White Sox Sink Indians 10-7: Game Notes and Scouting Takeaways

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Danny Hayes hit a go-ahead, ninth-inning grand slam as the White Sox beat the Indians in a 10-7 slugfest on Saturday afternoon.

This is the third of a six-part scouting series. In addition to this White Sox game, I will be covering the following upcoming games: COL@TEX (3/27) and LAD@SEA (3/29). You can find my recap and scouting report of Thursday’s Dodgers/Rangers game here, and Friday’s Athletics/White Sox game here. Follow me on Twitter @JoePiazza_ for live game updates!

It was an action-packed day at Goodyear Ballpark on Saturday, as the White Sox toppled the Indians 10-7 on a go-ahead ninth-inning grand slam by Danny Hayes. The game was anything but one-sided, as the White Sox and Indians combined for 25 hits, six homers and 17 runs. The contest started in Chicago’s favor, with leadoff hitter Jacob May hitting a home run to start things off. Left fielder Cody Asche kept the pressure on Indians starter Josh Tomlin in the second inning, launching another solo home run for the White Sox.

The six homers of the day came courtesy of Jacob May, Cody Asche, Carlos Santana, Nicky Delmonico, Jose Abreu, Everth Cabrera and Danny Hayes. There were homers in the first, second, fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth innings. This guaranteed a solid offensive showing throughout the duration of the game, but meant bad news for both teams’ pitching staffs.

The Indians carried a one-run lead going into the ninth. Joe Colon was brought in to close out the game, but failed miserably. He got the first out of the inning on a fly ball to left, then loaded up the bases. A grounder to second resulted in a fielder’s choice for the second out, but Colon was not in the clear yet.

Danny Hayes stepped to the plate with the bases juiced and two away, and sent a high fly ball deep to right on a two-strike count. At first it appeared to be a routine out, but the wind carried the ball over the wall for a go-ahead grand slam. Chicago had retaken the lead when they had been just a strike away from defeat. They sealed the win with three quick outs, and the ballgame was over. White Sox 10, Indians 7.

White Sox Batting

It might as well have been batting practice for the White Sox. A total nine players collected hits for the South Siders. What’s even more obscene is that Jacob May, Cody Asche, Kevan Smith and Everth Cabrera all recorded multiple hits. Five batters went deep, the most notable of course being Danny Hayes’ go-ahead slam in the ninth. While Hayes hit more of a wall-scraper home run, Jose Abreu and Everth Cabrera hit no-doubters.

Late entry Nicky Delmonico hugs the RF pole, adds another run on a solo homer 6-4 @whitesox
— Joe Piazza (@Joepiazza_) March 25, 2017

Todd Frazier squared up a couple pitches for solid contact, but ended the day 0-3. The White Sox scored in five of nine innings Saturday, while six different players collected an RBI. Cabrera and May both recorded multiple hits and a home run, but Hayes was the star of the day. Hayes did more in his lone at bat than anyone else for Chicago. With two outs, on a two-strike count, down 7-6 in the top of the ninth, Hayes changed everything. What felt like a “W” in the books for Cleveland quickly became a classic Chicago comeback.

Indians Batting

While the victory went to the White Sox, Cleveland had plenty of offense in this game too. Two separate rallies, one in the fifth and one in the seventh, kept the Indians close on Saturday. Switch hitter Carlos Santana went deep for the Tribe in the fifth, giving the team its first lead of the game. The other big hits for the Indians came courtesy of Bradley Zimmer and Michael Martinez, who each hit a triple. The team collected 12 hits and five different players recorded an RBI. In contrast, Tyler Naquin had a tough day at the plate. Despite drawing a walk, he finished the day 0-2 with two strikeouts.

White Sox Pitching

White Sox pitchers gave up seven earned runs and 12 hits, but every one of those runs can be attributed to relievers Zack Burdi and Michael Ynoa. Starter Dylan Covey only lasted 3.2 innings, but they were scoreless innings. He collected three strikeouts and walked one batter, needing a reasonable 44 pitches to do so. Following the news that Carlos Rodon may not be ready to start the season, this was an important start for Covey. Luckily, he took full advantage of a great opportunity to earn a rotation spot.

Relievers

Zack Burdi came in to finish the fourth inning, but shouldn’t have gone back out for the fifth. That Indians rally I mentioned on the last slide came off of Burdi. A Robert Perez double, a Michael Martinez triple, a Santana home run and a pair of singles (along with one walk) gave the Indians a 4-3 lead. Burdi was pulled before the fourth run of the inning scored, but was nonetheless responsible for him. Lefty Aaron Bummer was called upon to clean up the mess, but allowed an RBI single to Edwin Encarnacion before getting out of the inning.

Going into the sixth inning with a 4-0 lead, the White Sox gave the ball to Michael Ynoa. He pitched a clean sixth, but like Burdi, should not have went out for another inning. He surrendered three runs in the seventh, recording just one out before getting pulled. Manager Robin Ventura went with Gregory Infante, who finished the game for Chicago. Infante pitched the final 2.2 innings for the White Sox, giving up just one hit. It’s doubtful he will get much playing time for the major league squad in 2017, but Gregory Infante was undoubtedly the most effective reliever for Chicago in this game.

Indians Pitching

This was very much managed like a Spring Training game, as it appeared that the team specifically wanted to see seven innings out of Josh Tomlin. In my opinion, there was really no reason to send him back out there after the sixth. Through the first six innings, Tomlin had allowed three earned runs and struck out four. In a game you’re trying to win, you don’t leave him out there any longer. Sure enough, he gave up a single and an Everth Cabrera home run to begin things in the seventh. In fact, Cabrera hit the ball so hard he even took a brief second to admire his work.

Tomlin struck out the following batter but was pulled after that. His pitching line for the day checked in at 6.1 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 5 K and 0 BB. Obviously, this is still Spring Training. This means manager Terry Francona is probably more concerned with preparing Tomlin to go deep into games than he is with winning in March.

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Relievers

The Indians went into the seventh with a 4-3 lead, but fell behind on Cabrera’s home run. Down 5-4, Boone Logan was called upon in relief of Tomlin. After getting Leury Garcia to fly out, he surrendered a solo homer to Nicky Delmonico. This extended the White Sox lead to 6-4. Logan struck out Jose Abreu to end the inning, and his day was done. The duo of Dan Otero and Zach McAllister combined to throw a scoreless eighth, but Cleveland was not yet in the clear.

Rookie Joe Colon was tasked with closing out the game, but couldn’t get the third out. After loading the bases with two outs, Colon gave up the deciding hit on a go-ahead grand slam by Danny Hayes. Likely in correlation to the events of Saturday’s game, Colon was optioned to AAA on Sunday. He wasn’t expected to be a bullpen staple for the Indians, but this wasn’t the ideal way to finish Spring Training.

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