While rain fell over Guaranteed Rate Field in the top of the ninth inning Friday night, Mike Tauchman stood in right field with his hands raised in disbelief. Third base umpire Charlie Ramos had just ruled Cleveland Guardians designated hitter Kyle Manzardo safe on a checked swing following a 1-1 pitch from White Sox reliever Mike Vasil.
Just a half-inning earlier, Tauchman had been called out on a 2-2 check swing after grinding through an eight-pitch at-bat. He voiced his frustration before leaving a trail of gear at home plate in protest.
By night’s end, though, Tauchman was the one being mobbed by his teammates, and Vasil walked off the field as the winning pitcher, capping a grueling 20-inning day of baseball.
It was a fitting conclusion on the day the White Sox unveiled a statue for Mark Buehrle, in a win that mirrored the former ace’s career—not always flashy, but effective.
Buehrle was never known for overpowering stuff—his fastball averaged around 84 mph—but the 2005 World Series champion used pitch location, deception, and intangibles to carve out over 200 career wins.
Likewise, it was the little things that helped the White Sox edge out a 5-4 extra-inning victory over their division rival after dropping Game 1 of the doubleheader, 4-2.
Despite two home runs from Lenyn Sosa, the White Sox still needed a Kyle Teel walk, a hustling infield single from Colson Montgomery followed by a throwing error that moved both runners into scoring position, and a sacrifice fly from Josh Rojas to bring Teel home and tie the game at four in the bottom of the eighth.
In the 11th, manager Will Venable turned to Chase Meidroth to pinch-hit for Rojas. Meidroth executed a perfect sacrifice bunt. The Guardians chose to intentionally walk Michael A. Taylor, trying to set up a double play, but it gave Tauchman another opportunity.
Tauchman ended the game with a walk-off single, though the ball didn’t leave the infield grass. His slow roller traveled just four feet but managed to sneak under the glove of Guardians reliever Kolby Allard. Shortstop Bryan Rocchio barehanded the ball and fired to first, but Tauchman beat the throw as Teel scored the winning run.
DON'T STOP BELIEVING. pic.twitter.com/mqbKXR0p7h
— White Sox on CHSN (@CHSN_WhiteSox) July 12, 2025
The White Sox 32nd victory of the season also took a gritty performance from Vasil, who battled through three tense innings of traffic and rain. Entering in the ninth to preserve a 4-4 tie, the right-hander quickly set down the Guardians in order, including retiring Manzardo to end the frame.
He returned in the 10th, with Manzardo placed on second per extra-inning rules. Vasil retired the first two batters before issuing back-to-back walks to Carlos Santana and Bo Naylor, but escaped the jam when Rocchio grounded out to second.
In the bottom half, Teel moved the ghost runner to third with a sacrifice bunt. But after Luis Robert Jr. was intentionally walked, Montgomery grounded into an unassisted double play at first base to end the threat.
Vasil returned once more for the 11th. With one out, he hit José Ramírez, who had homered earlier in the third, to load the bases for cleanup hitter Kyle Manzardo. But once again, Vasil remained unfazed, escaping the jam by inducing a 4-6-3 inning-ending double play on a sinker.
He threw 50 pitches to navigate those three high-pressure innings, managing to keep the Guardians scoreless despite issuing three walks and recording two strikeouts.
While Buehrle was known for his efficiency on the mound, the second game of the doubleheader was anything but. The 11-inning contest lasted nearly four hours, which included multiple delays to fix the conditions on a rain-soaked pitching mound.
Mark Buehrle’s highlight reel features everything from sliding across a tarp during a rain delay to clutch moments, like closing out a 14-inning, nearly six-hour marathon in Game 3 of the 2005 World Series (despite enjoying a few beers in the clubhouse earlier in the game). Friday’s game felt like the perfect tribute
“It’s an awesome way to cap the night off,” Vasil said during an on-field television interview. “To be able to do what we did and come back, just compete at the highest level we could, it’s awesome.”
