Wikipedia:April Fools/April Fools' Day 2022/Chicago White Sox–Cincinnati Reds top of the 4th inning on March 31, 2022

On Thursday, March 31, 2022, the top of the 4th inning was played between the Chicago White Sox of the American League and the Cincinnati Reds of the National League. Played at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Arizona, the inning in total featured five batters for the White Sox and one pitcher for the Reds. Of the five batters, three advanced to the bases, with one getting a hit. Despite there being runners on second and third base with two outs, the Reds were able to retire the side to end the inning.

The White Sox got on base three times during this inning thanks in large part to Reds pitcher Kyle Zimmer's initially poor control over his pitches. Along with giving up a leadoff walk, he also threw a wild pitch which allowed the White Sox to have two baserunners in scoring position.

Summary
To begin the top of the 4th, the Reds called on non-roster invite and former Kansas City Royals pitcher Kyle Zimmer to pitch against the White Sox's #9, #1, and #2 hitters. Leading off the inning was newly-acquired outfielder Adam Haseley, who was taking his first at-bat with the White Sox after being traded from the Philadelphia Phillies. Zimmer started the inning off by throwing four straight balls to Haseley, giving him a leadoff walk and the White Sox their first base runner of the 4th. The next batter was 2021 All-Star shortstop Tim Anderson, who had led-off the game with a strikeout at the hand of Reds starting pitcher Hunter Greene. Anderson, who was notorious for swinging at the first pitch of an at-bat, swung on the first pitch thrown by Zimmer and hit a single to center field, giving the opportunity for Haseley to advance to third base. Next up to bat was White Sox center fielder Luis Robert, who also struck out in his first at-bat. Also like Anderson, Robert swung on the first pitch and also made contact. However, it was hit to Reds shortstop Kyle Farmer, who threw out Haseley at home when Haseley tried to give the White Sox their first run of the 4th. The White Sox still had a runner in scoring position after the fact because Anderson had advanced to second during the play.

In between the previous play and the following at-bat, the White Sox opted to replace Robert on first base with the faster outfielder Romy González. With one out caused by the fielder's choice, the White Sox sent their next batter, second baseman Yoán Moncada to the plate. A wild pitch was thrown on the first pitch on the at-bat, which allowed Anderson and González to advance one base forward. Starting after the wild pitch, however, the fortunes of Zimmer began to turn. In just four pitches, he struck out Moncada by taking advantage of Moncada's aggressiveness with the bat, with all three strikes thrown being swinging strikes. In an advantageous situation for the White Sox, the catcher Yasmani Grandal came to the plate. His first at bat was much better than the previous batters, as he started the game with a two-run home run. Despite coming off the home run, Grandal struck out on three pitches, all swinging strikes to end the inning. In total, the White Sox scored no runs and managed one hit, while the Reds committed one error.

Box score
FIELDING
 * FC: Farmer-Stephenson.



BATTING


 * Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Moncada, Y 2; Grandal, Y 2.
 * Team RISP: 0-for-2.
 * Team LOB: 2.

Game
The White Sox won the game by a score of 8 to 2.

Players
Anderson started the 2022 AllStar Game at shortstop, marking his second straight All-Star Game appearance.

Stephenson broke his clavicle on July 22, 2022, ending what was the best season of the young catcher's career.

After pitching the first four months of the season with the TripleA Louisville Bats, Zimmer was released from his minor league contract with the Reds on August 9, 2022.