The Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers met Tuesday afternoon for the second time this spring, and for the first of two games in five days. Los Angeles was the designated road team on Tuesday, which will also be the case Saturday.
Jose Quintana set the Dodgers down in order in the first inning, retiring Kiké Hernandez, Howie Kendrick and Adrian Gonzalez on a trio of groundouts. Adam Eaton reached on a Chase Utley error to open the bottom of the first, but was caught stealing soon after.
Kenta Maeda worked around a Jose Abreu two-out single to keep the game scoreless through the first inning. As they’ve often done this spring, the Dodgers once again jumped out to an early lead.
Following a Scott Van Slyke leadoff walk in the second inning, Andre Ethier hit an opposite-field, two-run home run. In the bottom half of the second, Ethier misjudged a slicing line drive to left, resulting in a one-out triple for Brett Lawrie.
Lawrie was then thrown out at the plate by Utley, who was playing on the grass and fielded a hard-hit chopper. Alex Avila drew a two-out walk to put two runners on for the White Sox and extend the inning.
However, it came to an end as Austin Barnes, receiving his first start at second base, went into shallow center field to make a backhanded catch on a blooper. Hernandez added to the Dodgers’ lead in the third inning with a no-doubt solo home run that cleared the bullpen in left field.
Maeda retired the first two batters faced in the bottom of the third, including striking out Jimmy Rollins swinging. Abreu improved to 2-for-2 on the day by sneaking a double down the third base line. Maeda struck out Todd Frazier to escape the jam and end the inning.
CONTINUE READING: Dodgers, White Sox combine to hit five home runs in final three innings
