Takeaways as the White Sox get soaked in Sunday's loss, drop opening series to the Angels

CHICAGO — The Chicago White Sox had a lead or were tied entering the eighth inning in each of the three games of the season-opening series against the Los Angeles Angels.

But they have a 1-2 record to show for it after falling 3-2 in Sunday’s rubber match in front of 19,591 at Rate Field.

Angels center fielder Kyren Paris homered leading off the eighth against reliever Cam Booser to break a 2-all tie.

Andrew Vaughn led off the ninth with a double for the Sox. Matt Thaiss walked, giving the Sox runners on first and second with no outs. But Miguel Vargas popped out and Brooks Baldwin grounded into a game-ending 4-6-3 double play.

“We continue to battle,” Sox manager Will Venable said. “These guys have done a great job continuing to work. Still maybe just one knock short here to get us over the hump and get us the lead, but our pitching is keeping us in there and we’re going to have some chances here offensively.”

Here are three more takeaways from the series:

A great effort by Roger Bossard and the grounds crew helped Sunday’s game conclude

White Sox head groundskeeper Roger Bossard had a request for Major League Baseball.

“I need a shot,” Bossard told a pool reporter of his message during a phone call with MLB. “Give me my chance.”

An intense downpour in the bottom of the seventh inning led to a delay. To make matters worse, the grounds crew had a difficult time initially covering the infield with the tarp.

“I had a lot of our guys who were on the other end and I don’t know for some reason, the wind got underneath and they pulled the wrong part of the tarp and it just — it got us,” Bossard said. “That’s all. Yeah. And when you get these high winds and rain like this and that quarter of an inch of rain now, then if there’s any mistakes at all, you just don’t get it covered. So, it caught us. But we were ready for it. The winds, the hail caught us.”

The grounds crew went to work when conditions improved. And they made the field playable.

“After about an hour of work, I got everybody out there from both clubs and there were three or four sports a little iffy and fixed them and we got it in,” Bossard said.

“I’m proud of everybody with my crew. They did a good job. But this was one time where I literally wasn’t sure we would be able to get it.”

Bossard said 4 1/2 tons of drying compound were used, “which is 175 bags.”

“So, never done that before,” Bossard said. “The field turned out to be good. I’m very happy. I’m going to go home tonight and I’m going to sleep real well.”

Venable appreciated the effort, allowing the game to resume after the 2-hour, 48-minute delay.

“Roger and the guys did a great job after they struggled there with the tarp and worked really hard to get the field in a good spot,” he said.

Starters Sean Burke and Jonathan Cannon took the Sox back to 1947

Sean Burke played catch with Jonathan Cannon on Tuesday at Rate Field.

“First three curveballs, I threw it and it hit him in the ankles and I thought, ‘This is back, this is perfect, it’s moving how it should be,’” Burke said Thursday.

Burke carried that over to Thursday, when he allowed three hits, struck out three and didn’t surrender a walk in six scoreless innings in the 8-1 victory.

Cannon followed up with five scoreless innings in the second game of the season on Saturday, a 1-0 loss.

It marked just the second time in franchise history that Sox starting pitchers began the season with back-to-back scoreless outings, according to STATS. It first occurred in 1947 when Ed Lopat went all nine innings against Cleveland on April 15 and then Johnny Rigney pitched eight innings against the St. Louis Browns on April 18.

The Angels scored twice in the first Sunday against starter Davis Martin, but both runs were unearned in the inning that began with a fielding error by shortstop Jacob Amaya. Martin allowed the two unearned runs on four hits with two strikeouts and two walks in six innings.

According to STATS, the Sox became the 11th group in MLB history to accomplish the feat of not having a starter allow an earned run over the first three games. In the Sox’s case, it was in 17 innings of work. The Sox are the first to do so since the Toronto Blue Jays on March 28-31, 2019 (four games).

“Going back to spring training, I told you it was an internal competition and there’s no negative connotation to it,” Martin said. “Truly we care about each other and truly we want to compete with each other. It’s almost like passing the baton back and wanting to beat the guy in front of you and that’s exactly what’s going on and it’s been there since camp and you’re just seeing it in season now.”

Will Venable appreciative of support following his first win as Sox skipper

Venable couldn’t salvage everything he wore after the postgame Gatorade shower in the clubhouse following his first win as Sox manager on Thursday.

“I think the hat is trash, but the rest of it (home clubhouse manager) Rob (Warren) and the guys did a great job of getting the stains out,” Venable said Saturday.

Venable heard “from a bunch of people” in the aftermath of the 8-1 win on opening day.

“Got a couple phone calls from close friends,” he said. “Outside of the Gatorade shower with the boys, it wasn’t much of a celebration, just enjoyed the night with the family. Just glad for the organization after a long offseason of working hard to have a good day.

“We know it’s just one win, but I thought it was meaningful with the fans and all their support, just a good day for us.”

One of the key sequences Thursday came in the eighth inning when the Sox got reliever Mike Clevinger up quickly enough to be in a position to face Mike Trout and Jorge Soler in a crucial spot. Clevinger walked Trout to load the bases with two outs, but struck out Soler to end the threat and keep the Sox ahead by three runs.

The home runs by Andrew Benintendi and Lenyn Sosa put the game out of reach. Venable later enjoyed having the chance to celebrate the victory with the players. He sat in a cart as Vaughn provided an initial push. Players splashed Venable with different flavors of the drink as he rolled by.

“We know that the work obviously keeps going here,” Venable said after the game. “This is just the first one, but nice to get that one and feels good. The guys made it special and just appreciate all the support and love from all those guys.”

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