After a night with plenty of emotion on both sides, the Los Angeles Dodgers and visiting Chicago White Sox will finish a three-game series on Thursday night.
In a matchup between the best team in the major leagues and the worst team in the American League, the seemingly mismatched pair played a thriller Wednesday that will have staying power.
The White Sox had veteran Clayton Kershaw on the ropes before the left-hander ended the night with three strikeouts for 3,000 in his career. The Dodgers lost Max Muncy to a knee injury in the sixth inning, then rallied for three runs in the ninth for a 5-4 victory.
Freddie Freeman’s game-ending RBI single to right field against Steven Wilson was the decisive blow on a night when nearly 54,000 Dodgers fans saw everything they came for and more. Will Smith and Andy Pages hit solo home runs for Los Angeles.
Smith and Freeman were named National League All-Star Game starters earlier Wednesday. The Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani already had been named a starter.
“The buzz felt a little bit like a playoff game,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “The fans were into it from every pitch.”
Kershaw had nothing but praise for a young White Sox lineup.
“Give the White Sox credit, too,” he said. “They didn’t make it easy on me at all. So it was a tough night all the way around.”
Dodgers right-hander Dustin May (4-5, 4.68 ERA) will have a tough act to follow in his first career outing against the White Sox. He is coming off a difficult June, when he went 1-1 with a 5.67 ERA in five starts.
Muncy is not expected to play Thursday and will undergo an MRI. The White Sox’s Michael A. Taylor also departed the game Wednesday with a shoulder contusion on the same play that Muncy was injured.
The White Sox will counter Thursday with right-hander Aaron Civale (1-4, 4.74 ERA), who has one career start against the Dodgers, last season as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers. He gave up four runs in five innings, allowing two home runs to Smith and one to his current teammate, Miguel Vargas.
With Kershaw trying to become just the 20th pitcher to reach 3,000 strikeouts, the White Sox varied their approach at the plate to score four runs off the future Hall of Fame member. Austin Slater hit a two-run home run in a three-run third inning.
“It was very clear he was trying to chase strikeouts,” Slater said. “Luckily, we made an adjustment right away and made him work and come back into the zone. … I thought our team approach against him, it changed as the game went, and it was really good to see.”
Chicago rookie right-hander Grant Taylor was charged with three runs in the ninth inning after giving up a hit and two walks. The final inning spoiled a solid outing for Sean Burke, who gave up one run over six innings.
“It’s a tough way to end it, but some really good stuff out there,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “Offensively, too, the guys did a good job grinding. Just wasn’t able to finish it off.”
–Field Level Media
