MIAMI — Chicago White Sox starter Garrett Crochet kept making good pitches.
The Miami Marlins kept fouling them off. The pitch count piled up, leading to Crochet exiting after four innings.
The Marlins got to the bullpen late, as Dane Myers hit a go-ahead, two-run home run in the seventh against reliever Michael Soroka to hand the Sox a 4-3 loss on Saturday in front of 13,409 at loanDepot park.
“We had a 3-0 lead with Crochet on the mound going into the third inning, everybody was feeling pretty good,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “They did a really good job of battling against him, I think 28 foul balls. That’s what got him.”
Crochet allowed two runs on five hits with five strikeouts and three walks in four innings and did not factor in the decision.
“They had a good approach,” Crochet said.
The fourth inning perfectly illustrated Crochet’s day. He threw 45 pitches in the inning, which featured 17 foul balls. There was a 10-pitch battle with former Sox teammate Jake Burger. The infielder fouled off five straight pitches, and six total in the at-bat, before popping out to third baseman Lenyn Sosa to end the inning.
“Think about it, 28 foul balls (in the outing), that’s a couple of innings of foul balls,” Grifol said. “They had a pretty good approach, they put the ball in play, they fouled balls off. Had no intention of throwing him 45 pitches (in the fourth). The (Burger at-bat) started at 35, and Burger runs a 10-pitch at-bat with the bases loaded.”
Burger was the final batter Crochet faced in the 93-pitch outing.
“Clearly they had a good plan going into the game,” Crochet said. “Clearly they executed it well. I didn’t feel like I threw too many pitches over the heart (of the plate) but when I did, they resulted in base hits.
“The thing I’m most upset about is probably the three walks. Only one of them scored but a lot of unnecessary traffic I caused to myself.”
He left with a 3-2 lead as the Sox scored once in the first and twice in the third. Gavin Sheets and Andrew Vaughn had RBI doubles in the third as the Sox took a 3-0 lead.
The team didn’t take advantage of a chance for at least one more run in the second. The Sox had runners on the corners with one out when Nicky Lopez bunted back to the mound. Paul DeJong, the runner on third, got caught in a rundown and was tagged out trying to get back to third.
“The safety (squeeze) was on the first pitch,” Grifol said. “And then we just had a miscommunication on that bunt (on the third pitch of the at-bat). I trust (Lopez) to put the ball in play. There was just a miscommunication there that we’ve got to clean up.”
The Marlins scored once in the third, taking advantage when Vidal Bruján got hit by a pitch to begin the inning and later scored on a single by Myers.
“I don’t think he moved, he was on the plate,” catcher Korey Lee said of Bruján. “On the broadcast I saw it was a strike, I let the umpire know I thought it was a strike, not reviewable.”
Grifol added, “In real time that’s a tough call for (home plate umpire) Ramon (De Jesus) or anybody back there.”
Bruján had an RBI single during the lengthy fourth inning, cutting the Sox lead to 3-2. Crochet exited with a 3.08 ERA, which ranks ninth in the American League, and a major-league-leading 146 strikeouts this season.
“To his credit, he started mixing some changeups and throwing some stuff on the outer half,” Grifol said. “It was one of those days, they put the ball in play, man. They swung a lot and he throws a lot of strikes.”
Myers put the Marlins ahead with the two-run home run in the seventh.
“Winnable game, we lost it,” Grifol said. “Got to come back at them tomorrow.”
