Last week, I ended the weekly recap discussing how the White Sox have failed to play with the same vigor on the road as they have been on their home turf. Perhaps the White Sox would prove me wrong, and that the baseball gods would continue to shine good favor upon me.
Instead, I watched a butt-whooping in New York and a sweep in Detroit.
Dishing out a dozen Leaving Chicago, the team should have been flying high after beating the two best teams in the National League. Which is why there was no reason
for me to think it wouldn’t be possible to also snag a series from the Yankees in New York: Aaron Judge is out for an extended period with a rib injury, Giancarlo Stanton has also been sidelined, and Davis Martin was on the mound for the opening game on Tuesday.
Instead of coming out the gate strong following an off-day, Martin did not even make it through four innings. He gave up a season-high nine runs, four of those off the long ball, struck out four and walked three. As if being in a deficit of 9-1 was not enough, Chris Murphy pitched only tow-thirds of an inning and gave up an additional two runs. If you are looking for a bright side, Luisangel Acuña got to make his MLB pitching debut; he now holds a 9.00 ERA after giving up a solo home run and issuing a walk in the ninth inning. It was the seventh time this season the pitching staff has given up double-digit runs to an opponent, which is a number you usually don’t want to give up if you want to win baseball games.
However, the next night, the pitching staff was at it again.
Double digits times two
Old and beloved friend Carlos Rodón was on the mound for the Yankees on Wednesday evening against Anthony Kay. Rodón went five strong innings, giving up just a three-run dinger to Colson Montgomery and striking out seven White Sox batters. Kay, on the other hand, went only four innings, struck out two measly batters and conceded four runs before being pulled for Sean Newcomb.
The southpaw, who would last for just two-thirds of an inning, left the game after Anthony Volpe hit a comebacker to his throwing shoulder. Prior to leaving the game, Newcomb had already allowed the Yankees to extend their lead, but Tyler Davis also let his inherited runners score on a Paul Goldschmidt (yes, he is still playing baseball) home run. Davis also gave up two earned runs himself. Surprisingly, the only member of the pitching staff who did not give a run up during his one inning of work in the 10-5 loss was Brandon Eisert. Trevor Richards failed to get the memo that scoring for the opposing team should be done for the night. The run that crossed the dish during his two innings of work brought the Yanks to yet another double-digit win over the White Sox.
As previously mentioned, Colson hit a three-run bomb off of Rodón, giving the shortstop the first multihomer game of his career. In an effort to save face for the offense, Montgomery also sent a solo shot out of the park to collect his fourth RBI of the game, in the top of the eighth inning. It is fun to celebrate these milestones for the rising star, but the blowout loss put a bit of a damper on it.
A grand exit
Heading into Thursday’s game, the White Sox had not been swept since their April 14-16 series at home against the Tampa Bay Rays. It behooved them to avoid the sweep, and Andrew Benintendi made sure that this would be so with a grand slam in the eighth inning to break a 1-1 tie.
Also grand on Thursday? The pitching. Will Venable used his opener strategy yet again in the series finale. Bryan Hudson worked 1 2/3 innings to start the game before it was handed over to Sean Burke. The righty was pretty much flawless. Burke was on a mission to let the bullpen rest after two labor-intensive losses. He finished the game after 7 1/3 innings on only 88 pitches. Burke carved through New York’s offense, striking out eight along the way and giving up a single run on a solo shot to Ryan McMahon.
Dismal Detroit
On Thursday morning, my fiancé and I got on the Wolverine line of Amtrak and headed to Detroit to watch the White Sox take on their division rival for the second time this season. The last time they played the Tigers, they completed a sweep at 35th & Shields. I expected this series to be competitive given the ballclub’s struggles on the road and Detroit’s strong start to June.
What I did not expect was to watch my team get swept.
I will hand it them, this series was much more in reach for the White Sox than the one in New York ever was. Each out of every game mattered, and at no point did a game get so out of control it was no longer winnable for one team or the other. This did mean, however, that the offense was quieter and the pitching was stronger. But the pitching was not strong for the road team when they needed it most.
On Friday, I visited Comerica Park for the first time and had the pleasure of taking a dear friend to his first ever MLB game.
It is hard to not enjoy a ballgame when you are with your friends. Which might be why when Brandon Eisert started the bottom of the first inning by giving up the White Sox early 1-0 lead via a Matt Vierling two-run shot, I wasn’t terribly concerned.
The longer the game went on, however, the more I worried. The fifth inning brought the game back to even after a Tristan Peters RBI fielder’s choice. I cannot think of a more exciting way to score runs. Oh wait, yes I can. That’s because in the sixth inning, freshly-promoted from Charlotte and already having recorded his first MLB hit in the fourth, Junior Perez hit his first career home run to get Chicago in front for the first time all game.
Erick Fedde quickly killed the vibe by relinquishing the lead to Detroit in the bottom of the same inning, making it a 4-3 Tigers lead. This would ultimately be the final score of the game. I suppose this win was destined to go to the Michigan squad given this was Tarik Skubal’s first start back at home since returning from the injured list after he had loose bodies removed from his pitching elbow. The lefty was one out shy of a quality start, giving up three runs over 5 2/3 innings of work and striking out eight. Fedde, on the other hand, earned a team-leading sixth loss of the season, pitching the bulk of the game with 4 2/3 innings of work.
On Saturday, I headed back to Comerica, but this time with a different friend. I thought bringing another White Sox fan with me might change the mojo.
It would not be so.
Once again, the White Sox took an early lead when Sam Antonacci took the second pitch of the game out of the ballpark. This time the lead lasted a whole four-and-a-half innings!
Game two of the series was a true bullpen game. Newcomb opened, and pitched three strong innings. He gave up no hits, no runs AND no walks. Plus, he struck out four batters. Even though Tyler Davis walked three batters in his two-thirds of an inning, he did not allow any runs to cross the plate. That was not the case for Joe Rock, who earned the loss after he came in with two outs in the bottom of fourth. Over his 2 1/3 innings, he would go on to give up three runs (only two of them were earned) on five hits, walk two, and strike out one batter.
When your team can only score one run in the first inning, it is hard to make a comeback win possible. Richards gave up a fourth and final run in the seventh, making the final 4-1. The only hope left for the weekend was to avoid the sweep with a win on Sunday.
Spoiler alert, they were swept.
Misery loves company because I dragged my butt back to Comerica for this final game. I was looking forward to a Martin start, in the hopes that he would brush himself off from his abysmal outing in New York, which he did. The righthander threw six strong innings, giving up just one run and striking out four. He left the game with a lead thanks to an Acuña home run (yes, you read that right).
Hudson was given an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh thanks to a Peters ground-rule double. The reliever faced four batters and came out of the inning with the same score as he left it.
Grant Taylor was given the eighth inning, and even though he gave up a solo shot to Dillion Dingler, I stand firm in my stance that he should have been given ninth inning rather than Seranthony Domínguez. In fact, I turned to my fiancé and said “I can’t wait for him to blow this game.” And boy, did he.
I should also note, the play that should have been the third out of the game was not necessarily the pitcher’s fault. That was the fault of a shortstop (Acuña) taking his sweet time and an inexperienced first baseman (Jacob Gonzalez) not stretching out far enough to get the ball quicker. Jahmai Jones may be hitting .146 on the season, but he can move down the line quickly. This play not only extended the inning but it flipped the lineup over, and the Tigers took advantage of the two-out opportunity.
The record should reflect that I did not leave the game after the ninth inning because I was so frustrated at the blown save. I had to leave because Amtrak waits for no one. However, I am glad I did not have to witness the wheels fall completely off in the 10th. After the White Sox regained the lead in the top of the inning, Eisert was given the opportunity to shut it down. Instead, he was removed from the game after giving up the tying run and recording no outs.
With the bases loaded, newly-reinstated from the injured list Jordan Hicks tried to but failed to extend the game any further. Matt Vierling walked the game off with a bloop single to right field and ended the two-month, no-sweep stretch for the Chicago Club.
This week was the epitome of what was discussed last week with the pitching. The fact of the matter is, the offense is pretty consistent whether home (.244 average) or away (.231 average). In fact, they have hit six more home runs on the road than they have at home this season. On the other hand, the pitching staff likes the comfort of Sox Park and they aren’t shy about it. Their road ERA is now the second-worst in baseball at 5.39, just behind the Minnesota Twins.
This week alone the White Sox had three save opportunities and converted none of them. In a regular season it is typical to convert about two-thirds of save opportunities, but the White Sox pitching staff is hovering around 58% (21 saves out of 36 opportunities). Not to add insult to injury, but overall the squad is also walking a lot of batters (tied for seventh-most in baseball, with 289) and they are not striking out batters at a high clip either (19th in baseball, with 619).
The front office and fans surely were not expecting to compete the way the White Sox have, but if GM Chris Getz wants to see a playoff berth, he is going to have to make some moves in the pitching department. Starters need to be relied on to consistently go five-plus innings, and relievers must hold scores where they are.
With that being said, Cleveland is in Chicago for the first time this season this week and Kyle Teel is finally expected to make his season debut. This week will be yet another test to see if the road skid was just simply that, or whether the rookie shine is finally wearing off and we are set to struggle through September.
