Back in July Tim Anderson was asked if he was upset with Kevin Cash for not getting him an at-bat during the All-Star game. Anderson responded, “for sure,” then added with a laugh, “but it’s all good Kevin, I’ll see him in Tampa, so I’ll take it out on him then.”
Anderson is a man of his word, and Kevin Cash was left watching as the man he left on deck at the All-Star game engineered a late comeback.
When the White Sox needed a spark early, Anderson was there. He cashed in the first run. Later Anderson singled to lead off the fifth inning then came around to score on a fielders choice when he contorted past a tag at home plate to score on a bang-bang play.
When the offense fell flat late in the game, Anderson provided the clutch hits. With the White Sox trailing by a run in the ninth inning, Tim Anderson tied the game with a solo home run to center field.
“He’s so clutch,” Lucas Giolito said. “We can always count on him in any situation… Get Tim up there, and he’s going to make something happen.”
Anderson’s clutch moments didn’t stop there. When the game went to extra innings, Anderson provided the go-ahead hit in the 11th inning. It was a great piece of hitting. Anderson took a slider the other way and pushed it into right field which allowed Zack Collins to score.
When the dust settled, Anderson had three hits, four runs scored, and two RBIs. He scored every time he lead-off an inning.
The spark that starts it all. pic.twitter.com/8JuxUaJFuU
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) August 21, 2021
This was a game the White Sox needed to win. After blowing a two-run lead in the eighth inning it felt like all the mind had left the White Sox sails. Anderson was the right man for the job to lead off the ninth inning and rose to the occasion. He worked a full count then launched a spinning slider over the center-field fence. It was exactly like he drew it up.
“I believe in my work and in, those moments, it’s not pressure,” he said. “The confidence is at an all-time high, always. From the work that you guys don’t see. All you guys do is see me play; you guys don’t see the work that we put in every day. That’s definitely a huge confidence builder. So in those moments, man, it’s game on. The moment is never too big.”
Anderson has proved that he is unfazed by pressure on multiple occasions. In 2019 he had an electric walk-off home run against the Tigers. During his first playoff series, he had nine hits in three games, becoming just the second player in MLB history with three straight three-hit efforts in the playoffs.
During the Nationally televised “Field of Dreams Game” which was the most viewed regular season baseball game since 2005, Anderson hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to steal a victory. Friday night’s game was just the latest installment.
Kevin Cash could do nothing but tip his cap after the game. “I don’t think they pitched poorly tonight. We got burned by a good player.”
