Kyle Teel, who'd only recently fought his way back from hamstring and knee issues, left the game with a left ankle injury after getting tangled up on a tag attempt at the plate. It's a brutal blow for a White Sox catching group that had finally started to stabilize, and it's the kind of injury that could push the position up general manager Chris Getz's shopping list before the trade deadline.
Form-wise, this was exactly the matchup you'd expect given the records. The White Sox came in riding a 4-1 stretch and an offense that's been clicking for weeks, while the Rangers were scuffling at 2-3 over their last five, including a 15-run beatdown from Atlanta. Monday just kept that trend rolling.
Joc Pederson opened the scoring with a leadoff homer and Evan Carter's RBI single made it 2-0 before Chicago answered. Miguel Vargas doubled home a run in the third, Sam Antonacci tied it in the fifth, and Andrew Benintendi blew the game open with a bases-clearing double that put the Sox up 5-2. Jake Burger's solo shot in the seventh was the only answer Texas had left.
Then came the ninth. Vargas doubled home another run, Luisangel Acuña added a two-run single, Randal Grichuk tripled one home and Braden Montgomery capped it with an RBI double, turning a manageable deficit into a laugher. Trevor Richards closed it out, and deGrom took the loss despite the pedigree, a reminder that even a good arm can get buried when the lineup behind it stops hitting and the bullpen can't hold the line.
It's a rough way for Texas to open this series, and with Seager's return still an open question, the offense doesn't have much margin to keep bleeding games like this one.