Oh, yeah … MOMENTUM is supposed to be the keyword this season, so …
Only lost by five runs instead of 12 … MOMENTUM!
Only struck out 11 times instead of 20 … MOMENTUM!
Only walked five Brewers instead of 10 … MOMENTUM!
Sox pitchers only needed 179 pitches to get through eight innings, instead of 186 … MOMENTUM!
Kept the hitting with RISP to 0-for-5 … MOMENTUM!
OK, enough of that. Let’s go with the good stuff, which shouldn’t take long. The lone White Sox run? Munetaka Murakami, of course, when Chad Patrick
decided it would make sense to start him off with a medium fastball right down the middle.
It wasn’t.
Murakami became the first White Sox player ever to hit homers in his first two games with the team, and he’s now on a pace to hit 162 on the season, which would be pretty good. The power is no surprise. Given his defensive reputation, though, this was:
Murakami’s defense was about the only thing the Sox did well in the field. Brice Turang had two doubles that should have been caught by Andrew Benintendi (who should never be allowed to put on a glove other than batting gloves) and scored both times. There were throws that gave runners extra bases, a throw that should never have been made that let in a run, and … oh, yeah … the Brewers had seven stolen bases. They even advanced on a balk.
The only other time besides the solo homer the Sox came close to scoring was in the seventh, down 5-1, when Colson Montgomery singled and Austin Hays hit a double to left that was briefly bobbled. Montgomery was sent home, which wouldn’t have been a good idea even if they weren’t four runs down, given Montgomery’s rated a 40 in speed (out of 80). He didn’t make it.
Otherwise, the Sox were zip for RISP. Chase Meidroth got a single and a double, so there is that.
Oh yeah, the Sox had pitchers. Sean Burke started and threw 62 pitches in the first two innings, giving up four runs in the process, in part due to the fielding ineptitude of Benintendi and himself. Burke was OK in the third and fourth. Chris Murphy and Seranthony Domínguez threw scoreless innings. Grant Taylor and Bryan Hudson didn’t.
The White Sox have now been outscored 20-3 in the first two games of the series, which wraps up at 1:10 p.m. Central tomorrow afternoon.
