The San Francisco Giants have seen their 8.5 game lead in the National League West dwindle to four over the last week, in large part due to losing their last five games. The most recent of which came on Wednesday night, when they fell to the Chicago White Sox 7-6 on the road.
The White Sox got on the board first, when rookie first baseman Jose Abreu belted his 20th homer of the season with a two-run shot to left. He reached the 20-homer plateau in the third-fewest amount of games in MLB history. Wally Berger hit 20 in his first 51 games, and Mark McGwire did it in 56 games, reports ESPN.
The White Sox increased their lead in the fourth on a two-RBI single by catcher Tyler Flowers.
The following inning, the Giants got on the board and cut the deficit in half. Catcher Buster Posey smacked a RBI base hit to center, and third baseman Pablo Sandoval drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.
In the bottom of the fifth, Chicago designated hitter Adam Dunn unloaded a three-run home run that made the score 7-2.
The Giants did not go away as they scored in each of the final three innings. In the seventh, Posey drove in a run on a sacrifice fly. The next inning, runs scored on a double by outfielder Gregor Blanco and a ground out by outfielder Hunter Pence.
In the ninth, San Francisco got runners on the corners with nobody out but could only produce one run. Catcher Hector Sanchez struck out; left fielder Tyler Colvin hit an RBI sacrifice fly to left, and infielder Ehire Adrianza flied out to end the game.
Tim Hudson suffered his third loss of the season for the Giants as he went 4 2/3 innings, giving up seven runs on 12 hits. Relievers Juan Gutierrez and Santiago Casilla combined for 3 1/3 innings of perfect baseball.
White Sox starter Chris Sale picked up his sixth win of the year. He pitched six innings, yielding three runs on eight hits and fanning seven.
“I think some guys had some pretty good at-bats, putting it in play, and it’s nice to get some run support for Chris,” Chicago manager Robin Ventura said in his postgame press conference on MLB.com. “Our guys, they’re tough. They just keep grinding. We knew we didn’t play well against KC, but put it behind you and you keep going; the schedule keeps going, and it doesn’t stop.”
The White Sox sit 4.5 games out of the American League Central and open a series in Minnesota on Thursday. The Giants travel to Arizona for a match-up with the Diamondbacks on Friday.