NBC Sports Chicago is simulating the 2020 White Sox season via MLB The Show during the postponement of play. The White Sox, stocked with young talent and veteran offseason acquisitions, were expected to take a big step forward in their rebuild this season. Follow along as we play out the first few months of the season.
A sunny Sunday in Chicago with perfect weather resulted in a tough outing for Reynaldo Lopez. The young right-hander went 4 2/3 innings while giving up nine hits and four earned runs to fall to 2-2 on the season.
Dwight Smith Jr. put Baltimore ahead in the first with an RBI single. In the fourth, Malquin Canelo lined a single to center to make it 2-0 Baltimore, and Austin Wynns' two-run homer in the fifth made it 4-0.
The Sox offense stumbled out of gate until Edwin Encarnacion hit a monstrous home run in the sixth, his team-leading 10th long ball, to cut the deficit to three. But in the seventh, Chris Davis hit a three-run homer (his 300th career blast) off Steve Cishek to make it 7-1 Baltimore.
The Sox clawed back in the eighth with a Yasmani Grandal RBI single and Luis Robert two-run single to make it 7-4. Nick Madrigal led off the ninth with a solo home run, his fifth of the season, to make it 7-5. Encarnacion drove in Yoan Moncada to make it a one-run ballgame, but that's as close as the Sox got.
Result: Orioles defeat White Sox 7-6
Record: 13-21, 4th in A.L. Central (7.0 GB of Royals)
MLB
W: Hector Velazquez (3-0)
L: Reynaldo Lopez (2-2)
SV: Mychal Givens (8)
White Sox lineup:
Tim Anderson: 0-5 (.287 BA)
Yoan Moncada: 1-4, BB, 2 R (.250 BA)
Jose Abreu: 0-4 (.231 BA)
Edwin Encarnacion: 2-4, HR, 2 RBI (.304 BA)
Yasmani Grandal: 2-5, RBI (.276 BA)
Eloy Jimenez: 2-4 (.222 BA)
Luis Robert: 1-4, 2 RBI (.257 BA)
Nomar Mazara: 1-4, 2B (.236 BA)
Nick Madrigal: 3-3, HR, RBI (.302 BA)
Scoring summary:
Top first:
Dwight Smith Jr. singled to center field, Trey Mancini scored. 1-0 BAL.
Top fourth:
Malquin Canelo singled to center field, Austin Wynns scored. 2-0 BAL.
Top 5th:
Wynns homered to left field, Smith Jr. scored. 4-0 BAL.
Bottom sixth:
Edwin Encarnacion homered to left field. 4-1 BAL.
Top seventh:
Chris Davis homered to left field, Smith Jr. and Hanser Alberto scored. 7-1 BAL.
Bottom eighth:
Yasmani Grandal singled to right field, Yoan Moncada scored. 7-2 BAL.
Luis Robert singled to right field, Grandal and Eloy Jimenez scored. 7-4 BAL.
Bottom ninth:
Nick Madrigal homered to right field. 7-5 BAL.
Encarnacion singled to center field, Moncada scored. 7-6 BAL.
Notable performance: Smith Jr. was a thorn in the Sox side all weekend. He went 7-for-14 in the series, hitting four doubles and scoring five times. He entered the series hitting .244 and ended at .279.
Next game: Tuesday, May 5 - Game 35: Rays at White Sox (Ryan Yarbrough, 2-3, 4.70 ERA vs. Dylan Cease, 1-3, 4.94 ERA)
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