D-Backs 8, White Sox 4: Split squad takes down full South Side squad
South Siders lose their Sunday spring finale in Arizona, against Arizona
The Arizona Diamondbacks split squad took down the Chicago White Sox at Camelback Ranch 8-4. Pretty impressive that half of the D-Backs could beat our whole team, but it’s still just the spring, right?
The scoring began early, as reliever Brandon Eisert got the start for the Sox. After a walk to Garrett Hamspon, Pavin Smith had a two-out double to drive in a run in the top of the first inning. Luis Robert Jr. responded back in the bottom of the first inning, with a towering home run to left field to tie the game.
The South Siders actually seized the lead first in the bottom of the second inning. With one out, an Austin Slater walk led to an Omar Narváez two-out double to drive in the run.
Chris Rodriguez replaced Eisert to start the the third inning, and immediately fell apart. A hit-by-pitch and single led to a Corbin Carroll RBI single to tie the game up at two runs apiece. Another walk and two singles later, suddenly the D-Backs were up 4-2. Chase Plymell came in for Rodriguez, as he ended with an ugly stat line of four hits, five earned runs, three walks, and no recorded outs. He might have the highest Cactus League ERA ever, at 270.00.
A sacrifice fly kept the Arizona lead growing at 5-2, before the inning finally ended. At this point, you’ll note with the lack of Chicago firepower, the game was effectively over.
Miguel Vargas, who is having an impressive spring, led off the bottom of the third inning with a solo shot to left.
An Andrew Vaughn double and a Lenyn Sosa single added the fourth run of the game for the team, which would be their final run of the game as well.
Rodriguez got another chance on the mound to start the top of the fourth inning and well, not much changed. He let up back-to-back walks and was pulled once and for all. He still has a D-Backs hat on in his MLB player profile, so maybe he was secretly helping them.
A sacrifice fly later in the inning brought in a D-Backs sixth run.
The substitutions started in the top of the sixth inning, but the White Sox were still unable to scrape another run across. The D-Backs added two more on an A.J. Vukovich two-run home run off of Phil Fox, to finish off the score at 8-4.
This drops Chicago’s record to 10-19 this spring, ahead of their last game at Camelback Ranch tomorrow afternoon. The city-less Athletics will visit for the traditional “early” finale tomorrow at 2:05 p.m. CT. Davis Martin will get the last start, as he looks to end things with a good outing to keep a scoreless spring.
Next Sunday will be some regular season coverage, and let’s hope it’s a better outing than this week. See you all at the Rate next week!