Double whammy
Kopech leaves in 1st inning with injury; Rangers end 12-inning win over White Sox on 7-5 double play
Jonah Heim hit a two-run single in the 12th inning and the Texas Rangers turned a double play on a ball hit to the warning track to end an 8-6 win over the White Sox on Sunday.
Embattled manager Tony La Russa and the White Sox have lost four of five. This one began with right-hander Michael Kopech leaving with right knee discomfort after 13 pitches and ended with an unusual double play in the 12th.
Jose Abreu struck out looking against Kolby Allard leading off, then Jake Burger hit a fly to the warning track in left. Charlie Culberson caught the ball, then threw out automatic runner Luis Robert trying to tag up and take third. Robert overslid the base and was tagged easily by Ezequiel Duran, setting off a loud round of boos.
In the top of the inning, Adolis Garcia singled off Matt Foster (1-2) and scored on Heim’s single. A review confirmed Garcia was safe on the slide.
Duran hit a three-run homer off Jose Ruiz in the 11th, but the Rangers surrendered their 6-3 lead.
Seby Zavala had a sac fly off Joe Barlow (2-1) in the bottom of the inning. Danny Mendick tripled when Culberson and center fielder Eli White collided, cutting the deficit to one. AJ Pollock then singled to tie it.
White homered and had a sac fly for the Rangers, who won for just the fifth time in 12 games. Garcia added three hits.
Andrew Vaughn’s two-run single against Dennis Santana tied it for Chicago in the seventh after Duran’s error.
Kopech (2-2, 1.92 ERA) was checked on by the training staff with a full count and two outs against Garcia. Kopech threw a warmup pitch before spiking the baseball in frustration and walking to the dugout to applause.
Reynaldo Lopez replaced Kopech and struck out Garcia. Lopez threw two scoreless innings as an opener Friday when the White Sox beat the Rangers 8-3. Chicago has seven players on the injured list.
Left fielder Pollock robbed Marcus Semien of an extra-base hit with a leaping grab for the
first out. Kopech then got Corey Seager to ground out.
The Kopech injury delivers another blow to the White Sox during an eventful homestand. Fans chanted “Fire Tony!” after Chicago blew a five-run lead in an 11-9 loss to the Rangers in 10 innings Saturday and again Sunday.
La Russa also received scrutiny after ordering an unconventional intentional walk Thursday in a loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The reigning AL champion White Sox are 27-31.
Lopez struck out three and allowed a hit in 1 ⅓ innings. Johnny Cueto, who was scheduled to start Monday at Detroit, replaced him. Cueto allowed a leadoff single to Zach Reks before White hit his third homer for a 2-1 Rangers lead. It was Reks’ first career multihit game.
Cueto allowed three runs in five innings.
Right-hander Jon Gray gave up a run and struck out 10 in six innings. Chicago threatened in the sixth when Vaughn walked and advanced to third on an Abreu single. But Gray struck out two to end the inning.