Chicago White Sox score 3 in the 8th — including overturned call at the plate — in 7-6 win over Texas Rangers – The Denver Post

Chicago White Sox shortstop Elvis Andrus sprinted home, looking to score the go-ahead run on Zach Remillard’s single to left in the eighth inning Tuesday against the Texas Rangers.

Travis Jankowski fielded the ball and fired to the plate, where catcher Jonah Heim applied the tag.

Andrus was initially ruled out. The Sox challenged, and after the review the call was overturned on the basis of a home-plate collision violation.

That turned out to be the winning run as the Sox topped the Rangers 7-6 in front of 21,048 at Guaranteed Rate Field.

“At the beginning I was very upset, usually I always score on those plays,” Andrus said. “I was really sad when he did not call safe. But then when they switched that call, everybody saw, I started jumping like a little kid in the dugout and everybody was the same way.”

Manager Pedro Grifol had not seen a replay of the sequence when he met with reporters, but said the Sox challenged both the play at the plate and the blocking of the plate.

“If (the reviewers in) New York felt it was a violation, it was probably the initial setup because that’s the rule,” Grifol said. “As the ball is coming in, you are able to move your feet and position yourself. The ball can take you in that direction.

“But I haven’t seen it. However, the rule it’s based on the initial setup. If New York felt comfortable calling that play, it was probably on the setup.”

The wave of emotions on just that play summed up a game filled with momentum swings.

The Sox got homers from Eloy Jiménez (two-run) and Andrus (solo), but saw two leads vanish. They fell behind 6-4 on a two-out, two-run double by Corey Seager in the eighth.

Seager had three hits and five RBIs.

Luis Robert Jr. drew a one-out walk to begin the comeback in the bottom of the eighth. Yasmani Grandal singled and was lifted for José Rodríguez, who made his major-league debut as the pinch runner.

Tim Anderson, who has been dealing with right shoulder soreness, hit for Clint Frazier and moved the runners over with a grounder to second.

That brought up Andrus, who spent the first 12 seasons of his big-league career with the Rangers.

“Stay inside the ball and let the ball travel,” Andrus said of his approach, “especially because I had a huge hole in the right side.”

Andrus hit it through that hole, bringing home Robert and Rodríguez to tie the score.

He advanced to second on the throw, giving Remillard the chance with a runner in scoring position.

Remillard said he wanted to “get (Rangers pitcher Grant Anderson) in the zone and be on time.”

He did just that with the single to left on an 0-1 slider. Andrus was waved home, setting in motion everything leading to the challenge.

“You’ve got to set up in front of the plate and give the runner a chance to slide,” Grifol said. “If you are on the plate, I think they are going to call you for a violation. And definitely if you are set up right in the baseline. That’s New York. They have guys over there who make those calls.”

After the lengthy review, the Sox had their third run of the inning to take the 7-6 lead.

“Very close play and very glad it went our way,” Andrus said.

The Sox found a way. And even though they are 11 games under .500 (32-43), they find themselves just 4 1/2 games out of first place in the American League Central.

“The type of baseball games we’re playing every night, if you don’t have any resiliency you’re not going to ever win a game,” Grifol said. “We’re always in a tight ballgame or we’ll lose a lead and have to come back and put ourselves in position to win.

“But we’re learning a lot through this process. There’s a lot of baseball left, one day at a time but we’re learning a lot.”

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