Twins offer game, White Sox politely refuse to take it, lose 6-3
Join countless small animals as road kill
Yeah, yeah, yeah, another game, another loss, 0-7 road trip, 3-22 season, yadda yadda yadda.
But let’s try to forget all that and admire some actually good White Sox defense.
First, there was a brilliant grab by Nicky Lopez with two on in the bottom of the first that would have been the sort of thing that inspires victory if he played for a team that can be inspired.
That smash by Max Kepler was the hardest-hit ball of the day, more than 115 mph.
The next nifty play, by Korey Lee, was on a ball hit about 100 mph more softly.
And even Andrew Vaughn got in on a little D.
Those last two were both against Carlos Santana, who assuaged his grief by hitting one of five — yep, five, count ’em, five — solo Minnesota home runs.
Vaughn had a nice day, with a single and a double, but he also ended the game with a bases-loaded ground out. More than all that, he also had ... wait for it ... A STOLEN BASE! Sure, it was because nobody was holding him on, but it still counts.
That Vaughn grounder to end the game came after the Twins made a final try at giving the game away. Rocco Baldelli did one of the really stupid things managers tend to do, pulling back his closer when the Minnesota lead went to four in the top of the ninth and voided a save situation (for the moment). Instead, Baldelli sent out mop-up man Steven Okert, who really shouldn’t pitch unless you have a lead of 10 runs, not four, so Okert gave up a single to Lee, walked Danny Mendick and hit Gavin Sheets to bring the tying run to the plate. So, Griffin Jax was needed anyway.
In case the Sox didn’t get the message about the game being available if they wanted to take it, Santana then booted a Robbie Grossman grounder to let in a run and bring up Vaughn.
At the other end of the Twins pitching scheme, they had pulled scheduled starter Bailey Ober to have him face the Angels tomorrow, instead providing a courteous chance for the visitors by bringing up minor leaguer Simeon Woods Richardson. Woods Richardson needed 94 pitches to get through five innings, but escaped with only two runs of damage because the Sox preferred to leave men on base rather than score them — 12 for the game. The runs came on a Kevin Pillar sac fly, which was all the Sox could manage after loading the bases with none out in the second, and a Paul DeJong single following Vaughn’s double in the fourth.
That created a 2-0 lead, which looked good because Michael Soroka was absolutely cruising, giving up just two singles in five innings. Unfortunately, there was a sixth, which started with back-to-back dingers by Edouard Julien and Ryan Jeffers, which led to Soroka’s departure and Tanner Banks giving up three straight singles for another run. Julien would go deep again in the seventh, and then Santana and Jose Miranda did that back-to-back thing, too.
Ah, well, at least the road trip is over. Unfortunately, the season isn’t, and it’s back home to take on Tampa Bay over the weekend.
Futility Watch
White Sox 2024 Record 3-22, worst 25-game start in White Sox history (ahead of 1948 and 1950, at 5-19-1), tied with two teams for second-worst in MLB history
White Sox 2024 Run Differential -85, fifth-worst 25-game start in MLB history
Number of Times in MLB History a Team’s Had a Worse Stretch than this 3-22 in 2024 20
Number of Times in MLB History a Team’s Had a Worse Stretch than 3-25 in 2023-24 11
White Sox 2024 Season Record Pace 19-143 (.120)
Race to the Worst-Ever White Sox Record (1932, 52-109-1*) 33 1⁄2 games ahead
Race to the Most-Ever White Sox Losses (1970, 106) 37 games ahead
Race to the Worst-Ever American League Record (1916 A’s, 38-124*) 19 games ahead
Race to the Worst-Ever MLB Record (1899 Spiders, 21-141*) 2 games ahead
*record adjusted to a 162-game season