Zach Remillard’s debut hardly could’ve gone any better.
Remillard replaced an ailing Tim Anderson and went 3-for-3 on Saturday, driving in the tying run in the ninth inning and the winning run in the 11th as the Chicago White Sox rallied for a 4-3 victory against the host Seattle Mariners
The teams will wrap up their three-game series Sunday afternoon in Seattle.
“What a day. What a memorable day,” Remillard, 29, told the NBC Sports Chicago broadcast after the game. “I got my family here. My wife’s here. It’s a dream come true. I prepared for this day for a long time. Just to get an opportunity to help the team in any way and execute it.”
After 694 minor-league games, Remillard was called up Thursday from Triple-A Charlotte after third baseman Yoan Moncada (lower back inflammation) went on the 10-day injured list.
Remillard began Saturday’s game on the bench but got the call after Anderson was forced out with right shoulder soreness.
Remillard walked in his first plate appearance and then dropped a bunt single down the third-base line before his late-game heroics.
“That’s probably one of the better debuts I’ve ever seen, if not the best,” teammate Andrew Benintendi said.
Remillard became the seventh player in White Sox history and the first since 1998 to have at least three hits in his debut
“Before I went out there, (Chicago reliever) Joe Kelly’s like, ‘There’s two options — either you do good or you do bad.’ And he just kept it simple,” Remillard said. “And for some reason that calmed me down. We’re just out here playing the game we love.”
Anderson was dropped from the leadoff spot for the first time since 2019, snapping a string of 299 consecutive games atop the order. Benintendi replaced him and reached base in all five of his plate appearances.
“Overall, it was the best win of the year for us, in my opinion,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “This was a resilient, gutsy win.
After taking a 3-2 lead in the fifth inning, the Mariners went hitless
“There’s some games where you just tip your cap (to the other team),” said Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford, who hit the first pitch in the bottom of the first inning for a home run. “But today was one of those days where we should have won that game.
The Mariners will face longtime nemesis Lance Lynn (4-7, 6.75 ERA) in the series finale. The right-hander is 4-1 with a 1.93 ERA in seven career starts against Seattle. Lynn has struggled of late, going 0-2 in his past three starts and allowing at least five runs each time out
Mariners rookie right-hander Bryce Miller (4-3, 4.06) will make his ninth career start on Sunday and will face the White Sox for the first time
Miller allowed one hit — a solo homer — and struck out six over six innings in his last start, against Miami on Monday, an 8-1 Seattle victory. It was Miller’s fourth start of at least six innings and two or fewer hits allowed.
–Field Level Media
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