ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Chicago White Sox led on three occasions Wednesday against the Los Angeles Angels.
But they couldn’t close the door, and in the process saw a potential series victory slip away.
Eric Wagaman scored on Jordyn Adams’ infield hit in the 13th inning, giving the Angels a 4-3 victory against the Sox at Angel Stadium.
“We had some opportunities, just didn’t capitalize on them,” interim manager Grady Sizemore said. “We just came up short.”
Wagaman began the 13th on second as the automatic runner and moved to third on a flyout to right. Adams hit a grounder that deflected off third baseman Miguel Vargas’ glove, and Wagaman scored easily to end the marathon.
The Sox lost two of three. But they had their chances.
Sox designated hitter Andrew Vaughn homered in the fourth for the game’s first run. The Angels tied it in the eighth with an RBI single by Taylor Ward on a ball that just got past diving shortstop Nicky Lopez with the infield in.
That was all the scoring until the 10th. Korey Lee moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Dominic Fletcher and scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Miguel Vargas to give the Sox a 2-1 lead. Gustavo Campero tied it with a run-scoring single in the bottom of the 10th.
The Sox went back ahead in the 11th on Andrew Benintendi’s two-out RBI single. But the Angels responded with an RBI single by Wagaman. Neither team scored in the 12th. The Sox stranded the bases loaded in the 13th, with Yoán Moncada striking out in his first major-league at-bat since April 9. He returned from the injured list Monday after missing a majority of the season with a left adductor strain.
The Angels made the most of their opportunity in the 13th, and the Sox suffered another tough loss.
Here are three takeaways from the series.
1. The Sox inched closer to history
It took 3 hours, 35 minutes for the Sox to move one loss closer to the 1962 New York Mets.
The Sox have 117 losses.
With the defeat, the Sox are three shy of tying the ’62 Mets (40-120) for the most losses in a season during the modern era. The 117 defeats are tied for the third-most in MLB history, matching the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics (36-117).
At 36-117, the Sox need to go 7-2 in their final nine games to avoid equaling the ‘62 Mets.
The Sox still haven’t won a road series since May 3-5 in St. Louis.
2. Jake Eder took it all in during big-league debut
Jake Eder had a “ton of adrenaline” as he made his way out of the visiting bullpen before the seventh inning Tuesday night.
“I was just trying to stay as relaxed as possible, stay within myself,” Eder said. “It sunk in a little more when I was done.”
The left-hander, acquired last season from the Miami Marlins in a trade for Jake Burger, made his major-league debut in the 5-0 loss.
He allowed one run on two hits with one strikeout and one walk in two innings.
The run came on a wild pitch in the seventh. The first two batters reached in the eighth via a single and hit by pitch. Eder induced a 6-4-3 double play and then a groundout to escape that jam.
“It’s pretty sweet to have it all come together and have the opportunity,” Eder said. “Just going to run with it and keep getting better.”
Eder’s first career strikeout came in the seventh when he fanned Logan O’Hoppe looking on a 3-2 changeup to end the inning.
“I was throwing a lot of changeups, it was working well,” Eder said. “We were throwing based off that strength. I had been throwing it for strikes. (Catcher Korey Lee) called it, and I felt confident with it and threw it in the zone and got a nice take.”
Eder had the ball in his locker after the game. He was unsure where he would ultimately put it.
“Maybe create some kind of room or something,” he said with a smile.
3. Chad Kuhl found a way in a tricky spot.
It was a situation reliever Chad Kuhl believed he had been in “maybe one other time during my entire professional career.”
The Sox led by four runs in the seventh Monday, but the Angels had runners on the corners with two outs.
Kuhl stumbled making a 2-2 pitch but somehow delivered cleanly near the plate for a ball, avoiding what would have been a run-scoring balk.
“Oh, man,” Kuhl told the Tribune on Wednesday morning. “Cleats slipped and I had that split-second thought, ‘If I don’t release this, it’s probably a balk.’ Just do whatever I can to get it to (catcher) Chuckie (Robinson). Ended up not costing us.”
Kuhl then struck out Taylor Ward on the next pitch.
“I felt like it was kind of just a do or die moment,” he said. “Either you walk him or execute a pitch. That was (the mindset). Just getting back on track and executing a pitch.
“Felt like I wasn’t getting the results (earlier in the inning), I had executed a ton of pitches before that and had a couple of bloop singles. Just do or die right there.”
The Sox held on for an 8-4 victory.
Kuhl pitched 1 1/3 relief innings in Wednesday’s marathon, allowing two unearned runs.
The Sox used eight pitchers Wednesday, with Adams getting the game-winning hit against Jairo Iriarte.
