No sleep until victory for White Sox

CHICAGO -- Tim Anderson produced with his bat, his legs and his energy during the White Sox 10-8 victory over the Mariners in Friday’s exciting home opener at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Anderson went 3-for-4 with three RBIs, four runs scored and a homer: not a bad performance, considering the shortstop was working on little sleep after the birth of his second daughter on Monday. But it’s the sort of energy that this young White Sox lineup showed in rallying from an 8-6 deficit with three runs in the seventh after losing an early 6-1 advantage.

“Now we have to put that one away and get the next one,” Anderson said. “It was fun, it was exciting. A lot of exciting things are happening. I’m a dad [again]. I had a good game today. Special week for me. I’m having fun.”

That fun is permeating the entire team.

Before the game, manager Rick Renteria talked about this group being a likeable bunch. He’s voiced a similar sentiment during his first two years at the White Sox helm, but he mentioned there are more conversations going on between the players this year, and those players are policing their own clubhouse.

The camaraderie was in evidence on the field on Friday: in the fist pump from veteran reliever Kelvin Herrera after getting through the eighth inning unscathed, and rookie left fielder Eloy Jiménez pounding his glove in excitement as Alex Colomé closed out the ninth. The 3-3 record is the same at this point last season, but there’s a decidedly different feel this time around.

“You guys see it,” Anderson said. “I don’t think I have to talk about it.”

“We have a good team,” White Sox third baseman Yoán Moncada said through interpreter Billy Russo. “What happened last year is in the past. We battled last year. This year, we're just in a better position. We come every day to try to win games. I think we're a much better team than last year.”

Friday’s comeback began with walks to Leury García and Anderson from Seattle reliever Cory Gearrin, who threw 10 straight balls to start the seventh. José Abreu followed with a grounder to shortstop Tim Beckham, who made three errors during a three-run White Sox first, but Anderson’s big lead at first and great hustle allowed him to beat the throw to second. Abreu, hustling down the first-base-line, beat the relay to first to load the bases with nobody out.

After Welington Castillo was hit by a pitch to force in a run and cut the lead to one, left-hander Zac Rosscup was called in to turn Moncada to the right side. That change probably would have paid dividends for the opposition in 2018, when Moncada hit .209 with a .585 OPS from the right side. But through six games in ’19, Moncada is hitting everything.

The former top prospect had come through with a two-run double in the first. Against Rosscup in the seventh, Moncada fought to a 3-2 count before lining a two-run single that gave the White Sox a 9-8 lead and gave him four RBIs for the game.

“Days like today are going to come in bunches this season,” said Moncada.

“The fact that he's bearing down a little bit more with two strikes -- it seems like in big-moment situations, it just tells you he's seeing the ball very, very well,” said White Sox manager Rick Renteria of Moncada. “His approach to the baseball is solid.”

Anderson’s solo home run in the eighth punctuated the victory, which he celebrated with a little spin and then pointing to the dugout. It’s the kind of celebration the White Sox hope to have many times this year, showing off the energy of this group, whether others like it or not.

“We definitely don’t care what anyone thinks. We don’t care how anyone reacts. We are going to do us and have fun,” Anderson said. “We are going to keep playing hard and keep having fun, regardless of what happens.”