Cy Allard stymies Sox, 4-0
On the bright side, it only took 26 outs before the South Siders had an extra-base hit
Well, wow, once the weekend hit, things really changed for the swarming offense of the Chicago White Sox.
After impressive wins on Thursday and Friday over the Rangers, rookie Kolby Allard shut the South Siders down, leading a Texas effort that held the hometown heroes to eight hits and no walks while whiffing 14.
Allard, who you might remember was acquired by the White Sox this past offseason in the SBN GM simulation along with Travis Demeritte for Jace Fry, pitched the finest game of his young career. The 22-year-old southpaw threw 6 1⁄3 scoreless, holding the White Sox to six hits and whiffing eight. He threw 71-of-99 pitches for strikes.
Highlights? Well, pinch-hitter Ryan Goins continued to make his case for 14th man on the 2020 White Sox roster, notching the only White Sox extra-base hit of the night, a double with two outs in the ninth.
Earlier, there was a nice moment for José Abreu, who collected his 1,000th career hit with an excuse-me tapper to the right side in the bottom of the first:
In the third inning Abreu passed Carlos May into 28th on the White Sox all-time hits list with a single to center field. Congratulations, Pito!
Another day, another Adam Engel highlight catch. This year, his specialty seems to be dives moving in on the ball vs. his customary home run thievery:
Starter Iván Nova had another solid start, and among the staff only Jimmy Cordero (three hits, two earned, one homer in one inning of work) was off. José Ruiz finished off the game with 1 1⁄3 innings of sweet slinging (four Ks!), and was rewarded with a ticket back to Charlotte after the game. Perhaps it’s for the Knights’ improbable charge toward a division title.
The White Sox have a shot to win the series and take three of four from a solid Texas team with a win tomorrow. Reynaldo López and his 3.10 second-half ERA takes on second career starter Brock Burke at 1:10 p.m.