White Sox 5, Cardinals 1: Four-run seventh fuels series win
You could call it a successful day for Bryan Ramos, who got his first MLB hit and RBI in the win
The Chicago White Sox beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-1, to win their first series on the road this season. The team had good vibes all around today, which is always nice to see, and I’m on a two-game coverage win streak.
Although it was a bullpen game for the Cardinals, the White Sox were unable to take more than one run’s advantage early on. In the top of the second inning, Paul DeJong had a one-out double and advanced to third on a wild pitch. In his first plate appearance, 22-year-old rookie Bryan Ramos recorded a productive out, getting his first career RBI on a sacrifice fly to left field.
Garrett Crochet was dealing early on, and got lucky after a Lars Nootbaar line drive hit him in the foot; Crochet was OK, and continued the game. The only run he would allow came in the bottom of the fourth inning, when Willson Contreras smacked a solo home run to center field to tie the game at 1-1.
Crochet had trouble in the bottom of the sixth inning with a runner on second base, but struck out to Paul Goldschmidt to end the inning. The lefty went six innings with just three hits, one walk, and one run.
The Cardinals had used their top bullpen arms the last two games, so today they were going to be shorthanded, leading to Giovanny Gallegos starting the top of the seventh inning. Just when this game seemed like it was going to be tied forever, Eloy Jiménez led off the inning with a solo bomb to break the tie and take a 2-1 lead.
Gavin Sheets immediately followed with a double, and DeJong followed his lead with a double of his own to extend it to 3-1. Gallegos would be pulled, and Ramos would collect his first career hit, against lefty John King, to put runners on first and third with no outs.
After a questionable strike-three call against Martín Maldonado, Braden Shewmake played small ball on a bloop single to left to drive in another run for a 4-1 advantage.
Grossman added another tally on a sacrifice fly, giving the team a good 5-1 cushion the rest of the way.
Steven Wilson took the seventh inning, Jordan Leasure the eighth, and a much drier John Brebbia the ninth to close it out.
All we can ask for in a lost year like this is that White Sox baseball games are enjoyable to watch. It seems that lately that’s been the case, even if the wins aren’t stacking up. Ramos will be fun to watch for however long he is up, and Luis Robert Jr. is a week away from a minor league rehab stint, so things could be looking up.
Tomorrow the team will go to Tropicana Field to play the Tampa Bay Rays, and we all know what happened last time we played them. Can we get another sweep? Probably not, but a girl can dream. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday, and get ready for more baseball coming to you at 5:50 p.m. CT tomorrow.
Futility Watch
White Sox 2024 Record 8-26, worst 34-game start in White Sox history (1⁄2 game ahead of the 1948 White Sox, at 8-25-1) and tied with 14 teams for 12th-worst in MLB history
White Sox 2024 Run Differential -82, 19th-worst 34-game start in MLB history
White Sox 2024 Season Record Pace 38-124 (.235)
Race to the Worst “Modern” 162-Game Record (2003 Tigers, 43-119) 5 games ahead
Race to the Worst “Modern” Record in a 162-Game Season (1962 Mets, 40-120) 2 games ahead
Race to the Most White Sox Losses (1970, 106) 18 games ahead
Race to the Worst White Sox Record (1932, 52-109-1*) 13 1⁄2 games ahead
Race to the Worst American League Record (1916 A’s, 38-124*) TIED
Race to the Worst MLB Record (1899 Spiders, 21-141*) 17 games behind
*record adjusted to a 162-game season