Chicago scored their first run due to a planned balk, Lenyn Sosa smashed a three-run homer, and the White Sox secured a rare road victory with a 9-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night.
The balk occurred in the second inning, initiated by Chicago’s Martín Maldonado, who relayed Thyago Vieira’s pitches from second base to Andrew Vaughn.
“It was a calculated balk,” noted Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo. “Maldonado is very clever and was signaling. He didn’t miss once, going 9 for 9. We observed his pattern of giving signs to the batter, and it seemed too risky.”
Erick Fedde (5-1) delivered a strong performance, allowing two runs on eight hits across six innings with six strikeouts.
Chicago exhibited considerable power, bouncing back from a one-run effort in the series opener with four homers and 12 hits.
Andrew Vaughn launched a home run and drove in three RBIs, Korey Lee added a two-run shot, and Paul DeJong contributed a solo homer, contributing to the White Sox’s seventh road victory in 31 games.
“We’re in a good offensive flow right now,” said Sosa through an interpreter. “Like everything, it’s contagious, and I think that’s what’s happening currently.”
The Diamondbacks inadvertently aided Chicago in the third inning with Vieira’s intentional balk (0-1).
With Maldonado on second, the Arizona pitcher threw multiple pitches into the dirt, prompting a mound visit from Lovullo. Lovullo instructed Vieira to drop the ball, which he did before the next pitch, advancing the slower Maldonado to third on the balk. Vaughn then singled, easily bringing Maldonado home.
DeJong extended the lead for the White Sox with a homer to the pool deck in right-center in the following inning, and Vaughn furthered it to 4-1 with a two-run homer in the fifth. Sosa contributed his second homer of the season in the seventh inning, and Lee capped it off with his sixth in the ninth.
