Limited offense magnifies White Sox mistakes in loss to Giants
The White Sox had another one of those nights where their inability to mount much offense amplified every small detail.
They lost to San Francisco 3-1 on Friday at Rate Field, despite outhitting the Giants 7-6.
“We had a bunch of traffic there, obviously,” manage Will Venable said. “I think we had the bases loaded twice with less than two outs and just didn't find any outfield grass out there.”
Bad luck caught up to the Sox in the sixth inning. With one on and one out, Christian Koss hit a grounder up the middle that potentially could have been a double play, but the ball hit second base and bounced over the head of second baseman Lenyn Sosa.
So with two runners on and one out, Giants catcher Patrick Bailey hit a sinking line drive to short right field. Ryan Noda dove but came up short and the ball rolled all the way to the wall. Bailey was credited with a triple as both runners scored.
Ultimately, a run would have scored anyway, so the defensive mistake didn't decide the outcome. Noda, a Volo native who attended Grant High School, was playing in the outfield for the first time since joining the Sox a few weeks ago.
Noda is credited with 11 games played in the outfield by baseball-reference.com, but just one start prior to Friday. He has 136 starts at first base in the majors.
“Good aggressive play,” Venable said. “You like the thought. Just a play, you play it in front and minimize the damage.”
Noda was needed in the outfield because Luis Robert Jr. missed his second straight game with a sore hamstring, while Mike Tauchman was the DH as he eases his way back from a groin strain. Before the game, Venable said one reason they claimed Noda off waivers from Boston was because of his positional versatility.
“Every day we're going to evaluate where we're at with our roster and who's available and then do the best we can to field the team to give us the best chance offensively and defensively,” Venable said. “If Ryan's our best option, like it was today, we'll certainly put him back out there.”
The lone Sox run came home on an error as shortstop Willy Adames couldn't hang onto a line drive hit by Miguel Vargas, allowing Chase Meidroth to score in the first inning.
The Giants have the best bullpen ERA in MLB and gave up just 1 walk during the final three innings. The Sox went down in order in both the eighth and ninth.
Starting pitcher Aaron Civale made his third White Sox start and gave up just 1 run but also 4 walks and lasted just 4 innings.
“Definitely not the cleanest,” Civale said. “I think it was 40 balls and 40 strikes, which isn't ever something you want as a starter. While I was out there, just did my best to compete and keep the game close.”
Civale credited a 34-pitch third inning, when the Giants scored once to tie it, for ending his day.
“It was a long third, then quick half (inning) and get back out there for the fourth,” he said. “So just a lot of pitches in a short amount of time. I think I was losing it a little bit.”