As Liam Hendriks passes another milestone, the Chicago White Sox closer recalls 3 memorable saves on the road to 100-plus

OAKLAND, Calif. — The Seattle Mariners had the tying run on third base and the potential winning run at second.

With two outs in the ninth inning Monday at T-Mobile Park, the Chicago White Sox led by one and had All-Star closer Liam Hendriks on the mound.

The right-hander struck out Adam Frazier on three pitches to secure the 3-2 victory. It was his 30th save of the season.

Hendriks became the sixth Sox pitcher to record consecutive 30-save seasons and the first since David Robertson in 2015-16. Hendriks led the American League with 38 saves last season.

“Since I took the later-inning roles with Oakland in ‘19, had 25 that year and the short season (2020) had 14, so on track for back-to-back 30s is not something I ever envisioned when I moved to the pen,” Hendriks said after his 31st save Wednesday against the Mariners. “I was hoping to just get 30 innings in every year. To go out and do my job 30 times is cool and I’m thankful for the guys to put me in that position.”

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This season has been filled with accomplishments on and off the field for Hendriks, who along with reliever Jake Diekman was nominated for the Roberto Clemente Award on Thursday. The award, according to Major League Baseball, recognizes the player who “represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.”

On the field, Hendriks recorded his 100th career save last month.

“It’s pretty special,” Hendriks told the Tribune last month. “I came up as a starter and then was middle relief. Honestly just trying to carve a living.

“And it was one of those things where I’m just trying to continue on, keep playing and then something changed in 2018 when I got (designated for assignment) and I went down (to the minors) and I was looking my career in the eyes about not being able to do anything. Really changed my mindset around everything. Since then, it’s been going all right.”

His first save came in 2017 with the Oakland Athletics. Hendriks and the Sox began a four-game series against the A’s on Thursday at Oakland Coliseum.

Hendriks, who now has 109 career saves, recently reflected on the road to 100 with the Tribune.

Sept. 20, 2017: A’s at Detroit Tigers

“I had been with the A’s in ‘16 and ‘17, fluctuating between different roles,” Hendriks said. “I had always gone on to finish the season well. I had a couple of opportunities earlier in the year. They were like: ‘Hey, we’re going to give (relievers) Ryan Dull or (Ryan) Madson some time off because they’ve been throwing a lot. So for this series, you’ve got the ninth.’”

In this game, Dull entered in the eighth.

“I was like, ‘Perfect, Dull went out for the eighth, I’ve got the ninth, I’m doing this,’” Hendriks said. “They send him back out (for the ninth) and I’m like, ‘Well, I guess I’m not doing it.’”

Dull ran into trouble in the ninth, and Hendriks came in with a runner on first and one out. The A’s led by one.

He got José Iglesias to ground into a fielder’s choice for the second out.

“Iglesias hit a ground ball that we weren’t able to turn two on, which ended up working out for me because it raised my (strikeouts per nine innings),” Hendriks said with a smile.

He struck out Alex Presley swinging — “on a fastball down the middle” — for the save in the 3-2 victory.

May 25, 2021: Sox vs. St. Louis Cardinals

The festive night included high school teammates Lucas Giolito and Jake Flaherty starting against one another and umpire Joe West working his major-league-record 5,376th regular-season game.

The Sox had a five-run lead, but the Cardinals loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth.

Hendriks replaced Garrett Crochet and struck out Lane Thomas and Max Moroff swinging and Tommy Edman looking for the 8-3 victory.

“I came in and I was lucky enough to strand all of the inherited runners,” Hendriks said. “And I had a little bit of a battle (10 pitches) with the last guy, Tommy Edman. I ended up getting him.

“I had been sitting fastballs up in the zone, up in the zone and froze him on one down in the zone. He thought it was a ball, it went our way. It was in the zone anyway.”

Aug. 5, 2022: Sox at Texas Rangers

Dylan Cease was sharp for six innings, allowing one run. Joe Kelly and Kendall Graveman each pitched a scoreless inning, and the Sox entered the ninth ahead by a run when Hendriks took the mound at Globe Life Field.

Josh H. Smith flied out to left to begin the inning. Hendriks struck out Bubba Thompson and Brad Miller for the 2-1 victory and career save No. 100.

He noted after the game that he was the first Australian-born reliever to reach the mark.

“Being the first Australian to get to 100 is big,” said Hendriks, who was born in Perth. “Hopefully it gains a little more traction back home and we can get more kids coming over.”