The Chicago White Sox had an eighth inning to forget on opening day.
The Los Angeles Angels scored twice in the inning to rally and beat the Sox 4-3 on Thursday at Angel Stadium.
The Sox entered the eighth with a 3-2 lead. David Fletcher’s grounder bounced off Sox reliever Aaron Bummer’s glove for an infield hit. Shohei Ohtani hit a grounder to Nick Madrigal, who tried to get the forceout at second. But the throw was wide of the bag for an error, giving the Angels runners on first and second with no outs.
Fletcher advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a sharp single to left by Mike Trout to tie the game at 3. Bummer struck out Anthony Rendon but walked Justin Upton to load the bases for Albert Pujols, who hit a high chopper to third and Yoan Moncada’s only play was first. Ohtani scored, giving the Angels the 4-3 lead.
Pujols played 11 years for manager Tony La Russa in St. Louis. On Thursday, he helped spoiled La Russa’s return to dugout with the Sox. La Russa had last managed in 2011, leading the Cardinals to a World Series title.
The Sox have high expectations, and for most of the night they were in position to start the season on a positive note.
Adam Eaton hit a two-run home run to give the Sox a 3-1 lead in the fifth. Ace Lucas Giolito allowed two runs on two hits with eight strikeouts and two walks in 51/3 innings.
The series continues Friday with Dallas Keuchel starting for the Sox.
Earlier in the day, the Sox finalized their roster. They placed Eloy Jimenez on the the 60-day injured list as the left fielder recovers from surgery to repair a torn left pectoral tendon.
The move, retroactive to March 29, was one of several the Sox announced before their season opener Thursday night against the Angels.
The Sox placed outfielder Adam Engel on the 10-day injured list with a strained right hamstring and left-handed pitcher Jace Fry on the 10-day injured list to recover from a microdiscectomy. Both moves also were retroactive to March 29.
The Sox purchased the contracts of outfielder Billy Hamilton and infielder/outfielder Andrew Vaughn from the Schaumburg training facility and outrighted left-handed pitcher Nik Turley to Schaumburg. The St. Louis Cardinals claimed left-handed pitcher Bernardo Flores Jr. off waivers.
With the moves, the team’s 26-man opening-day roster includes 13 pitchers, three catchers, six infielders and four outfielders. Here is the breakdown of the Sox roster:
Right-handed pitchers (9)
Dylan Cease, Matt Foster, Lucas Giolito, Liam Hendriks, Codi Heuer, Michael Kopech, Lance Lynn, Evan Marshall and Jose Ruiz
Left-handed pitchers (4)
Aaron Bummer, Garrett Crochet, Dallas Keuchel and Carlos Rodon
Catchers (3)
Zack Collins, Yasmani Grandal and Yermin Mercedes
Infielders (6)
Jose Abreu, Tim Anderson, Jake Lamb, Nick Madrigal, Yoan Moncada and Andrew Vaughn
Outfielders (4)
Adam Eaton, Leury Garcia, Billy Hamilton and Luis Robert
