Hendriks perseveres for save despite struggle with altitude

DENVER -- In Tuesday’s opener of a two-game set in the rarefied air of mile-high Coors Field, the White Sox proved that even at altitude, pitching and defense can win a game. The defense turned a quartet of inning-ending double plays to back up eight shutout innings of pitching from starter Michael Kopech and a near bullet-proof bullpen in Chicago’s 2-1 win.

The victory put the Sox over .500 for the first time since winning in Boston on May 25.

“We’ve been working a long time to get to that, and it would be nice to get another one to stay over now,” manager Tony La Russa said. “We’ve had a lot of ups and downs. We've gotten close and fall back, and get tied and gone back, so the guys knew what was at stake. We’re a winning club officially, so now we just got to keep it going.”

The lone blot in the line score came when closer Liam Hendriks entered the game and gave up a leadoff home run to Ryan McMahon to bring the Rockies within one in the final frame.

“I've known I struggle with altitude for years now,” Hendriks said. “I think 2014 was the first time I went to [Triple-A] Colorado Springs and threw seven innings and in between each inning I was throwing up in the bathroom. Since then I've been medicated, and the medication’s interesting, because I lose feeling in some of my extremities, which is always a fun time.

“It's something you deal with. You show up and do your job to the best of your abilities. It unfortunately coincided with me not having any sort of feel to be on the mound. Everything's been cutting a little bit, so I'm not quite going through the right kind of mechanical things that I've been used to. Trying to get back on kilter while dealing with altitude is always fun.”

La Russa had been concerned about whether or not Hendriks could pitch before the game, but for Hendriks, it was never a question.

“Oh God, no, no, Mamma didn't raise no ...,” Hendriks said, leaving the thought unfinished. “No matter how I'm feeling, no matter what the situation is, I'm gonna be ready to go especially, with the off-day yesterday and an off-day in a couple of days. It doesn't matter what's happening. I'm gonna be ready to pitch. That's why I'm here. I'm not here to pick and choose when I feel great to be able to pitch, I go whenever I'm told to.”

Hendriks bounced back after the leadoff homer, getting two quick outs before walking pinch-hitter Elias Díaz, putting the tying run on base and leaving only the dangerous Charlie Blackmon standing between Hendriks and his first road save since June 5th at Tampa Bay.

“That was fun,” Hendriks said of Blackmon’s eight-pitch at-bat. “I have the utmost respect for Charlie in the box. He's such a classy hitter, and it's a pain in the [butt] to face him. He actually hit a home run off me in the All-Star Game in 2019. I think this is our first regular-season matchup, and I was obviously struggling a little bit location-wise, but I was able to jump ahead and then he just went to court and fouled off some really good pitches. It was a great battle and I'm glad I came out on the right side of it this time. If we ever face each other again, it's gonna be that same thing. That's how good a hitter he is in the box. He always makes those outs really hard outs.”

In his first start since the All-Star break, Kopech had one of his best results of the season, despite early command issues. He threw 5 1/3 scoreless innings, facing traffic every inning, but delivering when he needed to. He gave up six hits and three walks while striking out four, with the rest of his outs coming on eight ground balls and one fly.

The last of four rally-killing, inning-ending double plays came in the seventh when Blackmon lined a screamer down the first-base line, and first baseman José Abreu snared the bouncing ball, fired to Anderson at second, and took the throw back to keep the Rockies scoreless.

“Oh man, that's another league, right there,” La Russa said of the play. “That’s an upper league. To make that pick, hard accurate throw, get it to Timmy on the side with his live arm. You don't double up that man. But we did. He’s a Gold Glove first baseman, and that was a Gold Glove play."

The game was emblematic of the journey back to .500, and Hendriks' performance in the ninth captured what the Sox need to harness as they seek to get back in the race.

“There's gonna be days where you're going through certain things, and those are the days where you can show everyone else around you what sort of character you have,” Hendriks said. “That's something that I pride myself in.”