MIAMI — One night after blowing the doors off the Marlins for their first win of the season, the White Sox gave Game 2 back in the ugliest way possible.
Three errors — two by center fielder Luisangel Acuña on consecutive plays in the fourth inning — turned a 2-0 lead into a 9-2 loss at loanDepot park on Tuesday night. The White Sox struck out 13 times and managed just one hit over the final six innings as the Marlins evened the series at one game apiece.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHW | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 3 |
| MIA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | — | 9 | 9 | 0 |
The Fourth Inning That Changed Everything
The White Sox actually struck first. In the third, Edgar Quero singled and Acuña followed with a single of his own, then Munetaka Murakami and Andrew Benintendi delivered back-to-back RBI singles to give Chicago a 2-0 lead. It was the kind of inning that suggested the offensive momentum from Monday had carried over.
It hadn't. The Marlins were hitless through three innings against Erick Fedde, but the fourth inning fell apart fast. Xavier Edwards led off with a single, Agustín Ramírez doubled, and Liam Hicks sent them both home with a double down the right-field line to tie it 2-2. What happened next was the kind of sequence that defines a loss.
Owen Caissie singled to center and Acuña's throw home sailed wide, allowing Hicks to score and Caissie to reach second. On the very next play, Heriberto Hernández singled to center and Acuña threw it away again — same situation, same result. Caissie scored, Hernández wound up at second, and it was 4-2 Miami. Two errors, two runs, and a lead that vanished in minutes.
The Bats Go Quiet
After Murakami and Benintendi's third-inning singles, the White Sox offense disappeared. Chicago went 1-for-21 over the final six innings and struck out 13 times on the night. Every starter except Quero and Acuña struck out at least once, and six of the nine hitters went down twice. The Marlins' bullpen was suffocating: Andrew Nardi, Anthony Bender, Calvin Faucher, and Pete Fairbanks combined for 4.2 hitless innings with 8 strikeouts.
Fedde took the loss, going 5 innings with 6 hits, 3 earned runs, and 4 strikeouts on 80 pitches. His line looks worse than the earned runs suggest — two of the four runs he allowed came on Acuña's errors. Bryan Hudson and Jonathan Páez couldn't stop the bleeding in relief. Páez gave up Griffin Conine's 405-foot two-run homer in the eighth that put the final score at 9-2.
Edgar Quero also committed a fielding error in the seventh that allowed another run to score on a sacrifice bunt — the third White Sox error of the night. Only 7 of Miami's 9 runs were earned.
Up Next
The White Sox and Marlins wrap up the series Wednesday night at loanDepot park. Sandy Alcantara (1-0, 0.00 ERA) takes the mound against Shane Smith (0-1, 16.20 ERA). First pitch is at 6:40 p.m. ET.