Merrill Kelly gives up eight earned runs as Chicago White Sox take down Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Arizona Diamondbacks were looking to keep their hot start rolling on Tuesday night, but the Chicago White Sox had other plans.
The White Sox scored seven runs in the first and second innings off Diamondbacks starting pitcher Merrill Kelly. That was enough as they defeated Arizona 11-5 at Chase Field.
Kelly wasn't sharp at all. He finished up working 4 1/3 innings, giving up 10 hits, eight runs (all earned), walked three, struck out five, and gave up three home runs.
In the first inning against Kelly, Andrew Benintendi singled to right. Munetaka Murakami then hit an infield single and Benintendi moved to second base. Kelly walked Miguel Vargas to load the bases.
Colson Montgomery doubled, scoring Benintendi and Murakami to give the White Sox a 2-0 lead. Everson Pereira connected for a sacrifice fly and Chicago tacked on another run. Sam Antonacci tripled to center field, bringing home Montgomery.
By the time Kelly got the final out of the first inning, it was the White Sox up 4-0.
With two outs in the top of the second, Murakami hit his ninth home run this season, a solo blast to give the White Sox a 5-0 lead. It marked the fourth straight game that the Japanese superstar has homered, something that White Sox fans can cheer about a whole lot.
As for Diamondbacks fans, well, they had to sit there and watch Kelly implode.
Murakami's blast set off a string of long balls by White Sox hitters. Miguel Vargas followed Murakami with another home run, another solo shot, and Chicago was up 6-0. Then, Montgomery homered - another solo home run - and the White Sox went up 7-0.
The Diamondbacks finally got a run on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning. Geraldo Perdomo tripled to lead off the inning, putting him at third base. With one out, Lourdes Gurriel Jr.'s groundout brought Perdomo home and the White Sox then led 7-1.
Finally, in the top of the fifth inning, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo came out to take the ball away from Kelly. Chicago tacked on a run in the inning for an 8-1 advantage.
In the bottom of the fifth, Alek Thomas hit his first home run this season, another solo blast, and that put the Diamondbacks within 8-2.
Chicago and Arizona traded three-run ninth innings. And with that, Tuesday night's game at Chase Field came to an end.
Arizona, with the loss, falls to 13-10 overall and Chicago now goes to 9-14 on the season.
The series continues on Wednesday night and wraps up on Thursday afternoon.
Join the Community
Don't miss out on our ROUNDTABLE community and the latest news!
It's completely free to join. Share your thoughts, engage with our Roundtable writers, and chat with fellow members.
Download the free Roundtable APP, and stay even more connected!