It all started with Adam Engel–in case anyone forgot that happened.
Though he was not one of those stricken by an injury serious enough to remove him from the game, Engel started off what would be a strange White Sox affair with a thunderous crash into the centerfield wall attempting to rob a Josh Donaldson home run in the first inning. Engel fell to the ground and didn’t move for a few seconds but stayed in the game.
Later, the peculiar evening would continue. In the sixth inning, Guaranteed Rate Field fell quiet as new, young superstar Yoan Moncada collided with right fielder Willy Garcia in an attempt to save a bases-loaded hit off the bat of Blue Jays’ second baseman Darwin Barney.
While Moncada was the one who was carted off the field, Garcia admits that he was knocked out upon impact and did not remember the play until he was shown video. “When I saw the video I saw the collision, I was like, ‘Wow, that was hard,’ Garcia said post-game. “At first, I was knocked out. I didn’t remember anything before I saw the video. And then I saw the video, and I said, ‘Wow, it was hard.’”
The last time Guaranteed Rate Field felt so grim was June 29 when then-Yankees outfielder Dustin Fowler crashed into the right field wall during his Major League debut. Fowler ruptured his patella tendon which ended his season before he even stepped up to the plate.
But, luckily for the White Sox, a team for whom Moncada has been a glimmer of hope amongst the dog-days of a rebuild process, the injury to the second baseman was simply a quad bruise right above the knee. Moncada is listed day-to-day.
“I thought both of them were down,” Renteria said of his initial reaction to the play. “I thought they were both out, is what it looked like to me. Neither of them were moving.”
Willy Garcia has been placed on the 7-day concussion list and the White Sox have promoted Nicky Delmonico from Triple-A Charlotte to fill the vacated roster spot. Delmonico will wear number 30, and be the second player two make his Major League debut with the White Sox this week, following the promotion of Aaron Bummer on July 27.
The White Sox found themselves down six runs and two players at one point on Monday evening, and headed in the eighth inning they trailed 6-1. That didn’t phase this team though, as Matt Davidson hit a walk-off bloop single to score the winning run, after contributing to the score by hitting a 2-run homer to the opposite field just one at-bat earlier. This was the second walk-off win led by Matt Davidson in as many games.
“It’s huge for us,” Davidson said of the victory. “I’ll take it. We’re all contributing, to win like that is awesome.”
Davidson attributes some of his recent success to a team meeting the White Sox held in Kansas City. “I think we had a good players’ only meeting” he said. “Us individually as position players talked about what we needed to do together as a position players. I think it’s good for the chemistry and we’ll continue to do it going forward.”
Jose Abreu spoke of the team meeting and Davidson’s recent success as well. “We had a meeting a few weeks ago in KC and we talked about how we can do things better on the field,” Abreu said through an interpreter. “I think that [Davidson has] been taking advantage of that situation, using the whole field and that’s something that lets you know that the kids are trying to do better and trying to take any piece of advice that you could give them.”
Abreu noted that despite their recent struggles, he’s proud of the way this team continues to fight for every win. “I’m just happy, not just because of the win today but because of how they’re playing, how we’re fighting,” Abreu said.
“It’s probably lifting him up to the sky right now,” Renteria said post game of Davidson. “He’s feeling good about himself. Obviously the situation was to put together a great at-bat. He didn’t try to do too much. Put the bat on the ball and was able to allow us to drive in the final run and win the ballgame. It just takes you, for him, to a point where your confidence builds a little. I think you gain more and more trust in who you are what you’re capable of doing.”
