Plenty of power. Not nearly enough pitching. That’s the story.
The White Sox jumped out exactly how you’d want them to do. Back-to-back singles from Chase Meidroth and Miguel Vargas in the top of the first set the tone, and even after Munetaka Murakami went down looking, the pressure didn’t let up. Everson Pereira and Edgar Quero worked consecutive walks to push across the first run, and Colson Montgomery followed with a productive at-bat. It wasn’t a hit thanks to a stellar play by Ketel Marte, but it plated Vargas for his 17th RBI of the season. Two runs without a ball leaving the yard. Sox up 2-0.
Montgomery flashed the glove in the bottom half, too, making a clean play on a Lourdes Gurriel Jr. grounder to strand a Geraldo Perdomo triple and keep Anthony Kay out of immediate trouble. It was a reminder of just how steady he’s been defensively, already sitting near the top of the league in Outs Above Average amongst shortstops alongside names like Bobby Witt Jr. and Masyn Winn.
That was about where the control ended.
Kay never really found the zone, and the second inning unraveled quickly. A leadoff walk followed by a single set the table, and after another deep count, Arizona pounced. Ildemaro Vargas turned a 2-0 pitch into a three-run homer, flipping the game in one swing. The damage didn’t stop there, with a double, an RBI single from Corbin Carroll, and a run-scoring bunt by Perdomo stretched the lead and completely sucked the air out of Chicago’s early momentum.
To their credit, though, the bats kept swinging. Our Vargas continued his power surge in the third, launching a 428-foot homer for his third straight game, going deep.
But every answer the Sox had, the Diamondbacks matched and exceeded. Another blast from Arizona pushed the lead right back out, and while Eduardo RodrĂguez had his moments of vulnerability, the Sox couldn’t fully capitalize.
Montgomery did his part, though. The shortstop stayed scorching hot in the fourth, crushing a 423-foot homer to right-center. It was his fourth straight game leaving the yard as he cut the deficit to 6-4, briefly making it feel like a game again.
Then came more pitching problems. Kay’s night effectively ended in the bottom of the fourth after a sequence that summed up his outing: a single, chaos on the bases from Carroll, and a balk that brought home a run. Jordan Hicks didn’t stop the bleeding, walking José Fernández and surrendering an RBI knock to Nolan Arenado to make it 8-4.
The Sox had chances, but they just couldn’t string enough together. Back-to-back singles from Murakami and Pereira in the fifth went nowhere. A manufactured run in the sixth, sparked by a Tristian Peters pinch-hit triple, and an Andrew Benintendi ground out, chipped into the lead slightly. But the South Side hurlers immediately gave back every inch gained.
Lucas Sims entered in the sixth and promptly allowed a two-run homer to Arenado. Sean Newcomb followed in the seventh and gave up back-to-back triples to Carroll and Perdomo.
The highlight, though, was another ridiculous showing from Murakami. The rookie crushed a 451-foot two-run homer in the seventh — his fifth straight game going deep, tying a franchise record — and later added a single in the ninth. He now sits at 10 home runs on the season and looks every bit like the real deal. Extend him NOW!
Unfortunately, in the end, it didn’t matter.
Down multiple runs all night, the Sox never fully threatened late. A small flicker in the ninth with Murakami reaching and Quero walking, bringing Montgomery to the plate with a chance to make it interesting. Instead, a 368-foot flyout to the warning track ended it.
The offense showed up. The power is real. There’s legitimate life in this lineup right now.
The pitching? That’s a different conversation entirely, and until it changes, games like this are going to keep slipping away.
