Pride comes before the fall
After 1993 celebration, Sox revert to losing ways; Moncada injures knee
About two dozen members of the 1993 American League West champion White Sox — including that season’s Cy Young winner, Jack McDowell, and league MVP, Frank Thomas — were in the house for a 25-year reunion.
There were a pair of prominent birthday boys at Guaranteed Rate Field, too, in 24-year-old Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito and 71-year-old broadcaster Steve Stone.
And most special of all: Starting for the Sox against the Royals on Saturday was Reynaldo Lopez — on his first full day as a father. Lopez’s wife gave birth to daughter Zoé at about 5 p.m. Friday.
All in all, it was a recipe for a heck of a nice day. Or so one would’ve hoped.
Alas, this is where we ruin everything by sharing some of the details of the Sox’ 5-0 defeat — their 62nd of the season, the most before the All-Star break in club history.
In no particular order, there was a rain delay, an injury to second baseman Yoan Moncada, the ejection of manager Rick Renteria and — not a Hallmark moment at all — the angry heaving of a pink baseball glove by Lopez after he allowed a home run on his final pitch of the afternoon.
Look, nobody’s perfect.
An impressive outing by Lopez (4-7) ended with two outs in the eighth inning when Royals veteran Salvador Perez took a two-strike fastball over the wall in right. Catcher Kevan Smith had called for a changeup but was shaken off by the 24-year-old right-hander.
“It wasn’t a bad pitch, but it wasn’t the right pitch in that moment,” Lopez said through an interpreter. “It was my mistake. I was stubborn to throw that pitch, and I paid for it.”
The pink glove with his daughter’s name written on it paid, too, landing hard on the floor of the dugout.
Important note: Lopez had the look of a contented man after the game. He was pleased by how well he’d thrown the ball and how deep he’d gone into the game. And, yes, he was all smiles about that other life development.
“It feels good. It’s a whole different experience,” he said. “It’s my first baby and I’m really happy.”
The fifth inning might not go down in Sox lore as one of the greatest. Royals center fielder Paulo Orlando lined a leadoff single to right-center and took second on a Lopez balk. With shortstop Alcides Escobar at the plate, Renteria was ejected by home-plate umpire Adam Hamari for taking issue from the dugout with a check swing. It was Renteria third ejection of the season and the 16th of his managerial career.
One batter later, Moncada was injured when Lopez attempted to pick off Orlando at second and hit the inside of the infielder’s right knee with the throw. Moncada writhed on the dirt for a couple of minutes before being removed from the game with a pronounced limp.
X-rays taken during the game were negative, and Moncada’s status was deemed dayto-day.
“I was feeling a lot of pain,” Moncada said through an interpreter. “It felt like a hammer hitting my knee. It was really painful.”
On a dreary day, it was easy to note the differences between the talent-laden Sox of ’93 and the ragtag Sox of ’18. But the performance turned in by Lopez at least was a bright spot.
“He worked as good as you can ask anybody to work,” Renteria said. “Obviously, he left a pitch to Perez, who ended up hitting it out of the ballpark. But he was grinding the whole way. We didn’t score any runs, so it makes it look a little worse than it was.”