 in Cleveland while trying to score the tying run in the ninth inning.
Venable suggested the Sox will take things slowly during this rehab assignment, maybe using Tauchman at DH, followed by a day off before putting him out in the field.