Coming through in the clutch
Delmonico’s HR puts Twins in playoffs
With the winning run on second and nobody out, the left- handed hitting Nicky Delmonico was simply trying to pull the ball to the right side to get Avisail Garcia to third base.
He accomplished a little more than that.
Delmonico lifted an offspeed pitch from righthander Blake Parker over the right- field wall for his first walk- off hit as a White Sox, lifting them to a 6- 4 win over the Angels in 10 innings at Guaranteed Rate Field. It was the first walk- off homer for Delmonico since he hit one to win his Knoxville, Tennessee, high school team’s state championship, but of more significance to the Angels, it eliminated them from the wild card and clinched it for the Twins.
“The biggest moment was being called up [ to the majors this season],’’ said Delmonico, who also doubled in a run in the Sox’ three- run fourth that gave right- hander Reynaldo Lopez a 3- 0 lead. “To do that is something you dream about in the backyard. It was the same offspeed pitch [ as the high school homer], so it brought back memories.
“I was just looking for something soft to get Avisail [ who led off with a double] and was able to elevate it.’’
Lopez allowed four runs over six innings, striking out seven in his final start. All in all, it wasn’t a bad outing to close the 2017 curtain on in his final start. Lopez made two bad pitches in the Angels fifth, a 1- 2 curveball with two outs that hit C. J. Cron on the elbow, and then, after a bloop single by Martin Maldonado, a home run pitch to Calhoun that tied the score at 3. He ended the inning by striking out Trout a second time.
Lopez will head into the offseason with a 3- 3 record and 4.72 ERA in eight starts, feeling satisfied with his showing with the Sox. The ordinary ERA notwithstanding, the good far outweighed the bad. During spring training he had looked like the most major league- ready pitcher of the Sox top prospects, ahead of Lucas Giolito, Carson Fulmer and even Michael Kopech, who hadn’t pitched above A ball yet. Even at that, Lopez “wasn’t really hitting the spot,’’ catcher Omar Narvaez said. “He could throw strikes, but now he’s throwing strikes in and out [ on both sides of the plate].’’
Narvaez caught Reynaldo Lopez during spring training, and he has caught most of the 23- year- old righthander’s innings with the White Sox since his call- up from Class AAA Charlotte on Aug. 11. He likes what he has seen. “Especially his command,’’ Narvaez said. “He’s way better with the command than he was in spring training. He has been locating the fastball pretty good, and everyone knows he has a great changeup.’’
Lopez likes what he has done.
“It was a very good season, probably the best season of my career,’’ Lopez said. “I learned a lot. A lot of things I can take into next year to get better. Overall, I’m very happy with my season.’’
Hitting 97 and 98 mph with the fastball, Lopez got off to a perfect start by striking out Calhoun, Trout and Justin Upton in order in the first inning Wednesday, and he breezed through the first four innings before things got rocky in the fifth. After the Calhoun homer, Andrelton Simmons added an RBI single in the sixth to give the Angels a 4- 3 lead.
Tim Anderson’s RBI single in the bottom of the sixth tied it at 4.
Lopez says starting the season at Charlotte, where he posted a 2.10 ERA with 38 strikeouts in 30 innings in July, was for the best.
“When he came off spring training, he had thrown very, very well,’’ manager Rick Renteria said. “And everybody probably thought he was throwing well enough to make the club.
“But it wasn’t his time. He needed to go back down there and show that no matter what is in front of me, I’ve still got something to accomplish.’’
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