The White Sox demonstrated resilience, scoring twice in the ninth inning to secure a 2-1 victory over the Mariners and even the series.
The White Sox are building a 2026 resume of persistence that pays off, and Tuesday night was a hard-fought example.
Ninth-Inning Comeback
Trailing by a run in the ninth inning, the White Sox, who had managed just two hits, rallied to secure the win in T-Mobile Park.
Munetaka Murakami walked, and Miguel Vargas was hit by a pitch to begin the inning against Luis Castillo. Castillo then struck out Colson Montgomery, and Andrés Muñoz was brought in to close the game for the Mariners.
The White Sox executed a double steal, putting pressure on Muñoz. Chase Meidroth then singled past Josh Naylor, the Seattle first baseman, to tie the game. Following this, Andrew Benintendi singled, and the ball popped out of Naylor’s glove, allowing Vargas to score the go-ahead run.
Grant Taylor struck out the side in the ninth for the save.
“It’s just incredible the way they continue to compete,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “Just the competitive spirit of the group, I mean, we’re getting no-hit … through five innings, and you wouldn’t know it by the energy on our bench, so just awesome job by everybody.”
Kay’s Recovery on the Mound
Anthony Kay’s resilient effort prevented the game from getting out of hand early.
The opening inning was a wild ride for the 31-year-old left-hander who bounced around three Major League organizations before excelling in Japan for two seasons and landing a two-year deal with the White Sox in December.
He allowed a single to Julio Rodríguez, hit Randy Arozarena with a pitch, and walked Josh Naylor to load the bases. Patrick Wisdom then drove in a run on a fielder’s choice. Kay then walked Connor Joe to load the bases again but managed to strike out Mitch Garver to end the threat.
Kay then retired 15 of his final 17 batters over 4 1/3 hitless innings. His final line was 5 1/3 innings, one run on one hit, three walks, five strikeouts and two hit batters.
“I just wasn’t able to get into a groove early and kind of settled in after that,” Kay said. “You’ve just got to turn the page. It’s done with, over with, you can’t really do anything about it now, and you’ve just got to go after the next guy and kind of just hit a full reset and then just keep trying to do your job.”
Tyler Davis, Bryan Hudson and Taylor combined to shut out Seattle the rest of the way.
Miller’s Strong Start
The White Sox struggled against Seattle starter Bryce Miller, who was perfect through 3 1/3 innings and carried a no-hitter into the sixth. Tristan Peters led off with a double to break up the no-hitter.
The White Sox were back to two games over the .500 mark at 25-23 with the chance to take a key road series win Wednesday afternoon.