The White Sox didn’t play clean baseball Wednesday, but they entered the eighth inning against the American League West-leading Mariners with a one-run lead.
Mariners first baseman Rowdy Tellez led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on left fielder Michael A. Taylor’s fielding error. Taylor had just entered the game as a defensive replacement.
In the next at-bat, Leody Taveras hit the first pitch from reliever Mike Vasil for a two-run home run to center field.
The Sox (15-35) lost 6-5, dropping their second consecutive series. They’ve lost six of their last seven games.
“The ball just skips on him,” manager Will Venable said of Taylor’s error. “Michael is arguably our best defender at any position.
‘‘Just one of those plays that you get out there, the ball finds you right away, and it just skipped on him.”
The Sox fell behind 3-0 three batters into the game. Starter Shane Smith walked J.P. Crawford and Jorge Polanco, then allowed a homer to Julio Rodriguez.
“It’s too bad a three-run homer in the first has to wake you up to get outs and throw strikes,” said Smith, who went five innings and allowed three runs and two hits, walked two and struck out six.
“But from then on, it’s really all you can do. It can be a short day or you can make the most of it.”
Usually, a three-run deficit is too large for the Sox to overcome, but they put together a rally this time.
Tim Elko chipped into the Mariners’ lead with a leadoff homer in the third. Matt Thaiss started the fourth with a single and came around to score one out later when Lenyn Sosa connected on a changeup out of the zone for a home run. Joshua Palacios made it back-to-back homers to give the Sox a 4-3 lead. It was the second time this season the Sox have gone back-to-back.
It was important for the offense to pick up Smith. The Sox had totaled two runs in the first two games of the series.
“[Smith is] an unbelievable pitcher,” said rookie shortstop Chase Meidroth, who went 2-for-5 with an RBI. “We have all the confidence in him in the world every time we go out there.
“The bats have to get going a little bit more. He did an excellent job giving us a chance to win, and that’s all you can ask from a starter like that.”
The Mariners tied the score at 4 in the sixth inning on Cal Raleigh’s solo homer, but the Sox answered in the seventh on Meidroth’s RBI single. But they couldn’t hold the one-run lead.
Despite the offensive showing and Smith rebounding after a shaky start, it was a familiar outcome.
“We’re trying to win the game, and, obviously, to give up the lead late is tough,” Venable said.