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 The same holds true for players, though Tuesday night, the Milwaukee
Brewers would have much rather preferred watching Chicago White Sox
left-hander Chris Sale from the comforts of their own couch.
Sale (3-1), in his first game back following a five-game suspension,
dominated the Brewers, striking out a season-high 11 over eight
innings of work in a 4-2 White Sox victory.
"It's hard to believe he had a five-something ERA coming into this
game," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "He was good, really
good. I've never seen him in person. A lot of our guys haven't and
he's really good."
Sale had given up 13 earned runs over 8 1/3 innings in his last two
starts and looked like he would struggle again Tuesday when he gave
up a leadoff triple to Brewers shortstop Jean Segura.
Segura would go onto score in the inning, putting Milwaukee up, 1-0,
but he retired 11 of his next 13 batters, facing just one over the
minimum during that stretch.
"He really had command of it," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said.
"He had that slider that he really needed on some guys, this is a
little more vintage of what you'd expect out of him."
His offense gave him some room to work in the fifth, tying the game
when shortstop Alexei Ramirez and catcher Tyler Flowers opened the
inning with back-to-back doubles and second baseman Micah Johnson
put Chicago ahead, 2-1, with an RBI single.
Sale would give that lead up in the bottom of the frame when third
baseman Elian Herrera tied the game with his fourth home run in as
many days.
The White Sox offense put him in a position to win for the first
time since April 18 with a fortunate eighth inning.
With his usual late-inning relievers needing a day, Counsell turned
to right-hander Michael Blazek (3-1), who had not allowed a run in
11 of 13 appearances this season.
First baseman Jose Abreu drew a one-out walk off Blazek (3-1) and
right fielder Avisail Garcia followed with a single to left.
The White Sox caught a break when Blazek's 2-0 offering to third
baseman Conor Gillaspie was wild, moving Abreu and Garcia both into
scoring position.
Blazek walked Gillaspie intentionally, loading the bases for
Ramirez, who hit a fly ball to center just deep enough to let Abreu
score the go-ahead run.
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"Mike has pitched really well," Counsell said. "He's been on a
really good roll. We've used those other guys pretty hard. I was
very comfortable going with Mike in that inning. He had to get
through a good part of their order and they got a run on him."
Armed with a one-run lead, Sale came back out for the bottom of the
inning and worked around a two-out walk to pinch-hitter Gerardo
Parra.
Abreu drove in an insurance run in the ninth and David Robertson
retired the Brewers in order for his sixth save of the year.
"You want to have a start like this after a couple of bad ones,"
Sale said. "Rest guys a little bit and just build off of it. I think
I've given up runs in the first inning in every start that I've
pitched in and they never give up, they keep fighting."
Brewers right-hander Mike Fiers struck out seven in 6 1/3 innings
of work.
NOTES: Chicago GM Rich Hahn said LHP Carlos Rodon will be
transitioned into the rotation beginning with a start Friday at
Oakland. Hahn said the team mapped out a plan for Rodon through the
All-Star break and that he might not pitch every fifth day as the
team looks to increase his workload gradually. ... Brewers INF Elian
Herrera made his fifth straight start in place of 3B Aramis Ramirez,
who remains unavailable due to lower back tightness. ... The White
Sox committed 11 errors over their previous eight games. Chicago's
.977 fielding percentage ranked 28th in the majors entering play
Tuesday. ... Before Tuesday, the Brewers had hit 22 home runs over
their last 13 games after hitting just nine through their first 20
contests this season. ... The victory snapped a seven-game road
losing streak for the White Sox, who are 3-12 away from U.S.
Cellular Field this season.
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