Friday was a crazy day for the Chicago White Sox. They ended up winning, 6-4, but as usual the score doesn't nearly do justice to everything that went down.
First off, they grabbed stud closer Craig Kimbrel in front of the trade deadline, giving them the most lethal eighth and ninth inning combo in the league when teamed with Liam Hendriks. Then there was a game against Cleveland. Late in said game, 2020 AL MVP Jose Abreu was hit in the head with a pitch from James Karinchak:
Scary stuff. That's 96 to the side of the head and there's only so much helmets can do. Even though the body language from both catcher Roberto Perez and Karinchak suggests there was no way that was in any way intentional, White Sox manager Tony La Russa took great exception.
Those videos kind of hit every note, right? It was pretty entertaining to see La Russa so hot, you have to commend the manager for getting the back of his player and it was great to see the two teams exchange good sportsmanship there with Franmil Reyes intervening and Abreu pretty clearly telling Karinchak there are no hard feelings. Not only that, but it appears Abreu escaped injury, since he stayed in the game (and ended up catching a pop-up for the final out).
White Sox All-Star shortstop Tim Anderson said after the game that the whole team was upset when Abreu got hit.
"Definitely we're upset," he said (via Scott Merkin of mlb.com). "You hit our man. They were throwing up and in all night. You're brushing guys off the plate the whole game and of course we're going to get mad at that situation. That's one of our big guys. Of course everybody's going to get mad and get pissed."
It's completely understandable and also a good thing that cooler heads prevailed once the benches were cleared.
Oh, and remember how I said it was a crazy day? Earlier in the game, this happened:
Holy Jose Canseco! That would be Yoán Moncada being gifted a home run by the Cleveland outfield.
As noted, crazy day on the South Side.
With the win, the White Sox now have a nine-game lead in the AL Central.
