White Sox beat Tigers 7-2; Kopech impresses in second major league start
Michael Kopech and the offense help Sox take three of four in Detroit...
White Sox starting pitcher Michael Kopech looked sharp in his first full start of the season.
The righthander’s first major league start was cut short due to a rain delay, but Comerica Park was nice and sunny today.
Kopech finished his day going six innings, giving up one earned run on seven hits. He issued ZERO walks, and struck out four. He worked out of some jams, got some help from his defense and turned in a solid performance against a lowly Tigers lineup.
The flamethrower has failed to reach triple digits on the radar gun so far in his major league career, but that looks to be by design. Heck, he hasn’t walked a batter since July 14, so taking a few miles per hour off that fastball has done wonders to his control.
Kopech ran into some trouble in the sixth inning, when he gave up two straight doubles to open the inning. He then loaded the bases with one out and ran the count to 3-0 on Ronny Rodriguez. However, Kopech induced a sweet 6-4-3 double play to get out of the inning. It got Sox fans in the rebuild feels...Kopech pitched, Tim Anderson fielded and Moncada threw to first to complete the double play.
The offense also looked good for a third straight day. Huh? Yep, Avisail Garcia got the Sox on the board in the third inning with a two-RBI single to left-center field. Daniel Palka then rocketed a two-run home run into the right field seats later that inning to give the Sox a 4-0 lead. The Palka blast shot off the bat at 111 mph...
Batted balls hit 110 MPH+
— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) August 26, 2018
63 -- Stanton
43 -- Cruz
43 -- Judge
34 -- Gallo
28 -- Cargo
24 -- Ozuna
24 -- Palka (inc. today)
22 -- Trout
Yoan Moncada added to the offense with an RBI triple. It looked like he had enough for a home run off the bat, but the high fence in right-center field got him. Regardless, Moncada helped put the Sox up 5-0.
The top of the seventh yielded more runs for the Sox. Tim Anderson hit a sac fly, and Omar Naravaez drew and RBI walk. Both those players recorded two hits on the day.
Hector Santiago gave up a solo home run to start the ninth inning and later loaded the bases. Jace Fry came in and got the final two outs of the game to avoid making the game a bit more interesting.
The Sox are now 9-3 in their last 12 games. Hey, that’s not too bad! They travel to New York tomorrow to face the Yankees in a three-game series.