The White Sox left New York with a win Sunday, but Sam Antonacci also left having carved out a painful piece of franchise history.
Chicago beat the Mets 2-1 while wearing red, a look that gave the club a win outside its traditional uniform setup. Yet the bigger storyline from the game centered on Antonacci, who was hit by a pitch for the 24th time this season - a new single-season franchise record, according to Scott Merkin of MLB.com.
“Sam Antonacci was hit by a pitch for the 24th time this season. It's a new single season franchise record,” Merkin posted on the social media website X, formerly Twitter.
Antonacci took the pitch in the bottom of the fifth, getting clipped by an 82 miles per hour curve ball on the fourth pitch of the at-bat. The hit by pitch forced the walk, and New York later got out of the inning on a groundout.
He came back up in the seventh and sent a fly ball to right field on an 89 mph slider, which ended his day at the plate.
Antonacci did manage one hit in the game. After seeing two sweepers go by, he worked himself into a two-ball count, then drove a 94 mph sinker into center field for a single. Andrew Benintendi followed with a strikeout, leaving Antonacci stranded at third to end the inning.
Even with the odd bit of history attached to Antonacci’s afternoon, Chicago handled its business and stayed atop the American League Central at 68-62.
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