Veteran closer candidate Joakim Soria faced five hitters and allowed two singles, two doubles and a home run in his first outing. The home run was to infielder Jake Peter, whom the Sox (4-4) gave up in a three-team deal that brought Soria from the Royals and left-hander Luis Avilan from the Dodgers. It was Peter’s second three-run homer in two days. A footnote: Sox outfielders Avisail Garcia and Adam Engel raised their arms to claim it was a ground-rule double, but to no avail.
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Mean Jeanmar, again
As alarming as Soria’s outing was (granted, it is early), right-hander Jeanmar Gomez’s was a silver lining. Gomez pitched two innings of one-hit ball (single) with two strikeouts, albeit against mostly Dodgers prospects. Gomez, who had 37 saves as the Phillies’ closer in 2016, has allowed one hit, struck out seven and walked none in four innings in three appearances. Gomez signed a minor-league deal with an invite to spring training.
For starters
Miguel Gonzalez worked around four hits and a walk to pitch two scoreless innings.
A one-hour, 15-minute inning
You read that right. It took the Dodgers (four runs) and the Sox (three) that much time to put crooked numbers on the board in a frame that would not end. Injury delays for Dodgers right-hander Tom Koehler (shoulder) and plate umpire Tony Randazzo (who’s OK after leaving the game on a cart after being struck by a pitch) were factors. The game ended after three hours, 44 minutes. Ironically, the scoring was capped by Sox infield prospect and Olympic speedskating silver medalist Eddy Alvarez’s swift home-run trot with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.
On deck
Sox at Royals, Surprise, Michael Kopech vs. Ian Kennedy, 2:05 p.m. Saturday.
