The White Sox bats have gone comatose.
Four singles. That was it. Chicago never seriously threatened a rally in a 5-0 snoozer against Boston, snapping its 10-game home series winning streak. The offense has seemingly vanished, producing just one run in 21 innings dating back to the Cleveland series. Thankfully, the Guardians bailed the South Siders out by getting walked off in Minnesota. The All-Star break can’t get here fast enough.
Davis Martin came out dealing, mowing down Boston on 10 pitches in the
first with two loud fly outs and a K. Jake Bennett matched him, and Martin tossed another clean frame in the second. Early hope, quickly dashed.
Chicago squandered its best scoring opportunity in the second when Meidroth singled, Antonacci walked, two on, nobody out. Cue the collapse. Braden Montgomery whiffed on a high heater, Junior Perez watched strike three zip by, and Kyle Teel dribbled one to kill the rally before it started.
Boston cracked Martin hard in the third. A leadoff walk to Jarren Duran, a sac bunt by Carlos Narváez, and a single by Tsung-Che Cheng put Boston on the board. Chen then scooted to third on a Teel miscue. The mess continued with another walk, this time to Anthony Seigler, then Ceddanne Rafaela laced a double for 2-0. A wild pitch uncorked by Martin allowed Seigler to race home before Perez ended the mess by colliding with the center-field wall.
Luisangel Acuña tried to spark something with a leadoff single in the third, but the next three Chicago hitters went quietly on a fly out, line out, and ground out. Story of the night.
The Red Sox padded the lead in the fourth, collecting four singles to plate two more runs. The five-run outing was particularly uncharacteristic for Martin, who had allowed just four total earned runs across his previous seven home starts combined. His night ended after four innings as Will Venable gave him the hook to bring out Chris Murphy for the fifth.
Murphy danced out of trouble after a leadoff double and a hit batter, while Seranthony Domínguez worked around a walk to Cheng in the sixth after Teel erased the would-be thief at second.
None of it mattered.
Antonacci singled in the fourth only to be wiped out by a double play. How about Acuña’s hit in the fifth? Nothing. The Sox went quietly the rest of the way, four straight innings with three up, three down. Four base hits, zero clutch — 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position.
Defensively, the White Sox did themselves no favors either. Acuña booted one, Teel let one get by, and Martin spiked a pitch. Sloppy all around as Boston coasted to the shutout.
