Los White Sox remontan y ponen contra la pared a Cleveland [ES/EN]
Decía hace alrededor de un mes que estos White Sox son otra cosa. Son respondones y alegres. Cleveland es un rival duro, tanto que les arrebató el cetro de la División Central en la recta final de la temporada regular, pero Chicago anda bien robusto. El abridor Gavin Williams salió desde la primera entrada con su recta endiablada de 100 MPH y casi no pestañeó. En cambio, Anthony Kay, abridor de Chicago y dueño de un sweeper muy educado, no pudo sacar más de un out. Descontrolado, Will Venable le aplicó la grúa con hombres en segunda y tercera de su entera responsabilidad.
Sean Newcomb no entró mejor, pero parecía que la sacaba barata tras un rodado extraviado de Nathaniel Lowe. Sin embargo, tiró tan mal como pudo a primera y Cleveland terminó facturando dos bien temprano. Chicago ganó cuando evitó que el mundo se le viniera encima en este momento bisagra. Williams recetó tres cafés inolvidables para sus tres clientes en la siguiente entrada —terminaría ponchando a 11 visitantes— mientras Newcomb tomaba algo de aire en la parte baja.
Chicago comenzó a fabricar su remontada en la cuarta. La amenaza nace de un hit para abrir la escena y la paciencia metódica de Vargas, quien posee un excelente dominio de la zona de strike. Y luego, como no, Murakami, con un hit crítico bateando para inaugurar el casillero de los White Sox. Sean Burke, relevista largo desde la tercera, hizo su trabajo. Su bola rápida es de esas envenenadas que producen cierto tipo de contacto: el bate suena diferente y la pelota tiende a rodar más que a volar.
Williams regresó para la sexta con más de 90 lanzamientos. Le repitió mucho el sinker a Vargas, quien le cazó uno de 99 MPH para pegar un fuerte hit al jardín izquierdo y decretar el final de sus excelentes servicios por la jornada. Erik Sabrowski entró al rescate, algo disociado y con algún problema adicional de apoyo detrás del plato. Montgomery aprovechó: doble con dos outs en indómita conexión por la banda contraria para traer dos. Hunter Gaddis vino a apagar el fuego, pero Meidroth le conectó un hit quirúrgico y técnico, también hacia la banda contraria, para poner dos de por medio.
Luego tocó sobrevivir. Burke aguantó hasta el octavo y, tras su salida, Jo Adell, quien atravesaba un slump bastante denso, pegó un largo triple por todo el jardín central que, con algo más de ajuste, era jonrón. Como dice Guillermo Celis: le faltó (comerse) “la galleta en el desayuno”.
En la baja de la novena, el cerrador Taylor —que había sustituido a Burke— soportó buenas conexiones, pero cumplió su cometido. Los White Sox se van de Cleveland con un peleado 4-3 y, sobre todo, con una ventaja de 2-0 en la serie. Dos juegos, dos victorias fuera de casa. Ahora la presión cambia de uniforme. Y eso, en octubre, vale muchísimo.
English version
I said about a month ago that these White Sox were something else. They are feisty and joyful. Cleveland is a tough opponent, so much so that they snatched the Central Division crown from Chicago down the final stretch of the regular season, but these White Sox are looking pretty sturdy. The opposing starter, Gavin Williams, came out firing from the very first inning, his fastball touching 100 MPH, and barely blinked. Anthony Kay, Chicago’s starter and owner of a very polished sweeper, on the other hand, could not get through more than one out. Wild, Will Venable pulled the plug with runners on second and third, both entirely his responsibility.
Sean Newcomb did not fare much better, but it looked as though he might escape cheaply after a ground ball got away from Nathaniel Lowe. Instead, he threw the ball as badly as he possibly could to first, and Cleveland cashed in twice very early. Chicago won this game by preventing the whole thing from spiraling at that crucial juncture. Williams served up three unforgettable coffees to his three customers in the following inning — he would finish with 11 strikeouts against Chicago hitters — while Newcomb finally caught his breath in the bottom half.
Chicago began building its comeback in the fourth. The threat started with a leadoff hit and Vargas’s methodical patience; the Cuban has an excellent command of the strike zone. And then, of course, there was Murakami, delivering a critical hit to put the White Sox on the board. Sean Burke, working as the long reliever since the third, did his job. His fastball is one of those nasty pitches that produces a particular kind of contact: the bat sounds different, and the ball tends to roll rather than fly.
Williams came back for the sixth with more than 90 pitches on his arm. He kept going back to the sinker against Vargas, who finally hunted down a 99-MPH offering and drove it hard into left field, bringing an end to Williams’s excellent work for the day. Erik Sabrowski came in to clean up, somewhat disconnected and with some additional trouble getting the ball back cleanly from behind the plate. Montgomery took advantage: a two-out double, an indomitable piece of hitting the other way, brought home two. Hunter Gaddis came in to put out the fire, but Meidroth delivered a surgical, technically perfect hit, also to the opposite field, to put Chicago up by two.
Then came the survival part. Burke held the line through the eighth, and after his departure, Jo Adell, who had been mired in a pretty dense slump, launched a long triple deep into center field that, with just a little more carry, would have been a home run. As Guillermo Celis likes to say, he was missing the “cookie at breakfast.”
In the bottom of the ninth, closer Taylor — who had taken over for Burke — gave up some hard contact, but he got the job done. The White Sox leave Cleveland with a hard-fought 4-3 victory and, more importantly, a 2-0 lead in the series. Two games, two road wins.
Now the pressure changes uniforms.
And in October, that is worth an awful lot.
Fuente de la imagen de portada.