Michael Kopech returned to the field a week after he left his previous start for the Chicago White Sox after two thirds of the innings with discomfort in his right knee.
Although the weekly outing didn’t go as he had hoped, it was quite astonishing considering what seemed like a big failure on June 12 at first glance.
Kopeč allowed four runs with seven goals in five innings in Sunday’s 4-3 loss to the Houston Astros before 37,709 at Minute Maid Park.
“I just have to make better pitches and keep us in the game, and I didn’t do that,” said Kopeč.
Kopech said that the knee, which led to the early departure against the Texas Rangers, was “good” after the game.
“I think I’m going to feel a little different for a little while,” he said. “But there is no pain. I could compete with that. “
Kopeč scored four, and one flew away with a score of 75 points. The Astros did most of their damage with a long ball, as JJ Matijevic hit a solo home run in the fourth, and Mauricio Dubon hit two Homer runs in the inning later.
All in all, he threw well and we pushed him as hard as we could, said Sox manager Tony La Rusa.
Astros hit first when Kyle Tucker entered Jose Altuve with a single in the first. Tucker moved to second place due to a throwing error, giving Astrosa runners second and third place with one car. Kopeč limited the damage, forcing Julija Guriel to place in second place and expelling Matijević.
“There are positive things that need to be taken away,” Kopeč said. “I was mostly quite efficient. I managed to get rid of some delays. But overall it wasn’t good enough. “
The Sox had a chance in the second, putting runners on the second and third with one car. Josh Harrison jumped out and Adam Haselei hit looking.
Matijevic’s Homer from the opposite field in the fourth – his first goal in the main league – scored 2-0.
Louis Robert rode in the run with a double in the fifth, but Dubon responded with two runs by Homer at the bottom of the inning.
“It’s happening. It came out and I have to live with it,” Kopec said of Matijevic’s Homer.
“It simply came to our notice then. He took advantage of that. There were a few others there and they took advantage of the mistakes. That’s what a good hitting team does. ”
A replay of ESPN showed that Kopeč used his right elbow to nail an object in the dugout after the inning.
“It is true that I care a lot about this game and that I want to play the best I can and be the best competitor I can be every time I go out there,” he said. “I was none of that (Sunday). I had to be challenged with a little trouble and a little emotional challenge. That got better than me. That’s what’s happening, I guess. “
Robert singled out and scored an AJ Polok triple in the eighth. Polok scored a goal on the field of Jake Burger to the second, reducing the gap to one series.
Harrison took the lead in the ninth, but Haselei hit, and Danny Mendick and Andrew Vaughn flew out while the overtime was short.
The Astros took two of the three in the series, but the Sox had a 4-2 on the road.
“If you go 4-2 on every trip, you will have a good year,” La Russa said. “I said at the beginning, that’s how it goes. If you go after him and they beat you, you put on your hat and get ready for the next one. ”
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