Before the first pitch on Tuesday night, all the build-up was surrounding the pitching matchup between the Cy Young candidates, Justin Verlander and Dylan Cease. By the night’s end, all the talk was about the comeback. The White Sox offense engineered a late rally to steal a game from the Astros for the second consecutive night.
Entering the seventh inning, the White Sox found themselves on the wrong end of a 3-1 score. To this point in the year, the Astros were 62-6 when leading to start the seventh inning. The White Sox were 4-47 when trailing to start the seventh.
A Josh Harrison single and Seby Zavala walk set the table for Gavin Sheets. Tony La Russa called upon Sheets number as a pinch hitter in favor of Lenyn Sosa. Entering the game cold while trailing by two runs in the seventh inning is no easy task. Having a future Hall of Famer standing 60 feet away makes it nearly impossible.
“It’s one of those things you just embrace,” Sheets said. “I know my role on this team. I know it’s not necessarily as an everyday guy. It’s situations like that.”
Sheets quickly fell behind 1-2 in the count. Verlander tried to put him away with an inside slider, but it got enough of the plate for Sheets to get his hands in and put a good swing on it. He lined the ball down the right field line towards the corner. Zavala came racing home to tie the game while Sheets slid into third courtesy of a throwing error by Kyle Tucker.
“I’d like to have it back,” Verlander said of his slider to Sheets. “If he swings and misses at it, I say, ‘sure, it was great.’ It was a good swing. It’s not easy to do, come off the bench like that in a big spot.”
Sheets is now 5 for 10 in pinch hitting situations this year and proving to be a valuable asset off the bat.
HOLY SHEETS!#ChangeTheGame | @NBCSChicago pic.twitter.com/fsyZ6Xio2s
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) August 17, 2022
Jimmy Lambert kept the Astros off the board and put the game back into the hands of the offense. After a leadoff walk from Eloy Jimenez and a single from Jose Abreu, Yasmani Grandal had a golden opportunity to play the hero. Instead, the 33-year-old catcher hit into a double play putting all the pressure on Yoan Moncada.
Moncada hasn’t done much well at the plate this season. But when he does hit, it always seems to be in critical situations. Moncada is batting just .137 with nobody on base. With men on, he is hitting .278. When runners are in scoring position, he is hitting .290. With two outs and runners in scoring position, his average jumps up to .440 with a .760 slugging percentage. Moncada has thrived under pressure situations this year.
In late and close games, he is batting .353, and in high leverage situations, he is batting .306. On Monday night, he had the game-winning RBIs after a single with two outs in the eighth inning.
Yoán a run? You got it! pic.twitter.com/tpRNJewwSL
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) August 17, 2022
Nearly 24 hours later and Moncada found himself in a similar spot. Two outs and a runner at third base in the eighth inning. Astros reliever Héctor Nevis gave Moncada a 95 mph fastball, and he pounced on it. The ball nestled the ball into center field for the game-winning hit. Moncada showed a rare burst of emotion at first base, roaring in celebration.
Liam Hendriks locked down the save in the ninth inning for the fourth time during the White Sox five-game win streak. After Hendriks recorded the final out, the 23,476 in attendance erupted.
“That was electric,” Dylan Cease told reporters. “Putting it on them late, and the crowd was going crazy, that was special.”
It’s beginning to feel like playoff baseball on the Southside. Every game down the stretch is critical from here on out, with the White Sox just one back in the division.
