SEATTLE — Chicago White Sox centerfielder Luis Robert Jr. hit his 100th career home run, but the milestone came in an 8-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners in front of 30,686 on Tuesday at T-Mobile Field.
The Mariners also displayed power, hitting three home runs. Dominic Canzone hit a game-tying home run in the second inning. Eugenio Suárez had a tie-breaking two-run blast in the fourth. Josh Naylor added a two-run home run in the seventh.
Suárez’s homer was his first since returning to Seattle after a July 30 trade with Arizona.
Sox starter Davis Martin allowed six runs (five earned) on seven hits in five-plus innings. He struck out five and walked two.
Martin surrendered the homers to Canzone and Suárez, but it was a pair of walks in the sixth that stood out to him.
The Sox trailed 3-1 when Naylor reached on a walk and stole second base to begin the sixth for the Mariners. Suárez walked. And the runners then stole third and second. Jorge Polanco drove them both in with a single, extending Seattle’s lead to 5-1. That was Martin’s final batter. Polanco later scored on a groundout.
“That’s one of those outings where you do a number of really good things, but the stat line doesn’t really show how you feel about the outing,” Martin said. “The reality is the sixth inning, can’t walk the guy, can’t let Suárez walk. And then to let the double steal happen, negating a double-play ball that Polanco probably hits.
“That’s just a compounding injury against a lineup that you can’t do that with. I’m still young in my career and I still relish these opportunities to learn and face a great lineup like them and understand, OK, this is what a playoff lineup would most likely look like. And how do I adjust, how do I prepare myself the next time I face a lineup similar. Some good, some bad. Just have to move on.”
Bryan Woo had a strong outing for the Mariners, allowing one run on two hits with nine strikeouts and no walks in seven innings for the win.
“Woo’s tough. It’s an elite fastball, the arm slot, there’s deception,” Venable said. “It’s a four-seamer and a two-seamer, and he just was aggressive with it, which is what he does and we just weren’t able to adjust.”
While the Sox stalled much of the night offensively, they found some late-inning thunder in consecutive home runs by Robert and Montgomery.
Robert became the first player since José Abreu (2017) to hit his 100th career home run with the Sox.
“That’s a big number,” Venable said. “You’ve got to stick around and do a lot of good things to get 100 homers in this league, and certainly Luis has.”
Robert is 18-for-47 (.383) with three home runs, 11 RBIs and 16 runs since the All-Star break.
Luis Robert Jr. feels ‘a weight off your shoulders’ after staying with Chicago White Sox at trade deadline
“It’s great to see, especially in the context of this last stretch for him,” Venable said. “To see a nice opposite-field swing, it’s just awesome.”
Montgomery followed with his eighth home run of the season.
“He’s making these pitchers pay for mistakes,” Venable said.
Martin’s “some good, some bad” answer could also summarize the evening for the Sox.
“I think there’s a general disappointment when you go out there and play the way we did tonight,” Martin said. “Even in losses, you’re going to learn things and I just don’t think there’s a complacency anymore. It’s, ‘Hey, we think we can come in here and win a series. We don’t see why we can’t.’
“Just continue to do the right things and learn from our mistakes.”
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