The Rangers led for six innings. It did not matter. Chicago White Sox scored five runs in the ninth inning to turn a workable deficit into a rout, beating Texas 10-3 at Globe Life Field.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CWS | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 13 | 0 |
| TEX | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
Miguel Vargas paced the White Sox all night, going 3-for-5 with two doubles and 2 RBI. He drove in a run in the third with a double that scored Antonacci, and he was back at it in the ninth, doubling home Meidroth to start the decisive late-inning surge. Andrew Benintendi did not collect many hits, but his one hit carried the biggest weight of the game: a bases-clearing double.
Texas actually built the early lead. Joc Pederson homered to right center in the first to make it 0-1, and Evan Carter's single scored Duran in the second for a 0-2 edge. But the White Sox answered with a run in the third on Vargas's double, then flipped the game in the fifth. Antonacci's single tied it at 2-2, and immediately after, Benintendi's double to right scored Antonacci, Vargas and Murakami to make it 5-2 -- the go-ahead swing the White Sox would not relinquish. Texas got one back in the seventh on Jake Burger's homer to left center, cutting it to 5-3, but Chicago answered emphatically in the ninth: Vargas's double, an Acuña single that scored two, a Grichuk triple, and a Braden Montgomery double combined for five more runs and the final 10-3 margin.
Jacob deGrom took the loss for Texas, allowing 5 runs on 7 hits over 4.2 innings with 6 strikeouts, his record falling to 7-6. Chicago's Chris Murphy earned the win after 1.1 scoreless innings in relief, improving to 3-0. Texas starter's teammate Erick Fedde had kept things close for Chicago across four innings, but the bullpens diverged sharply from there -- Texas relievers allowed 5 runs over 4.1 innings, while Chicago's staff limited the damage to 1 run across 5.0 innings.
Chicago improved to 53-46, extending its winning streak to 2 games, while Texas fell to 50-50 with its second straight loss. Pederson finished a single hit shy of 1,000 for his career, and deGrom sits at 1,979 career strikeouts, 21 shy of 2,000.