ARLINGTON, Texas — For much of Friday night, the Chicago White Sox couldn’t string anything together against a variety of Texas Rangers pitchers.
In fact, the Sox didn’t have a base runner until two outs in the fifth, when Luis Robert Jr. beat shortstop Corey Seager’s throw for an infield single.
The offense started clicking in the seventh. Down three runs, Miguel Vargas and pinch hitter Edgar Quero singled with one out against Hoby Milner. Robert lined a double to left, scoring Vargas to make it a two-run game.
That’s as close as the Sox would get in a 3-1 loss in front of 31,934 at Globe Life Field.
Just as quickly as the seventh-inning rally came together, it evaporated. Chris Martin struck out pinch hitter Brooks Baldwin swinging. Michael A. Taylor hit the ball hard to center, but Wyatt Langford tracked it down for the final out of the inning.
“In the seventh there we had some opportunity and weren’t able to push another run or two across,” Sox manager Will Venable said. “And then that ninth inning, to be able to get the go-ahead run on base after a slow offensive day was great. These guys just continued to fight the whole game.”
Martin was the fifth of seven Rangers pitchers. The group combined for nine strikeouts, five by Shawn Armstrong in his three perfect innings to begin the game.
“When it’s a bullpen day, it’s hard to game plan for,” designated hitter Andrew Benintendi said. “And obviously they’ve got some pretty good arms back there. Didn’t see the same guy twice.”
Armstrong and Jacob Webb combined to retire the first 14 Sox batters.
“They were really aggressive and I just think we didn’t match their aggression,” Venable said. “I think it was like the fifth inning before we had a 2-0 count, and to me that’s just a function of us not forcing them out of the zone. We just have to be aggressive in the zone there a little more early.”
Robert snapped that streak with his infield hit against Webb. He was initially ruled out, but the call was reversed after a video review.
While the Sox stalled offensively early, leadoff batter Josh Smith served as a spark for the Rangers.
He singled and scored in the first, hit a solo home run in the third and walked and scored in the fifth, giving the Rangers a 3-0 lead.
“Just poor execution on my part,” starter Adrian Houser said. “I wasn’t able to get synced up and get in my mechanics very well. I wasn’t able to hit spots like I wanted to. Put myself in some tough situations and was able to let them have a couple of free swings. The home run, got a free swing there. Just some bad execution tonight, I wasn’t able to set some pitches up and they took advantage of it.”
Houser allowed three runs on six hits with two strikeouts and four walks in five innings. He threw 92 pitches.
“We’ve seen him pitch deeper into games, but his ability to go five innings and only give up three runs just speaks to the kind of pitcher he is, his ability to work through stuff and on a day where he didn’t have his best stuff, he still gave us a chance to win,” Venable said.
Robert’s RBI double in the seventh made it 3-1.
Benintendi began the ninth with a double against Robert Garcia. Vargas then walked. Garcia retired the next two batters before walking Austin Slater. That loaded the bases for Taylor, who struck out swinging.
For the second straight game, the Sox (23-47) had the go-ahead run at the plate in the ninth. But in both cases, they couldn’t complete the comeback.
“You look at the past few years, we weren’t in that position,” Benintendi said. “So it’s just guys growing, guys learning and realizing scenarios and things like that. It’s a step forward from the years in the past.”
