'That catch was insane': Robert's GS robbery fuels Burke, Sox to win

CHICAGO -- Expert lip readers might have been able to ascertain White Sox right-hander Sean Burke’s mound comments shown on the CHSN broadcast after a grand slam-saving catch made by Luis Robert Jr. ended a tenuous first inning without the Brewers scoring Thursday afternoon at Rate Field.

But following the White Sox 8-0 victory, a smiling Burke explained what he was thinking during that crucial moment. Well, he copped to what he could while keeping his postgame interview session PG-rated.

“Something to the likes of 'Holy [expletive], I can't believe you caught that. Thank the lord,' something like that,” said Burke with a broad smile. “I don't even remember but that catch was insane.

“I owe Luis something. I don't know what I owe him. He's got a lot more money than I do but I owe him something."

Burke’s first inning did not look good, to be perfectly honest. At one point, the White Sox Opening Day starter had thrown just five of his 17 pitches for strikes and walked the bases loaded with two outs. Those misses outside the zone brought up Rhys Hoskins, who connected on an 0-2 curve ball with a blast featuring an .880 expected batting average and one that would have been a home run in 13 of 30 ballparks, according to Statcast.

Robert appeared to get an awkward initial jump but raced back to make the spectacular grab at the top of the wall. When asked if Hoskins’ drive would have been a grand slam without his heroics, Robert didn’t need an interpreter to provide a response.

“I don’t know. All I know is I caught the ball,” said Robert, in English, before returning to interpreter Billy Russo for the remainder of the conversation. “I knew it was a very high fly ball and I knew that I had a chance to make the catch.”

“Just kind of a sigh of relief that I was out of it and from there you just go in with your stuff,” Burke said. “I definitely think that catch helped out a ton.”

From there, Burke was efficient, going without another walk issued for 94 pitches and six scoreless innings. He struck out five while ending a personal four-game losing streak, picking up his first victory since Opening Day.

If Robert didn’t do enough with the glove, he also added two hits, four RBIs and a tied-for-Major-League-best 13th stolen base. Robert’s first-inning single scored Chase Meidroth, who returned from the injured list and hit leadoff in his first game back, and his three-run double cleared the bases as a highlight of a four-run seventh inning.

“I’ve been working toward that goal,” said Robert of contributing on all levels. “It doesn’t matter if I have a bad week or a bad month. I know the kind of player that I am. And I’m always working hard to do better to improve and to show the kind of player that I am. Lately the results have been there and that’s good.”

“The at-bats have been good. He just hasn’t had the pitches to do damage on,” said White Sox manager Will Venable of Robert. “To have nice swings today means a lot. We know that he’s going to be right there every day. We’re going to need him to win games.”

Those two hits left Robert one short of 500 for his career. It was Miguel Vargas’ three-run homer to left in the sixth that gave the White Sox control, while also giving Vargas a career-best eight-game hitting streak.

Since making an adjustment with his hands at the plate, Vargas has raised his average from .139 to .222 with a 13-for-29 stretch.

“It feels great. I was just trying to put the ball in play and get an RBI so we extend the lead a little more. I got a good result. Happy to get a win today,” said Vargas of the homer. “I was feeling good at the plate. I think I got a lot of quality at-bats, and then good timing to get hot."

Thursday’s win ended a three-game losing streak overall for the White Sox (8-23). They also ended an eight-game losing streak to the Brewers, improved to 1-0 in May, and won for a fifth time by 7+ runs, which is tied with the Cubs for the most in MLB.

Those results looked unlikely until Robert’s first-inning grab.

“That catch was one of the keys of the game,” Robert said. “Not just for Sean but for us as a team collectively. With a grand slam in the first inning, it would have been different there.”