White Sox Win on Walk-Off Wild Pitch That Drilled Umpire in Face

Chicago’s win on Saturday was an interesting one.

There’s the old phrase that a win is a win in the record column, even if the victory wasn’t the prettiest.

That’s what happened Saturday in the White Sox’s 2–1 victory against the Tigers at Guaranteed Rate Field. In the bottom of the 10th inning with the bases loaded, Tigers pitcher José Cisnero delivered a 96 mph wild pitch toward Tim Anderson that hit home plate umpire Cory Blaser directly in his face mask, sending him to the ground.

As Anderson stepped out of the way, Yoán Moncada dashed to home plate to pick up the game-winning run.

Blasner appeared to be shaken but was helped to his feet by Anderson as the home crowd loudly celebrated the unorthodox White Sox win.

The White Sox walked it off after a pitch bounced off the ump's facemask 😮

(via @NBCSWhiteSox) pic.twitter.com/8eJt3NBvGg

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) June 3, 2023

Interestingly enough, all three runs scored between Detroit and Chicago in Saturday’s game were scored on wild pitches.

Chicago outfielder Andrew Benintendi scored on a wild pitch from Tigers’ Michael Lorenzen in the bottom of the fourth. Detroit responded in the top of the sixth when Zach McKinstry notched a triple and then scored on a Dylan Cease wild pitch to give the Tigers their only run of the game.

With the win, Chicago (25–35) picked up a second win in its three-game series against Detroit. Currently, the White Sox sit seven games behind the first-place Twins (31–27) in the American League Central.