There’s no margin for error in the postseason, and rookie second baseman Nick Madrigal made two, as well as a mistake on the bases Wednesday. All told, they probably cost the White Sox three runs in a 5-3 loss to the Athletics in Game 2 of the Wild Card series in Oakland.
Two singles with two strikes and a run scored softened the blow for the fourth overall pick in the 2018 draft but there was no getting around Madrigal’s “plus-minus rating” in a two-run game.
“It’s something I’m going to learn from, and it’s right back tomorrow,” Madrigal said.
Learning from rookie mistakes are part of the game, but learning in the postseason games come at a high price.
Madrigal’s two-out error on Matt Olson’s ground ball with the bases full in the first inning gave the A’s the early spark they needed. Left-hander Dallas Keuchel got two ground balls after two outs, but shortstop Tim Anderson threw wide of Jose Abreu at first after ranging far to snag Chad Pinder’s bouncer behind second base. And then Olson’s grounder to Madrigal’s glove side caught the lip of the outfield grass, taking a mini-high hop and glancing off Madrigal’s glove.
And with that, it was 2-0.
“Yeah, I think I should make [that play],” Madrigal said. “I’m always going to say that, though. If I can get my glove on it, I feel like I should make the play.”
Manager Rick Renteria said Madrigal was “probably a little too close to the cut” on a field with “a lip.”
“He might of creeped up a little too close,” Renteria said.
Madrigal’s baserunning cost the Sox a run in the first when he didn’t pick up Anderson’s single to right or his coaches as he dashed, head down, on a straight steal. When he got to second, he couldn’t locate the ball and started back toward first. So instead of getting to third where he would have scored on left fielder Mark Canha’s leaping catch of Yoan Moncada’s drive at the top of the wall on what A’s starter Chris Bassitt called “a game changer, game saver,” Madrigal – who had his share of issues on the bases during the regular season — stayed on second.
“I’ve got to look at my third-base coach and see what he’s saying,” Madrigal said. “That was my mistake on that one. Again, something I’ll learn from.”
Madrigal made his second error in the fifth, throwing wide of Abreu after making a tag near second, but that miscue didn’t lead to a run.
Still no Eloy
Left fielder Eloy Jimenez missed his second game of the series and fifth in a row with a mid right foot sprain. There was no improvement from Tuesday to Wednesday, manager Rick Renteria said, not even enough to allow the slugging to DH.
“You need to be able to run,” Renteria said.
The only change in Renteria’s lineup Wednesday was at DH, with Edwin Encarnacion (.157/.250/.377) replacing James McCann. Encarnacion was 0-for-2 with a strikeout before Nomar Mazara pinch hit for him in the seventh and singled.
Mazara had another good at-bat with Jose Abreu on first after Yasmani Grandal’s homer cut the A’s lead to 5-2 but was called out on strikes on a pitch that was several inches off the inside corner, per Statcast.
Anderson in select company
Tim Anderson had three singles and a run scored and is 6-for-9 in the series. He is the fourth Sox with consecutive three-hit postseason games, joining Tim Raines (1993 ALCS), Nellie Fox (1959 World Series) and Frank Isbell (1906 World Series).
