White Sox Explode for Seven Runs in Third, Rout Baltimore 9-3
Chicago turned a one-run game into a blowout in the span of a single inning, scoring seven times in the third to put Baltimore away for good. Junior Perez's two-run homer to center — 409 feet — capped the outburst and left the Orioles with no path back.
The game looked like a toss-up through two innings. Benintendi's double to right scored Teel in the first to give Chicago the lead, and Baltimore answered immediately when Basallo singled to right, plating Henderson to tie it at 1. Then the third inning happened, and it wasn't close again. Colson Montgomery launched a 440-foot shot to right center, scoring Benintendi and swinging Baltimore's win probability from 47% to 30% — a 17-point collapse on a single swing. That homer cracked the game open, but Chicago wasn't done. Gonzalez singled to left to score B. Montgomery and Meidroth, pushing the lead to 5-1, and then Perez went deep to center at 409 feet, scoring Peters and Gonzalez to make it 8-1. Seven runs, one inning, game over.
The pitching story is a strange one. Albert Suarez was sharp for Baltimore — 3.0 innings, just 1 hit, 0 earned runs, 4 strikeouts — but the Orioles pulled him after three frames and the bullpen couldn't hold the fort. Tyler Schweitzer started for Chicago and gave Baltimore's lineup nothing to work with over 4.0 innings, allowing 4 hits and 0 earned runs. Erick Fedde came on and went 5.0 innings, giving up 3 earned runs on 5 hits, but by then Chicago's nine-run cushion made it academic. Baltimore's two fifth-inning runs — a Beavers double that scored Henderson, followed by an Alonso single that scored Beavers — were cosmetic at best.
The story of the night was Chicago's lineup depth. Four different White Sox hitters drove in runs, and it wasn't one guy carrying the load. Gonzalez went 3-for-5 with 3 RBI. Benintendi was 3-for-4 with an RBI. Peters scored twice without recording an extra-base hit. This looks like a team that's starting to put things together offensively — and for a franchise that holds the No. 1 pick in the July 11 draft, a performance like this suggests the rebuild may be further along than the standings have let on. Baltimore, meanwhile, appears to be grinding through a difficult stretch, and losing a series to Washington before dropping this one to Chicago isn't the trajectory an Orioles team wants heading into July.