CHICAGO (670 The Score) -- Chicago's nickname of the Windy City stems from a late-19th century reference not to the weather but rather local politics. Try telling that to the Mariners on Thursday afternoon.
During the bottom of the fifth inning at Guaranteed Rate Field, the Mariners misplayed a pair of typically routine infield pop-ups because of extreme wind conditions in Chicago, helping the White Sox score a run. It proved to be the White Sox's lone offense in a 5-1 loss to the Mariners, a setback that dropped Chicago to 4-2 on the season.
With two outs, White Sox right fielder Adam Engel hit a pop-up that was dropped in fair territory by Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh. To his credit, Engel was hustling out of the batter’s box and reached second base on the play. The next batter was third baseman Jake Burger, who hit a pop-up in the infield that landed safely outside the reach of diving Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford. It was officially ruled an RBI single.
The White Sox dealt with their own wind issues in the top of the sixth inning as second baseman Leury Garcia dropped a pop-up for his second error of the game. Garcia recovered on the play by throwing the Mariners' Mitch Haniger out at second base as he looked to advance.
"It's a beautiful Midwest day," Burger said. "I grew up in St. Louis. I'm used to it.
"You see the ball change five different directions when it's in the air, it's tough to determine where it's going to come down."
Raleigh redeemed himself in the top of the seventh inning by hitting a solo home run to left field, which was aided by the strength of that wind. The home run didn't register in exit velocity on MLB's Statcast technology, an indication of the wind's help.
At the time of first pitch, the official weather forecast listed a wind of 29 miles per hour. The city is in a high wind warning until Thursday evening, with weather forecasts indicating gusts could reach up to 60 miles per hour. The game also featured multiple stoppages as members of the stadium crew retrieved loose objects blown onto the field of play.
"It was interesting," White Sox manager Tony La Russa said. "Kind of fun for the fans."
Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago’s sports scene and more for 670TheScore.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670.