CLEVELAND — The Chicago White Sox took the phrase “painful loss” to another level Wednesday at Progressive Field.
The Sox trailed the Cleveland Guardians by two runs with two outs in the ninth inning. Miguel Vargas came up with the bases loaded, facing elite closer Emmanuel Clase.
Vargas singled to left. Jacob Amaya scored easily from third. Mike Tauchman rounded third and headed home as he attempted to score the tying run from second.
But Tauchman began limping between third and home. He slowed down in obvious pain. Guardians catcher Austin Hedges tagged Tauchman before he could reach the plate and the Sox suffered a jaw-dropping 3-2 loss in front of 12,997.
Tauchman suffered tightness in his right hamstring and was being further evaluated, according to the Sox. The outfielder had just made his Sox debut Sunday after beginning the season on the injured list with a strained right hamstring.
“It’s unfortunate, obviously, hope Mike’s all right, and obviously the outcome in the game speaks for itself and disappointing,” said manager Will Venable, who met with reporters immediately after the game and before Tauchman’s updated injury status. “But you get past that first three innings for us (when they trailed 3-1), really good job by (reliever Mike) Vasil there and our bullpen to give us a chance. And then, quality at-bats (in the ninth) against one of the best pitchers on the planet.”
It was a painful night in more ways than one for the Sox (2-9), who lost their seventh straight.
Catcher Korey Lee exited in the sixth with left ankle soreness after racing back to first base to try to beat a pickoff throw from Hedges. Lee twisted his ankle on his last step and fell to the ground in pain.
“Hoping that he’s all right,” Venable said of Lee. “We’ll see where he’s at tomorrow.”
The night began well for the Sox, who scored a run in the first with an RBI single by Lenyn Sosa.
But the Guardians took advantage of back-to-back walks by Sox starter Sean Burke in the first and scored twice in the inning to take a 2-1 lead. Carlos Santana homered off Burke in the third, making it 3-1.
It remained that way thanks to strong pitching from Sox relievers Vasil, Penn Murfee and Fraser Ellard, who did not give up a hit in the final five innings.
“They did a phenomenal job,” Burke said. “Obviously (I) made it hard on them, only going three (innings). They stepped up.”
Venable added, “Proud of those guys for giving us a chance there at the end.”
Amaya began the ninth for the Sox with a single to left. Tauchman followed with a line-drive single to right, his third hit of the game.
Luis Robert Jr. struck out, but Andrew Vaughn walked to load the bases for Austin Slater.
Clase struck out Slater on a high cutter, bringing Vargas to the plate as the team’s last hope.
He swung at the first pitch and grounded a single between third baseman José Ramírez and shortstop Brayan Rocchio. Amaya scored while Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan fielded the ball and fired home, trying to get Tauchman.
“We knew it was going to be a close play at the plate, so just try to secure the ball, throw it in,” Kwan told Cleveland reporters. “It wasn’t really a great throw, but Austin corralled in. I saw how nonchalant he was. I saw (Tauchman) pulling up, and you never want to see a guy pulling up like that, especially when the game’s on the line. You have to know that was really hurting him.”
Tauchman slammed his helmet after getting tagged and briefly went to his knees before making his way back to the dugout.
“We fought the whole nine innings,” Vargas said. “Sad for what happened to Mike. We battled the whole game, and obviously we don’t have the result that we wanted, but I’m really proud of the work we’ve been doing.”
Venable expressed similar sentiments.
“Just a really nice job,” the manager said. “Really grinding it out on a day where we couldn’t get anything going offensively, to have quality at-bats there and give ourselves a chance (in the ninth).
“And had a base hit to score the tying run and obviously we weren’t able to push it across, but I’m just really proud of the guys.”
