The White Sox got to Jeff Niemann in a big, bad way in the third inning. Here’s how it looked:
Mark Teahen strikes out swinging
Juan Pierre singles
Juan Pierre steals second
Omar Visquel doubles
Carlos Quentin hit by pitch
Paul Konerko singles
Adam Dunn singles
Alex Rios walks
A.J. Pierzynski sacrifice fly
Alexei Ramirez flies out
It wasn’t the best inning the Rays pitcher’s ever had.
The Rays would get 2 back in the fourth on a 2-out bases loaded single from Sam Fuld, scoring Casey Kotchman and John Jaso.
But Niemann would pitch just 1.2 more innings giving up another double (which would later be driven in by A.J. Pierzynski) ending his night at 4.2 IP, 6H, 6R (5ER), 2BB, 4SO, 0HR on 89 pitches and a lot of questions. Niemann hasn’t looked good this year. We can hope it’s a simple adjustment or mechanical issue, but I’m not holding my breath.