Things aren’t so bad after all
Hot pitching, two HRs help Sox end ugly skid in the perfect setting
With one oh- so- sweet and needed victory, the White Sox — depleted and parched for a win — almost washed away the sting of an entire nine- game losing streak Monday.
You could make a case that the Cubs needed this one more than the Sox. You know, being a contender and all.
But don’t try telling the Sox about needs. They hadn’t won in 16 days.
Was it nice to beat the Cubs, Rick Renteria?
“Yeah, double- whammy,” said the first- year Sox manager, whom the Cubs let go after the 2014 season to make room for Joe Maddon. “Nice to break the streak, and nice to do it against this team.”
Atmosphere, crosstown consequences, a jilted manager to play for ... all of that made for what Sox third baseman Matt Davidson described as a playoff environment.
Which says a lot, considering the Sox took the third- worst record in baseball into the game, with a roster ravaged by the recent trades of left- hander Jose Quintana ( to the Cubs), right- handers David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle and third baseman Todd Frazier. The Sox had lost 12 of 13 going into the first of four games against the Cubs.
Right- hander Miguel Gonzalez ( 5- 9) gave the Sox their first starting performance of at least seven innings since Quintana on June 6, pitching 7⅓ innings of one- run ball. Adam Engel homered against Cubs reliever Justin Grimm ( 1- 1), and Davidson hit a 476- foot home run against Koji Uehara onto Waveland Avenue — the sixth- longest homer in baseball this season— to put the Sox in position to win.
“I was excited. I was pumped. I was jumping up and down,” Gonzalez said of his reaction to the homers.
Davidson, the new full- time third baseman with Frazier gone, is the Sox’ leader in homers with 19.
“That’s probably the closest thing I’ve played in to a playoff game,” Davidson said. “Every pitch seemed like something was riding on it.”
With most of the crowd on its feet, right- hander Anthony Swarzak — who might be the next Sox pitcher to get dealt if he keeps this up— put a bow on it by collecting his first career save after 1⅓ innings. The Sox don’t have a bona fide closer, and Swarzak ( 2.23 ERA) might be it for now — but probably not on Tuesday, considering he threw 39 pitches Friday, 25 on Sunday and 30 on Monday. His last one was a called third strike past Willson Contreras, who blew up his bat in displeasure with umpire Angel Hernandez’s call while leaving two runners on.
“It was great,’’ said Swarzak, 32, a career starter and middle reliever who seems to have a little extra something on his pitches this season. “When you work really hard on executing and in the biggest situation, runners on against the Cubs, Wrigley Field, to be able to execute, that means you’re working on the right stuff and you’re headed in the right direction.’’
Say this for the Sox: The morning after returning from Kansas City, where they were swept by the Royals over the weekend, there was laughter in the cramped visitors clubhouse.
“You have to stay loose,’’ Swarzak said. “Try not to press.’’
When they took the field, the Sox admitted things changed a bit.
“I think all of us in here were just trying to take it as another game,’’ Davidson said, “and you get out there, and the fans and everything, and it quickly escalates.’’
As can losing streaks. For the Sox, keeping it out of double digits was big.
“I was emotional just because we’ve been down [ nine] games in a row, honestly,’’ Renteria said. “We’ve been looking for a victory. We’ve been looking for our guy to give us a little bit of length, and he did. I was just proud of the way they played.’’