The Chicago White Sox had one run in and were in position for more with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh inning Wednesday against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Miguel Vargas hit a sharp grounder to third, and the Pirates went around the horn to turn a double play.
The inning was over, but the fireworks had just started. Pirates second baseman Brandon Lowe took exception to Sam Antonacci’s slide into second base. Words were exchanged. The benches and bullpens emptied.
“Bases were loaded and went into the base pretty hard, just to try to make a harder throw for him to have to make,” Antonacci said. “Completely legal play. If you go look at the rulebook or go look at what happened, you can slide as late as you want as long as you keep contact with the bag, and that’s exactly what happened.
“I think nowadays in this game, this age, a lot of people are used to just letting up on that play. They say, ‘We play 162 games, just let up early, I don’t want to make contact with them.’ But we’re trying to get a run in any way we can. That’s a close ballgame. These are playoff games, and all I’m trying to do is scratch (out) a run there.
“I’m sure (Lowe’s) a great guy, but he had a few choice words to say at the end and then kind of walked away after that. When you have a problem and you walk away like that, I’m happy enough to have a conversation, but you can’t walk away. He’s a grown man. With all that being said, they won the game. They get the last laugh, I guess you could say.”
Order was eventually restored, and the Sox went on to lose 4-2 in front of 14,803 at Rate Field.
“I just didn’t like the slide and said my piece and walked away,” Lowe told reporters covering the Pirates. “I don’t know what led to (the benches) clearing, but bad slide the first night and bad slide tonight and we’re just kind of tired of it.”
Asked if his left elbow made contact and whether that was possibly a point of contention, Antonacci said: “I’ve had trouble with that, too, going in with my right leg. Your left arm wants to come up, whereas if you run down with your left leg, your right arm would want to come up. But, yeah, completely legal slide and I don’t think a lot of people are used to having plays like that anymore.
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“As long as you keep contact with the bag. I’m not saying for everyone to go in like that and slide past the bag, because at that point it’s just dirty. But the way I did it is what you’re taught, and just trying to get a run across because runs are crucial.”
The Sox had more chances once play resumed but couldn’t come through.
They were silent offensively most of the night while falling behind 4-0. They scored in the seventh on Antonacci’s infield hit. The double play followed.
The Sox scored again in the eighth on a solo home run by Munetaka Murakami, his 31st of the year.
They loaded the bases with one out in the eighth. Chase Meidroth hit a liner with a 100.2 mph exit velocity. Pirates third baseman Jared Triolo jumped, made the catch and then stepped on third for another inning-ending double play.
The Sox went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left nine on base while losing their second straight in the series. They struck out 14 times as a bullpen game worked out in Pittsburgh’s favor.
“It was a tough assignment for our lefties,” Sox manager Will Venable said. “The number of guys they used today (eight), they all did a really good job.”
Despite the loss, the Sox (75-69) remained two games ahead of the Cleveland Guardians (74-72) in the American League Central. The Guardians lost 9-5 to the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday.
Starter Davis Martin kept the Sox in the game, allowing one run on four hits with one strikeout and two walks in five innings. The run came in the fifth, a homer by Esmerlyn Valdez.
The Pirates scored three in the seventh against reliever Sean Newcomb, including a two-run single by Konnor Griffin.
Then came the double play and dust-up in the bottom half.
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“I think he’s just used to players letting up, sliding maybe 60 feet, sliding or peeling off,” Antonacci said of Lowe. “That’s what people are comfortable with nowadays. I don’t want to speak for the old age of baseball, but I don’t think a lot of people were letting up and I think it would have been the norm to let up nowadays.
“We’re trying to get a run in any way we can there. I did the same thing (Tuesday) and he didn’t say anything, but I could hear him mumble a little bit. Just playing the game hard and I think a lot of people don’t see it that way, I guess.”
Antonacci said it wasn’t a case of trying to fire up the team.
“By no means am I trying to start something up like that to get us riled up,” he said. “I don’t think that does anything for our offense. I don’t think that changes anything. Looking back on it, we were able to start going a little bit after that, but I just think that’s part of baseball and we started seeing the ball well and putting together good at-bats.
“But by no means am I trying to start something to spark up the offense.”
The late rally fell short.
“That’s how it goes sometimes,” Venable said. “You’ve got to give the Pirates credit. They did a really nice job with their pitching. We saw some really tough matchups for us. And give our offense credit too. We just couldn’t get that big knock, but really good job late in the game, loading the bases twice.”