Just when you thought the White Sox couldn’t script up any more crazy ways to lose a game, they put together a ninth-inning collapse that felt like it was scripted in Hollywood.
The White Sox entered the final frame nursing a one-run lead and gave Michael Kopech the opportunity to nail down the save. He got off to a rocky start by walking No. 8 hitter Vidal Bruján, but recovered by fielding a bunt well one batter later. Kopech charged off the mound to easily tag out Nick Fortes who was running to first, then checked to see if he had a play anywhere else on the field. Bruján had taken off towards third base and Kopech briefly appeared primed to make a throw. Problem was, no one was covering third so Kopech had no one to throw to.
Kopech did well to shake off the unforced error his teammates made behind him by inducing a weak pop up from Marlins leadoff man Jazz Chisholm Jr. for the second out of the inning. No harm, no foul.
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All the White Sox had to do from there was retire Josh Bell, a struggling slugger who hadn’t recorded a hit since June 30.
For a moment it looked like the White Sox had done that, but of course they didn’t.
Bell lifted a fly ball high and deep to left field. It hung up long enough for Tommy Pham to put himself in position to make the game-ending catch. Pham leapt up in the air– but it was too early. The ball ranged towards his glove as he started falling back down. The ball disappeared, but it wasn’t in his glove. Pham had the ball stuck between his body and the wall, and when he moved the ball fell to the ground. The Marlins tied the game, 4-4.
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That brought Jesus Sanchez to the plate, a man batting .412 in July with two homers and four RBI in July. The White Sox opted to give Sanchez a free pass to try their luck with the next guy up in the order, Jake Burger.
The White Sox drafted Burger in the first round of the 2017 MLB draft and after several devastating injuries he finally made his MLB debut in 2021. It didn’t take him long to become a fan favorite, but when the White Sox started tearing their roster to the studs in 2022 they traded Burger away to Miami.
Burger told reporters earlier in the weekend that he did have a little extra adrenaline playing his former team, as is expected when any player gets the chance to compete against the organization that drafted him then sent him away.
So what happened next felt like a fitting end to a woeful ninth inning.
With the loss, the White Sox fell to 26-66, which remains the worst record in baseball. We’ll see what they come up with next.