It was Lance Lynn day at 35th and Shields. Fans waited through an one hour and 20 minute rain delay to watch Lynn and the Chicago White Sox take on the Baltimore Orioles. Unfortunately, after a close game for most of the contest, the O’s reeled off four runs in the seventh inning to win 6-2.
Lynn Day
Lynn got off to a fast start, retiring the first eight hitters he faced. However, with two outs in the third, Jorge Mateo hit a solo homer to left to open the scoring. The Sox retaliated in the bottom half of the inning and took advantage of two Baltimore errors. Lenyn Sosa reached on a throwing error by Tyler Nevin and scored on a single by Luis Robert on a fielding error by Mateo.
Mateo made up for that error in the fifth when he doubled off the wall in left. He eventually scored to make it 2-1 after Leury Garcia committed an error on Cedric Mullins’s grounder.
Lynn was pulled in the seventh after he walked Mateo, plunked Robinson Chirinos and Trey Mancini, and allowed a Cedric Mullins single. The 35-year-old looked gassed as his pitch count went well past 100 in the inning. He allowed six hits and two earned runs in 6.2 innings, struck out eight, and walked one. He threw 109 pitches in just his third start of the year.
José Ruiz fared no better, surrendering a bases-clearing double to Austin Hays which put Baltimore well ahead 6-1.
Ice Cold Bats
Baltimore starter Spenser Watkins rendered the White Sox offense lifeless. He surrendered five hits and no earned runs. He fanned four and walked one in five innings of work. Baltimore’s bullpen continued its dominance of the White Sox. Bryan Baker, Nick Vespi, and Dillon Tate combined to allow just one run on one hit through four innings. The Sox second run in the ninth came when Seby Zavala drove in Gavin Sheets on a groundout.
Notes
Tim Anderson, José Abreu, Luis Robert, Andrew Vaughn, and AJ Pollock currently have instructions to “slow it down” on routine base running plays, according to Tony La Russa.
Yasmani Grandal is closer to returning from a right knee sprain.
Eloy Jiménez started as Triple-A Charlotte’s designated hitter on Saturday.
What’s On Tap Next?
Jordan Lyles will start against Sox righty Dylan Cease in Sunday’s series finale. NBC Sports Chicago will broadcast the game and Sox On Tap will have the postgame.
Tune in to the Sox On Tap podcast for postgame reaction and further White Sox commentary all season.
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