CLEVELAND — The White Sox thought they were playing against two teams Friday night: the Guardians and the Guardians’ grounds crew.
After being walked-off for the second consecutive night, this time 4-3 in 10 innings, Sox manager Will Venable and starter Anthony Kay shared some interesting thoughts about the field and the weather during a game that was delayed 1 hour, 55 minutes by rain.
In the fifth, Miguel Vargas gave the Sox a 3-1 lead with a three-run homer that capped a riveting 10-pitch at-bat in which he fell behind 0-2 before running the count full. It already had begun raining, and on Vargas’ home-run trot, the umpires called for the tarp.
But that’s not how Kay saw it after throwing four strong innings and being forced from the game.
“I was hoping to go six, seven, eight innings, give the bullpen some help, but I think they messed around with the tarp,” Kay said. “We probably had at least 20 to 30 minutes of light rain that we could’ve played through.
“But the second that Vargas hits that home run, they pull the tarp. So there definitely was some bull— on their part to get me out of the game. It’s pretty messed up for them to do something like that and get me out of the game that way.”
“I stayed in the dugout for probably 15 more minutes. We played through it up until Vargas hit the homer. I don’t even think he was finished rounding the bases when they pulled the tarp out. So there was definitely some gamesmanship, and I don’t think it was right for them to do that.”
Teams are not supposed to influence decisions to stop play because of the weather. Those belong to the umpires, who waited for Vargas’ at-bat to end before delaying the game. The umpires were made aware before the game that a storm was coming through, and with the wind whipping and the rain falling, they pulled the teams off the field.
When play resumed, the Sox took the 3-1 lead into the seventh, which is when Venable called on demoted closer Seranthony Dominguez. Dominguez faced three batters, sandwiching two walks around a strikeout. Both came around to score on singles against Bryan Hudson to tie it.
A soaked outfield might’ve helped the Guardians score on both hits. On the first, Austin Hedges hit one deep in the hole at short and onto the grass in short left field. The ball glanced off Colson Montgomery’s glove and bounced away from him, allowing Rhys Hoskins to score from second.
Then Steven Kwan blooped a single in front of left fielder Sam Antonacci, who didn’t seem to have steady footing and couldn’t handle the bouncing ball, which got away from him. That allowed Brayan Rocchio to score from second, and Antonacci was charged with an error.
Both plays caught Venable’s attention.
“With Colson, just deep into the grass there, wasn’t able to stop that ball from getting by him,” he said. “And then Sammy, that’s where they dumped all the water. It was a mess out there. He’s coming in hard trying to make a play, and it just got by him.”
In the 10th, after the Sox failed to even advance automatic runner Luisangel Acuna, the Guardians touched Sean Newcomb for two singles to end it. New Sox killer Kahlil Watson drove in automatic runner Kwan with a first-pitch bouncer up the middle through a drawn-in infield.
The Guardians had had just one walk-off victory before this series, in which they now have two. The Sox lost their ninth consecutive game in Cleveland and fell out of first place in the American League Central, dropping a game behind the Guardians.
“It’s tough, but we got another one tomorrow,” Kay said. “We’re going to bounce back and get right after them.”