Another Sox loss that’s tough to stomach
Watch the White Sox at your own risk this season.
If you choose to partake, you are likely to see things that are unsightly are upsetting to your inherent baseball senses.
Take Saturday night’s ninth inning as the latest example.
Struggling to score runs for the second straight night against the Royals at U.S. Cellular Field and trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the ninth, the Sox finally got a rally going against closer Greg Holland.
Alex Rios led off with a single and Adam Dunn followed with a walk.
While strategy indicated Dunn should have been lifted for a pinch-runner since he was the winning run, he stayed in the game and actually did a great job of taking out Kansas City second baseman Chris Getz and breaking up a double play on Paul Konerko’s groundball to shortstop.
That left Rios at third base and pinch-runner Casper Wells at first with one out, and Jeff Keppinger hit a sinking liner to right that — one way or another — should have scored Rios with the tying run.
Give Royals right fielder David Lough big credit for making a remarkable diving catch to rob Keppinger, and give Rios a blank stare for failing to tag up and score.
“I don’t know what Rios (was thinking), but we got pretty lucky there,” Holland said. “Lough made a great play, and they weren’t able to tag for whatever reason. And we ended up getting out of it.”
Holland struck out Conor Gillaspie to end it, and it was another difficult loss for White Sox fans to swallow.
“To tell you the truth, I don’t think there’s much I could have done,” said Rios, who has been hurting his trade value on the homestand with poor baserunning. “That was a (heck) of a play and even if I tagged up, I don’t think I had a chance at home. It’s a tough play for us.”
Manager Robin Ventura did not take Rios, or third-base coach Joe McEwing, to task after the game.
“I think if Rios goes back (to third base) and it short hops, (Lough) might be able to have a shot at him, too,” Ventura said. “You’d like to see him tag but then again, the guy made a great play. That’s part of it.”
Poor Sale:Chris Sale took another tough loss Saturday despite pitching his third complete game of the season and allowing 1 run on 7 hits while striking out seven.Over his last 10 starts, the Sox#146; ace has a 2.84 ERA but is 1-8 and has received 16 runs of support.#147;That#146;s what this mainly is about, being professional, being a good teammate and playing hard every day,#148; Sale said. #147;I can honestly say there were 24 guys in here and a coaching staff that wanted those runs more than I did. I truly believe that. It#146;s just kind of the way the ball falls sometimes. It#146;s tough, yeah, but at the end of the day you#146;ve got to stay on it and keep your head up.#148;BBA19012249Kansas City Royals second baseman Chris Getz throws to first base after forcing out Chicago White Sox's Adam Dunn at second base during the ninth inning of a baseball game in Chicago, Saturday, July 27, 2013. Paul Konerko was safe at first. Kansas City won 1-0. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty) BBA