Giants spoil White Sox home opener with four homers in one inning off Michael Kopech
Kopech gave up five home runs in all on Monday

The Chicago White Sox on Monday hosted the San Francisco Giants for their 2023 home opener (SF-CHW GameTracker). The Giants took an early 3-0, and then in the fifth they blew it open by homering four times off Chicago starter Michael Kopech.
Here's a look at those blasts by Michael Conforto, Thairo Estrada, Mike Yastrzemski, and David Villar:
IT IS OUT OF HERE X 4! pic.twitter.com/9zraGD6mzd
— MLB (@MLB) April 3, 2023
Note Mr. Kopech's rapidly deteriorating body language, which is understandable given that he wound up permitting almost 1,600 feet of home run in that frame.
As Sarah Langs notes, that's first time since 2011 that the Giants have homered four times in one inning, and it's one homer shy of the franchise record of five home runs in one inning (in 1939 and 1961). On the other side of things, Kopech, who also allowed a second-inning longball to Joc Pederson, becomes just the third pitcher in White Sox franchise history allow five home runs in a game. The other two are Eddie Lopat in 1947 and Reynaldo López in 2018.
Kopech wound up allowing seven runs on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings, and his ERA after one start in 2023 now stands at 13.50. Kopech showed his customary big fastball velocity at times on Monday, but his radar-run readings weren't all that consistent. Of those five home runs, three came on fastballs and two on breaking balls. Kopech remains a promising pitcher and an important member of the Chicago rotation, but his first start of 2023 was one to forget as swiftly as possible.
















