ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA – JUNE 05: Tony La Russa #22 of the Chicago White Sox looks on prior to a game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on June 05, 2022 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
The White Sox were cruising along with a 4-0 lead heading into the fifth inning. That is when everything fell apart.
Starting pitcher Dylan Cease was pitching well until third baseman Jake Burger committed an error. Instead of an inning-ending double play or at least two outs, Cease and the Sox unraveled.
The Los Angeles Dodgers went on to score six runs in the fifth and take a two-run lead. Burger atoned for his error by hitting a solo home run in the bottom of the frame.
Things got worse for the Chicago White Sox in the top of the sixth inning. Reliever Bennett Sousa was tapped to pitch the sixth inning. It was a big mistake from the beginning.
Gavin Lux reached on an infield single where Bennett Sousa didn’t get over in time for Andrew Vaughn’s flip to first, reached second when Jake Burger bobbled a potential double play ball, and scored on a two-out bloop single by Freddie Freeman. It’s 7-5 Dodgers
— James Fegan (@JRFegan) June 9, 2022
Sousa rebounded after the Freddie Freeman RBI-single to work an 0-2 count on Trea Turner. That is when things got weird.
Sousa threw a slider into the dirt and that is when Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa decided to intentionally walk Turner. It was a decision that left Turner, Freeman, and every White Sox fan baffled.
Max Muncy came up and smacked a 2-2 slider into the Guaranteed Rate Field stands. A chance to exit the inning just being down two runs turned into a five-run deficit.
La Russa seemed appalled after the game that he had to explain intentionally walking a hitter with a 1-2 count and two outs to pitch to a batter with a clean count.
It turns out La Russa’s logic for the move was flawed.