This was a series that was made and created in a lab for the sickos. Fortunately, there are a lot of sickos on this here Braves blog website, so we’ve all gathered here to talk about this zany series that the Atlanta Braves and Chicago White Sox just got done playing. This was a series between two teams who aren’t going anywhere but back home once Monday, September 29 rolls around. If anything, this was a crucial series if only due to the fact that the White Sox are trying to run away with the worst
overall record in baseball this season — they are far clear of the Pirates for the top spot in the MLB Draft Lottery rankings.
However, the Braves are starting to “fall back” in the lottery standings, as they’ve been on a good run of form lately. They’re still in the top five (heading into action before the series finale) but at this rate, the Braves may play themselves into having a minuscule chance at getting that top overall draft pick. Again, your mileage on this one may vary — whether you’re a sicko like me who still wants to see the team play as well as possible going forward or you’re a turbo-sicko who wants the bottom to fall out, the rest of this season still has some twists and turns left in it. Boy, let me tell you, this series certainly had some twists and turns in it. Anyways, let’s hop into it.
Monday, August 18
White Sox 13, Braves 9
This was the game that launched a million takes. Spencer Strider had yet another rough outing in this one, as the White Sox blitzed him for 10 hits (two of which were homers) and seven runs over just three official innings of work. Now granted, credit has to be given to the White Sox here — they have sneakily been one of the best-hitting teams in baseball since the All-Star break and they certainly lived up to the expectations for both this game and the second game as well. Chicago eventually raced out to a 10-1 lead in this one and the local baseball team looked beyond cooked.
Fortunately, Atlanta’s offense has also been doing pretty well since the break, so they didn’t roll over in this one. A two-run dinger in the sixth inning from Michael Harris II continued his incredible run of form at the plate in recent times and then Jurickson Profar eventually added a two-run homer of his own later on in the frame to make it a five-run game. That lead eventually ballooned back to eight runs after Daysbel Hernández entered the game in the seventh and had another rough patch over the course of the 1.1 innings that he covered.
However, the Braves still refused to just capitulate at the plate in this one. Vidal Bruján made his presence felt with an RBI single that slightly cut into Chicago’s lead. Later on, Jurickson Profar and Nacho Alvarez Jr. both joined Bruján at home plate after Profar crushed his second dinger of the night. Inexplicably, the Braves were within striking distance at 13-9. As a matter of fact, Eli White came up to the plate later on as the tying run but he struck out to end the inning. That’s as close as Atlanta got and the Braves dropped the first game in this series in wild fashion.
Tuesday, August 19
Braves 11, White Sox 10
The chaos from Monday night transferred right into Tuesday night’s game, as Bryce Elder picked up where Spencer Strider left off on Monday night. Despite the Braves being the first team to break the scoreless deadlock in this one with a two-run homer from — you guessed it — Money Mike, Kyle Teel quickly put the White Sox back in front with a two-run double on a changeup from Elder that didn’t fool him at all. Teel’s double made it 3-2 but Jurickson Profar helped the Braves respond as he launched a two-run dinger of his own to make it a 4-3 ballgame.
The White Sox then unleashed great vengeance and furious anger upon the Braves in this frame. Bryce Elder ended up getting chased from the game after the White Sox collected five hits and a walk in this frame. Five of those runners came around to score at Bryce Elder’s expense so we ended up with Elder following up Strider’s seven-run outing with an eight-run outing. It’s rough but I suppose we should be glad that nobody hit a hanger all the way to Rome against him in this one, right? Yeah, I got nothing. Anyways, Connor Seabold came in following Elder’s debacle and gave up a homer to Kyle Teel to make it 10-4. Teel finished with four RBI on the night and it sure seemed like the White Sox were in firm control of this one.
However, the Braves refused to capitulate at the plate once again. In fact, it was all Atlanta from that point forward, as the Braves got active in the seventh and eighth innings. An error from Chase Meidroth allowed Jurickson Profar to reach base to lead off the seventh and that was the opening the Braves needed to unleash some fury of their own. Ronald Acuña Jr. delivered a big RBI knock to make it 10-5 and then after Marcell Ozuna coaxed a one-out walk out of Elvis Peguero, the bases were loaded for Ozzie Albies. Ozzie came through with a looping liner that brought home a pair of runs to make it a 10-8 game. A productive out made it 10-9 and just like that, the Braves were right there in line for a fantastic finish.
Tyler Alexander opened the bottom of the eighth for the White Sox with an unintentional walk to Profar, a double to Matt Olson (who had four hits in this one) and an intentional walk to Ronald Acuña Jr. in order to load the bases and give Atlanta a golden chance at snatching the lead away. Two outs later, Drake Baldwin came up to the plate and decided that it was time to bolster his Rookie of the Year campaign with a looper that just barely eluded the grasp of Mike Tauchman in right field. Two runs scored and then eventually Michael Harris II helped Raisel Iglesias lock down the save with a diving catch in the top of the ninth to give Atlanta a shocking win.
Wednesday, August 20
Braves 1, White Sox 0
So after two absolutely unhinged baseball games that saw these two teams play out a 23-20 aggregate, we got a typical baseball conclusion to this wacky series. Hurston Waldrep pitched seven shutout innings and had everything clicking for him, as his wonderful start was a sight for sore eyes after what happened over the first two nights of this series. This was another great start for Waldrep, as he continued to seize upon this unlikely opportunity in Atlanta’s rotation. Again, when you consider how well the White Sox have been going at the plate as of late, this was a very impressive performance.
The fourth inning was a crucial one, as the skies near the ballpark were darkening and lightning could be seen out in the distance. There were fears (especially within the press box) that this would end up getting delayed at some point but fortunately, the Braves scored one (1) run off of a fourth-inning error from Colson Montgomery, That one single run was enough to hold up, as the Braves avoided any possibility of a potential rain delay by winning the contest in one hour and fifty-nine minutes. This was an absolutely hilarious conclusion to this series after how the first two games went but hey, that’s baseball for you!
So yeah, this is just another series win for the Braves as they have finally gotten on a serious roll for the first time all season. That’s now four series wins in a row and outside of getting swept by the Milwaukee Brewers, Atlanta has been in very solid form and they’re now 13-7 over their last 20 games. The obvious question is “Where has this been all season?” — especially as far as the offense is concerned. The lineup has certainly been late to the party here in 2025 but I’m still glad that they’ve eventually made it to the party. Nearly everybody is gone and there’s no afterparty in October like they wanted but it does appear that they’re here with a lampshade on top of their head, nonetheless.
Anyways, even though it’s the White Sox, it’s still nice to see the Braves take care of business in this one. They’ll now get a chance to continue making life miserable for the New York Mets as they’ll be coming to town for their final series of the season against each other. Atlanta’s already got the season series locked up in this one and now it’s about continuing to pile on the misery for their divisional foes from the Big Apple. The Mets will be heading into that series hoping to have taken a series against Washington but at this rate, it wouldn’t be a shock to see New York limp into town with the current run of form that they’ve been on. Meanwhile, the Braves will be entering this series as one of the hottest teams in baseball — again, it’s taken far, far too long to type out a sentence like that but I’m just glad that it’s here. Let’s see what happens this weekend, y’all.
