Athletics 7, White Sox 0: Longing for Detroit
The four-game series against the Detroit Tigers was never going to be the greatest barometer for offensive progress. The White Sox went the entire set without being retired in order, which, while impressive, probably says less about the team with the league’s worst walk rate and more about the pitching it faced.
Sure enough, in came Oakland and Mike Fiers, and out went the White Sox. Fiers retired the side in order for the first of seven scoreless innings, the second time he’s done that to the Sox this season. The Sox were limited to just two Tim Anderson singles, two James McCann singles, and one by Leury García. They were all in different innings.
Ross Detwiler technically lost this game in the first inning. He gave up a laser homer to Matt Chapman in the first inning, and a less noteworthy but still effective Stephen Piscotty homer in the second. Beyond that, Detwiler kept the A’s off the board through five, then walked two of the three batters he faced to start the sixth.
Jose Ruiz ended that inning with a couple of flyouts to strand Detwiler’s runners, then pitched a scoreless seventh himself. Alas, Jace Fry gave up a walk, homer, walk and single to the four batters he faced, setting a five-run eighth into motion that Josh Osich couldn’t immediately halt, and a quiet afternoon turned into a rout instead.
Bullet points:
*Anderson went 2-for-3 with a stolen base, as he looks like he’s back at full speed.
*The White Sox are back to struggling with the strike zone, drawing zero walks and striking out 11 times. Jansen Visconti called a very wide plate, but even then, White Sox pitchers walked seven.
*García, playing second, made a nifty leaping grab on a flared liner, then doubled off Marcus Semien at second.
Record: 51-63 | Box score | Highlights
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I’m so glad this rebuild is failing. Makes me so happy watching these terrible games. Rick Hahn was right….
That little rant of his was shockingly tone deaf and thin-skinned.
What rant?
Josh posted a link in the comment section of his Yoan/Eloy article from yesterday.
Interesting how in the first home game since Hahn’s rant, the Sox lay an egg.
I want the White Sox to win every game they play, but the silver lining in a game like this is that perhaps it will help bring about the end of Hahn’s loss-filled reign as our GM.
Not only is he very bad at his job, but he is a condescending jerk as well.
It is so odd how this organization in the past and this season will go out of its way to insult its customers and potential customers so much. From what I can tell, the basic stance of Hahn and Steve Stone has been like a restaurant owner saying: “You don’t like our steaks? Too bad! It’s all part of the process! When we start cooking better steaks in a few years, you’ll regret ever questioning anything we do!”
When Hahn speaks, he’s speaking for Jerry and Kenny as well. So many people want to give him a pass and place all the blame on Kenny and Jerry, but Hahn is every bit as much a part of the overall failure that has been this organization and a mouthpiece for them as they build franchise value while maximizing annual operating profits.
This organization does not deserve fans as loyal and as passionate as we are. And unless they show some very clear signs of really trying to make this team a contender next year by the end of January, I think we as fans have a duty to let them clearly know how bad they are if they have the guts to show up at Soxfest.