CHICAGO — Yasmani Grandal hit a two-run, two-out tie double in the eighth inning and the Chicago White Sox defeated the Texas Rangers 8-3 on Friday night.
Danny Mendick homed to cap an eighth run in five as the White Sox tagged John King.
“I’ve never seen him in my life,” said Grandal, who finished with two hits and three RBI. “I was pretty much looking for a bug or looking for something. He made the mistake and I was able to capitalize on it.”
Nathaniel Lowe homered and doubled for Texas. Adolis Garcia and Corey Seager hit home runs but the Rangers lost for the seventh time in nine games.
Beginning with Jake Burger’s infield single, Chicago racked up five consecutive hits with two outs in the eighth.
Grandal broke a 3-all tie with his double-off to King’s right field corner (1-2). Josh Harrison hit an RBI single and Mendick went deep as the White Sox rebounded a day after a wild 11-9 loss to the Dodgers for a two-game losing streak.
“I think you just take advantage of mistakes,” Mendick said. “All those hits were cumulative. It just kept going and all with two outs.”
Then Mendick, a provider, hit his second homer when King “left a router over the plate and (he) got the barrel to it.”
Kendall Graveman (2-1) scored eighth for the win despite allowing Seager’s homer that ended the game in a 3-tie.
Texas right Matt Bush started in place of Glenn Otto, who was placed on the COVID-19-related injured list ahead of the contest. Catcher Mitch Garver was also included on the list.
“We were obviously in a difficult position losing our starter, but our pitchers did a good job and kept us in the game,” said Texas manager Chris Woodward. “A few mistakes, missing a few plays and being a little sloppy at the end led to a five-run eighth inning.”
Bush threw a scoreless inning, followed by five pitchers. King was hit hard when he started raising pitches, Woodward said.
“When he’s in the zone, he’s probably the most effective guy in baseball,” Woodward said.
The White Sox used right-hander Reynaldo Lopez as the opener in place of Davis Martin, who was designated to start. Lopez threw two scoreless innings and knocked out three.
Martin followed, allowing two runs with three hits and hitting six in five innings in his third major league appearance.
Chicago manager Tony La Russa was impressed with Martin. Even though the rookie allowed solo shots from Lowe and Garcia, he only walked one
“I can’t give Davis Martin enough credit,” said La Russa, “You can’t hit with solo homers.”
HIGH LOWE
Lowe had his third straight multi-hit game and fourth of five for Texas. The first baseman’s seventh homer finished fourth in nine games this month.
WHITE SOX MOVEMENTS
The Chicago White Sox selected INF/OF Gavin Sheets to Triple-A Charlotte and recalled RHP Jimmy Lambert from Charlotte.
Sheets hit .206 with four homers and 10 RBI in 44 games and hit just .154 in June. Lambert has appeared in three games with the White Sox this season and went 0-2 with a 5.14 ERA.
TRAINING ROOM
Rangers: Texas activated INF/OF Brad Miller from 10-day injured list. Miller, who had been out since May 29 with a right hip impingement, started in left field and batted seventh. … In a related move, Rangers INF optionally optioned Andy Ibáñez to Round Rock … RHPs Tyson Miller and Jésus Tinoco were added by Triple-A Round Rock to replace Otto and Garver.
White Sox: La Russa said LHP Lance Lynn (right knee surgery) could rejoin the team next week and possibly start Tuesday. Lynn has made three rehab starts with Triple-A Charlotte.
NEXT
Texas LHP Martín Pérez (4-2, 1.56), with the lowest ERA in the AL, meets Chicago ace RHP Lucas Giolito (4-2, 3.54). Pérez has nine consecutive quality starts and is 4-0 with a 0.88 ERA throughout the span.
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