Rookie Drew Thorpe pitched 6 1/3 strong innings as the Chicago White Sox defeated the host Miami Marlins 3-2 on Friday night.
The contest was the opener of a three-game series featuring the team with the worst road record in the majors, the White Sox, and the team with the worst home record in the majors, the Marlins.
Nicky Lopez was a key part of all three Chicago rallies, going 2-for-3 with a walk, two RBIs and a run.
Thorpe (3-1) had the longest outing of his brief major league career, allowing one run on three hits and two walks. He struck out five.
Michael Kopech got the last four outs for his eighth save, allowing one run in the ninth.
Bryan Hoeing (0-1), normally a reliever, took the loss, allowing five hits, one walk and one run in three innings. Hoeing, who came off the injured list before the contest, fanned four. It was his 53rd career major league appearance but just his ninth start.
Prior to Friday, the White Sox had been 0-14 in the first game of road series. Overall, they are 10-35 on the road.
Miami took a fifth straight loss while Chicago won for the second time in three games.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh, the Marlins — trailing 3-1 — nearly cleared the bases on Bryan De La Cruz’s shot to right-center. However, White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr. made a running catch at the warning track.
The White Sox got to Hoeing in the second inning on a rally started by Paul DeJong’s leadoff single. DeJong raced to third on Lenyn Sosa’s single, and he scored on Lopez’s double.
With two outs in the fourth, Lopez drew a walk to start another Chicago rally. Lopez scored from first when Martin Maldonado pulled a double to the corner in left.
The White Sox could’ve gotten more in that frame, but Robert grounded out with the bases loaded.
Chicago made it 3-0 in the fifth as Eloy Jimenez hit a one-out single, advanced on DeJong’s walk and scored one out later on Lopez’s ground-rule double to left.
Miami got on the board in the seventh, when Dane Myers started the rally with a one-out double. After Thorpe was removed, having thrown 90 pitches, Myers scored on Xavier Edwards’ single to left off reliever John Brebbia.
De La Cruz hit a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the ninth, but Kopech — on the next pitch — got Josh Bell on a groundout to first.
–Field Level Media
