ARLINGTON, Texas — Left-hander Tyler Alexander was prepared to start the 11th inning Saturday as the automatic runner on second base because he was the last White Sox hitter in the 10th after a flurry of pinch hitters and lineup maneuvering.
But manager Will Venable and his staff knew the extra-inning rules. According to MLB.com, “If the player in the batting order immediately preceding that half-inning’s leadoff hitter is the pitcher, the runner placed on second base at the start of that half-inning may be the player preceding the pitcher in the batting order.”
So instead of Alexander, it was shortstop Chase Meidroth on second.
“I didn’t even think about it when I got in,” said Alexander, who threw the last three innings and allowed one unearned run. “A couple of guys joked, ‘Hey, you’ve got to go to second.’ I thought about it, and I was like, ‘I do.’ And then I don’t, it turns out.”
A similar situation took place in a 2021 loss to the Reds. Former closer Liam Hendriks entered in the ninth as part of a double switch and began the 10th as the runner because manager Tony La Russa was unaware that he could have used Jose Abreu, the preceding batter, as the runner.
Venable used seven pitchers and all four of his bench players — he even gave up the designated hitter when he moved Kyle Teel from DH to catcher, requiring the pitcher to hit — but the Sox couldn’t score the go-ahead run in a 5-4, 11-inning loss to the Rangers, who won on Adolis Garcia’s single.
“You don’t need to turn the page on this one,” Venable said. “We can sit in this one, and that’s a good thing because we expect to win. This club expects to win.”
The Sox (23-48) were competitive largely because Venable pulled the right levers at the right times.
He hasn’t been shy about using his bench, and it nearly paid off.
With the Sox down 3-2 in the eighth, Edgar Quero hit a leadoff single, and Venable brought in Brooks Baldwin as a pinch runner. Baldwin scored from second on Mike Tauchman’s single to right field.
“We got to do what we got to do,” Venable said. “If we don’t do those moves, we don’t score those runs to extend the game. You get into extra innings, you’re in a tough spot there, which we understood when we emptied the tank there.”
The Rangers retook the lead in the bottom of the inning when Meidroth made an errant throw to first that allowed Josh Smith to score from second.
But the Sox continued to battle in front of a sellout crowd at Globe Life Field. Teel singled in the ninth with one out, and, down to their last out, Venable called on right-handed hitter Michael A. Taylor to pinch-hit against left-hander Robert Garcia. Taylor attacked the first pitch and sent it to the gap in left-center field for the game-tying double.
Andrew Benintendi commended Venable for his approach in using the bench at opportune times.
“We fought all the way through,” Benintendi said.
“Tyler Alexander did a hell of a job. It took everybody on the bench and then some. It’s a loss, but deep down, it kind of feels like it isn’t.”