WEST SACRAMENTO -- Brooks Baldwin was doing more than simply being prepared defensively when he moved from shortstop to right field in the bottom of the seventh during a 6-5 White Sox loss to the Athletics Friday at Sutter Health Park.
For two innings, the switch-hitter was visualizing a potential at-bat and the ensuing potential scenarios against hard-throwing A¡¯s closer Mason Miller with the White Sox trailing by two runs and that situation a strong possibility to play out. Baldwin¡¯s vision produced real results when he connected for a two-run home run in the top of the ninth on a 99 mph, first-pitch fastball from Miller, according to Statcast, marking the first runs allowed this season by the right-hander.
Miller entered Friday¡¯s action with a 6-3 lead, eight scoreless innings and having struck out 17 of the 28 batters faced. That changed in this series opener, with Lenyn Sosa singling with a 101.6 mph exit velocity, Baldwin¡¯s homer going out with a 102.8 mph exit velocity and Miguel Vargas lining out to left at 99.3 mph.
Edgar Quero came within a few feet of tying the game on a 376-foot drive to right-center. But it ended up as a long out, and the White Sox ended up with their 20th loss in 26 games played. A valiant effort, but still not quite good enough.
¡°Just how we fight the whole game. Don¡¯t ever give up, especially in a ballpark like this where the ball flies pretty good. You are never really out of the game,¡± Baldwin said. ¡°We had our opportunities earlier in that game to put a couple of extra runs up on the board and didn¡¯t come through. Those big hits will come.¡±
¡°We¡¯ve been doing that the whole season. We¡¯ve been fighting, battling,¡± said center fielder Luis Robert Jr. through interpreter Billy Russo. ¡°Today was not an exception.¡±
Robert singled in the game, but exited with three more strikeouts, a .143 average and a .501 OPS. He also made a fielding error on Jacob Wilson¡¯s run-scoring single in the sixth, with the ball kicking away and allowing JJ Bleday to race home from first base with the tying run.
Mistakes happen, even for a Gold Glove winning outfielder. But Robert continues to struggle at the plate, especially against sliders out of the zone from right-handers, with his strikeout against Miller ending the ninth-inning rally.
There were three sliders in that at-bat to Robert, with the third one he chased being well out of the zone. He¡¯s hitting .125 against the slider, per Statcast, with a 40 percent whiff percentage on 64 pitches.
¡°My strikeouts have been sliders in good locations on the corners, on the edges. Credit to them,¡± Robert said. ¡°They have been throwing that pitch in a very good location and I haven¡¯t been able to get there.¡±
¡°He's just trying his best to come through that ball and get it in and potentially have a play at the plate,¡± said manager Will Venable of Robert¡¯s fielding miscue. ¡°I'm not sure if it snaked on him or what happened as he got to it. It was unfortunate that the play went that way, but he's going out there and giving everything he's got.¡±
The White Sox opened with left-hander Tyler Gilbert on Friday, putting him against the left-handers Lawrence Butler and Tyler Soderstrom at the top of the order in the first inning, and then bringing in Sean Burke for bulk work in the second.
Burke, who had previously allowed nine runs (six earned) in the first inning this season, allowed three earned runs over 5 1/3 innings and 86 pitches with five strikeouts and two walks, while taking his fourth loss.
Gilbert will open again Saturday afternoon, followed by Jonathan Cannon.
¡°Not a ton changed from the prep going into the day, pushing everything back. I was still pretty much able to get my normal routine in,¡± Burke said. ¡°We talked before the game about these are kind of the situations where we put you in the game, so I was just prepared for that and back everything off of that. It was a little bit different but not anything drastic."
When the White Sox rally against Miller fell short, the team lost for the 11th time by one or two runs. The fight is there, but moral victories don¡¯t count in the standings.
¡°You have to keep working hard,¡± Robert said. ¡°The outcome, that is something we can¡¯t control, but we can control what our preparation is and our work on the field.¡±
¡°To see them kind of keep battling against him all night and a lot of hard contact against Miller, it's good,¡± Burke said. ¡°I think everyone is starting to gain more confidence offensively.¡±