Moncada exploits pen twice for sweep
Second baseman homers in 9th, hits walkoff single in 11th
CHICAGO — The American League’s best team was swept by its worst.
The Astros found themselves on the wrong side of a 3-2 walkoff, 11th-inning single by Chicago White Sox second baseman Yoan Moncada on Thursday night at Guaranteed Rate Field. Moncada’s single off Francis Martes scored Leury Garcia, who had singled and took second when Josh Reddick bobbled the ball in the outfield.
Ken Giles’ first blown save in two months sent the game to extra innings. After Giles fell behind in the count, two balls to no strikes, Yoan Moncada took him deep on a 98 mph fastball with one out in the ninth to tie the game at 2.
Moncada’s game-tying blast to left field off Giles spoiled 61⁄3 innings of one-run ball pitched by Brad Peacock and five important outs recorded by relievers Chris Devenski and Luke Gregerson.
Peacock furthered his case for inclusion in the Astros’ eventual postseason rotation with a strong outing that
improved his ERA to 3.07. His performance also provided a brief sense of stability to a rotation in turmoil because of recent command issues by ace Dallas Keuchel and the injury to Lance McCullers Jr.
Spinning sliders nearly every other pitch, Peacock stymied the young White Sox lineup into the seventh inning. The 29-yearold righthander offered somewhat a respite to a bullpen forced to absorb a combined 62⁄3 innings in the first two games of their three-game series at Guaranteed Rate Field.
A solo home run by Jake Marisnick and a run-scoring double from Marwin Gonzalez signified the run support for Peacock. Before Giles allowed the longball in the ninth, Devenski and Gregerson each came through in game-deciding moment, the latter escaping a second-and-third jam, no-outs jam in the eighth inning.
White Sox lefthander Carlos Rodon pitched eight innings of two-run ball against one of only two teams to pass him over in the 2014 MLB Draft. The 24-year-old Rodon, who mixes a mid-90s fastball with an elite slider, was the second consecutive Chicago starter to complete eight innings against the Astros, who haven’t had a starter accomplish that feat since May 5.
Marisnick capitalized on one of Rodon’s mistakes. Leading off the third inning, he pulverized a 1-0 fastball over the middle of the plate. It landed about 25 rows deep in left-center field. His career-high 14th homer of the season traveled 423 feet, according to MLB’s Statcast.
Gonzalez tacked on an insurance run when he shot a ball to the rightcenter field gap with two outs in the sixth. The double, which scored Yuli Gurriel from first base, was Gonzalez’s 20th of the season to go along with his 20 homers.
Peacock allowed seven hits, struck out five and walked only one. He induced eight swings and misses on his slider, which he threw 43 times in 93 pitches. The White Sox (43-69) scored their lone run against him in the sixth on a fielder’s choice groundout by Yolmer Sanchez.
Astros manager A.J. Hinch pulled Peacock in the seventh in favor of Devenski to face the top of the order with a man on second base. Devenski hit Leury Garcia but capped a bounce-back performance by striking out Yoan Moncada on a changeup in the dirt and inducing a weak pop out to shallow left field from Jose Abreu.
Gregerson picked up three critical outs in the eighth. After an airmailed throw to second base by catcher Juan Centeno contributed to the White Sox having two runners in scoring position, Gregerson struck out both Sanchez and Tim Anderson on his patented slider.
The Astros decided to intentionally walk Omar Narvaez to bring up ninehole hitter Adam Engel, with whom the White Sox replaced with the lefthanded hitting Alen Hanson. After misfiring to bring the count full against Hanson, Gregerson induced a chopper to first base that Gurriel handled himself to end the inning and preserve the Astros’ one-run lead.
Giles, who began warming up in the eighth, opened the ninth with a strikeout of Leury Garcia. After Moncada’s homer, he struck out Jose Abreu and then walked Avisail Garcia and Nicky Delmonico. He escaped without further damage by striking out Sanchez.
Francis Martes extended the game with an electric 10th inning in which he struck out the side.
He fared far worse in the 11th.