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HOUSTON – Orbit, the Astros mascot, went from the right field gate to the center field and halfway before Adam Engle reached the entrance to the canoe.
Orbit was dragging a giant Astros flag, but Engle soaked up the White Sox Game 1 loss, after winning the American League Division Series opener final, on savage bare-handed play by the second baseman. of the Astros Jose Altuve.
“Our club is not discouraged,” White Sox manager Tony La Russa said after a 6-1 loss to the Astros. “If they beat you, flip your cap and you go out tomorrow.” There is no doubt in my mind that we will come out ready to play. “
The White Sox offense faced a tough task Thursday at Minute Maid Park. By the end of the fourth inning, they were down five points as White Sox starting pitcher Lance Lynn battled the Astros again. By the end of the fifth, it was six points.
Although the White Sox made a late attacking push, success against Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr. was rare. The right-hander limited the White Sox to four hits in 6 2/3 shutouts.
The problem for the White Sox is that after pitching Game 1 in the best-of-five series, the Astros ace might be available to start Game 4 on a short rest, or Game 5 if the series goes that far. . So the South Siders will likely have to pass McCullers on the road if they hope to advance to the AL Championship Series.
“It’s because he’s one of the best in the league,” White Sox three-hole forward José Abreu said through team interpreter Billy Russo, when asked him what made McCullers so difficult to face. “I mean, he’s in the majors.”
McCullers said part of his game plan was to be “crushing in the zone.” He did it, without giving a single step. Of his 104 throws Thursday, 62 were strikes.
“For the most part,” said McCullers, “maybe other than a few changes and a few heaters, even when the pitches weren’t in the area they had a purpose, and they helped me through the rest. Match. “
McCullers held the White Sox without a hitting for the first three innings. Yoán Moncada finally broke the streak with an out in the fourth inning, hitting a line in shallow left field.
He rose to a goal scoring position, advancing to second place on José Abreu’s withdrawal from the shortstop. But Grandal hit a comebacker to the ground for the third in the inning. All three were Groundouts.
Finally, in the seventh inning, the White Sox began to string together hits against McCullers, with singles from José Abreu, Luis Robert and Eloy Jiménez. But by then, McCullers had pitched what would have been considered deep by regular season standards. In the short-leashed playoffs, his start was practically Herculean.
“Sometimes you just have to go together and see who’s better on any given day,” McCullers said of attacking the zone against a balanced White Sox formation. “It’s just one of those things where they have a fantastic attack. They have a lot of power. They have a lot of guys who have a high GPA. They have a lot of guys who don’t swing, chase, and miss.
“… You’re either going to sit there all day and worry about this and that, how good they are, or you can just put it on the line and go after them and see what happens. ”
The White Sox finally scored in the eighth inning, after McCullers retreated to the dugout. With two strikeouts, Astros reliever Kendall Graveman threw a fast pitching first pitch to Tim Anderson. The White Sox lead hitter led him to right field for a single. Then Moncada shot a goal, pushing Anderson into second place as Abreu moved towards the plate.
Abreu, whose availability was questionable until about an hour before the game due to an illness unrelated to COVID-19, ended the Astros’ shutout offer.
“I think in the last few innings we’ve shown the kind of attack we have,” said Abreu, “the kind of attack we have carried throughout the season, and I hope that we can wear it for tomorrow. “
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