White Sox: Miguel Gonzalez Dazzles in Victory Over Rays
Miguel Gonzalez threw 8.1 shutout innings allowing just three runs. The right hander improved to 5-8 this season for the White Sox.
If the Chicago White Sox need a starter for next season, Miguel Gonzalez sure showed he could an option. The righty single handedly shutdown the Tampa Bay Rays, throwing his longest outing of the season. Gonzalez struck out five in 8.1 innings while scattering three hits in the 1-0 victory.
Todd Frazier hit hit 40th home run of the season off Eddie Gamboa in the seventh inning. With that home run, he is the first player in White Sox history to have 40 home runs and 15 stolen bases in a single season. After dropping six straight, they are now on a five-game winning streak and 77-81 overall.
Gonzalez endured an hour and 16 minute rain delay to pitch his best game of the season. The start of the game also delayed by 21 minutes. Logan Forsythe’s single in the ninth chased him from the game. Prior to this, he had retired 18 of 19 hitters. David Robertson came on and promptly got Kevin Kiermaier to ground into a double play. It was Robertson’s 37th save in 44 tries.
Rays starter Blake Snell allowed one run in 2.2 innings but didn’t come back on after the second delay. He is 6-8 with a 3.54 ERA this season.
It’s been an up and down season for the White Sox but they are playing very well as of late. Pitching has been good and they are getting timely hitting. Gonzalez had all his pitches working and looked just as good as he did before the delay. His fastball looked great and his changeup was very effective.
The Rays game plan was to be aggressive at the plate but Gonzalez dominated this game. He threw 102 pitches and even had a four-pitch inning.
With this start, Gonzalez very much put himself in the discussion for a rotation spot next season. Depending how the offseason plays out, the White Sox will need at least one man for their rotation, assuming all goes well and Carson Fulmer breaks camp as a starter. Right now, he has my vote, as he is the only in-house option who has pitched well on a consistent basis. James Shields has been painful to watch and Anthony Ranaudo struggled when he was moved to the rotation.
The White Sox will go for a sweep as they send Jose Quintana (13-11, 3.21 ERA) to the hill against Chris Archer (8-19, 4.02 ERA). Quintana is coming off a win over Cleveland while Archer is coming off a loss to Boston.
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