White Sox 9, Diamondbacks 2: Finally, a dominant victory

DeJong, Vaughn, Sosa, and Lee all homered during the most lopsided win of the season

The White Sox (19-53) evened the series against the Diamondbacks (34-37) with a blowout, 9-2 win, launching four homers and getting another great performance from starter Erick Fedde. The bullpen was also on top of its game for a change.

Fedde did not allow a ton of sharp contact, but the Diamondbacks found ways to put runners on base early on. Corbin Carroll led off the bottom of the first with a double that was perfectly placed down the left field line. Ketel Marte followed with a line drive into right that resulted in an RBI single to give Arizona an early 1-0 lead.

Arizona also put three runners on base in the second inning. Jake McCarthy and Eugenio Suárez hit back-to-back singles to open the inning. With one out, Geraldo Perdomo added a single to load the bases and set the stage for Carroll. Carroll worked the count to 3-2, and the sixth pitch of the at-bat was a cutter that appeared to miss high, but Fedde and the White Sox caught a break. Carroll was called out on strikes, and Marte grounded out to end the threat. Even though Fedde allowed five hits through two frames, the score remained 1-0.

In the top of the third, with one out, Martín Maldonado lined a surprise double into the left-center gap. Maldonado certainly earned a few All-Star votes from that at-bat. At that point, Diamondbacks starter Scott McGough, who is primarily a reliever, was replaced by old friend Thyago Vieira. Vieira balked Maldonado to third, and Andrew Vaughn tied the game with a two-out RBI single.

In the fourth, Paul DeJong put the White Sox ahead for good by launching a solo homer for his 14th blast of the season.

DeJong now leads the South Siders in home runs this season by five, as he padded his lead over runner-up Vaughn, who we will discuss shortly.

Tommy Pham drew a walk with two outs and nobody on in the top of the fifth. At that point, Bryce Jarvis replaced Vieira on the mound with Vaughn at the plate. On the first pitch of the at-bat, Vaughn saw a fastball to his liking, and he crushed a two-run blast to right-center. That was Vaughn’s ninth homer of the season, and it gave the White Sox a 4-1 lead.

In the bottom of the fifth, Carroll led off with a grounder just to the right of second base for what appeared to be a leadoff single. However, Carroll used his elite speed to hustle out a double. Marte followed with a bunt that was placed well down the first base line, and he narrowly won the race to first for a bunt single. Suddenly, Arizona had runners on the corners with no outs, but Fedde buckled down and prevented the big inning. Joc Pederson launched a sacrifice fly to make the score 4-2, but Fedde retired the next two batters to end the frame. Fedde proceeded to pitch a scoreless sixth inning to finish his quality start. Props to the righty, who recovered from his slow start to deliver another strong outing.

The score remained 4-2 until the top of the seventh, when the White Sox added some insurance. Facing Arizona reliever Tommy Henry, Luis Robert Jr. drew a leadoff walk, and with two outs Korey Lee worked a six-pitch walk. That extended the inning to Lenyn Sosa, who launched a fly ball off the left field foul pole.

Just like that, the White Sox had a five-run lead, which made some fans think that their eyes were deceiving them.

Incredibly, the South Siders were not finished. In the ninth, Robert drew a walk, and with two outs, Lee stepped up to the plate. Tonight’s DH crushed a pitch to add two more to the lead, and the score was 9-2.

Relievers John Brebbia, Steven Wilson, and Tanner Banks each pitched a scoreless inning down the stretch to preserve the lead. The White Sox cruised to a 9-2 victory, their most lopsided win of the season.

The South Siders will face the Diamondbacks again tomorrow at 3:10 p.m. Central. Drew Thorpe and Jordan Montgomery are the probable starting pitchers. NBC Sports Chicago will televise the game, and WMVP 1000 will have the radio coverage. We hope to see you then.

Futility Watch

White Sox 2024 Record 19-53, worst 72-game start in White Sox history (4 1⁄2 games ahead of the next-worst, 1948 White Sox, who started 23-48-1)
White Sox 2024 Run Differential -148, tied for the 28th-worst 72-game start in history
White Sox 2024 Season Record Pace 43-119
Race to the Worst “Modern” 162-Game Record (2003 Tigers, 43-119) TIED
Race to the Worst “Modern” Record in a 162-Game Season (1962 Mets, 40-120) 2 games behind
Race to the Most White Sox Losses (1970, 106) 13 games ahead
Race to the Worst White Sox Record (1932, 52-109-1*) 9 1⁄2 games ahead
Race to the Worst American League Record (1916 A’s, 38-124*) 5 games behind
*record adjusted to a 162-game season