Rays 4, White Sox 1: Swept in St. Petersburg
After the White Sox’s extra-inning loss to the Rays on Saturday, Dylan Cease said after the game, “They’re playing extremely well. They’re good at not beating themselves. We’ve hung in there. They’re definitely beatable, we’ve just got to do it.”
Reader, they didn’t do it.
If you give the Rays three games, they’ll probably flat outplay you in one of them. And because the Sox blew a multi-run cushion in the ninth on Friday and failed to score in the 10th inning on Saturday, they invited the Rays to finish the sweep due to the talent discrepancy alone.
That’s what happened today. Lucas Giolito pitched decently, and he at least delivered the White Sox’s longest start of the year by completing seven innings. But he allowed a two-run homer during a three-run second, then another solo shot in the third, and the White Sox never brought the tying run to the plate the rest of the way.
The Sox only mounted one promising threat, when Andrew Benintendi and Eloy Jiménez doubled off the base of the wall for the first Chicago run in the top of the fourth. That turned out to be the only run, because Zach Eflin, Yonny Chirinos and Pete Fairbanks exacerbated the White Sox’s flaws. They allowed just three hits, didn’t walk anybody and induced 13 groundouts alongside seven strikeouts. Consequently, they combined to throw just 117 pitches, and that total felt higher than the game suggested.
Luis Robert Jr. led off the game with one of those three hits, stole second, advanced to third when Christian Bethancourt’s throw bounced into center field … and then he was stranded by an Andrew Vaughn groundout and a Jiménez strikeout.
The Rays seized control of the game in the second when Luke Raley followed an HBP of Isaac Paredes with a two-run homer on a hanging first-pitch changeup. Bethancourt then doubled and came around to score on a pair of productive outs, and that lead was never challenged.
Giolito gave up an opposite-field homer to Harold Ramirez in the third, but settled down to retire 13 of the last 14 Rays he faced. The Rays only had five hits, and three walks isn’t a notable total, either. You can say Giolito spared the bullpen, but that’s small solace if it doesn’t set up winning efforts when the Sox head to Toronto.
Bullet points:
*The White Sox played an errorless game. Jake Burger looked comfortable defensively, and Seby Zavala cut down a runner at second.
*The Rays played a better game defensively around Bethancourt’s error, with Paredes making a couple plays behind third base to take away hits. Probably singles, but still.
*This game is the new clubhouse leader for fastest White Sox game of the pitch clock era, coming in at 2 hours, 2 minutes.
Record: 7-15 | Box score | Statcast
Author
The pitch clock will for sure benefit Sox fans since we will only suffer for 2 1/2 hours instead of 3 or more. I’m glad I missed this game.
Rick Hahn’s third rebuild will work.
127-130 since the 2021 all-star break … DFA Hahn
(Long blank stare)
Start selling the paper bags as merchandise Jim. Every fan will want one.
“Sell the Team, Jerry” paper bags have more potential than anything else associated with this franchise.
I’ll take 4, with 2 pet versions as well.
I think boxes would brand better.
Box Machine.
revising any previous optimism i’ve expressed: they suck ass until proven otherwise
I’m surprisingly optimistic. Once the schedule eases up and injured guys return I’m confident that the org has the right coaches and front office savy to get this team off a 52 win pace and right the ship in the second half and get this team to 70 wins.
I might be a little more optimistic than that, I’m thinking the 74 win predictions are spot on.
Just what’s up ahead on the road
https://twitter.com/Clapz23/status/1650227104934674433?t=sSnIwluzKNAgR_TjBJBNPQ&s=19
Ugh, being reminded of the Jeff Samardzija trade makes my stomach hurt. Hard to believe that trade may not be the worst of Hahn’s crimes as GM.
There’s a chance they may not win a game for the rest of the month. They’re that bad.
Come be a White Sox fan…..the only fun you will have when watching is fun bad.
Thank you for watching so I didn’t have to.
TA and Yoan are presently still top 5 for season position player fWAR for the Sox despite having been out about half this brief season. Yoan’s not played since 4/9, TA since 4/10.
They are 2-9 since 4/11.
Stop blaming everything on injuries. When we played the Astros, we were healthy and the Astros played without Altuve, Brantley and McCullers. The Twins were without Correa, Kepler, Polanco and others. The Phillies were without Harper, Hoskins and Hoskins’ backup Hall. Tampa Bay is without Glasnow. Everyone has injuries they have to deal with. Atlanta won the world series without Ronald Acuna, a player better than anyone on the White Sox. I don’t hear these other teams crying about injuries. Also, what’s so great about Moncada? He’s not Austin Riley or Alex Bregman or Jose Ramirez or Nolan Arenado or Rafeal Devers or Matt Chapman or Manny Machado. Moncada is a player you can’t count on. If you do, you’re foolish.
I don’t think he was blaming injuries, I read it as pointing out that no one on this team is worth a damn enough to produce more value than an injured guy.
But it’s almost remarkable how healthy the White Sox starting pitching has been the last 3 seasons. The top-5 have made every start this year. Other than Rodon being on and off the last 2 months of 2021, everyone was healthy. Other than Lynn missing the first 6 weeks and Kopech missing the last few weeks last year, everyone was healthy.
The Yankees and Mets are both missing 3 SPs right now, at the same time. The Dodgers had 4 SPs miss time last year while winning 111 games. The Brewers are starting Colin Rea right now who began the season as at best their 9th SP.
So maybe the White Sox are really good at keeping pitchers healthy? Or maybe they’ve been extremely lucky the last 3 seasons given their depth starters are worse than almost any team in the league 3 years running.
Rays also missing Jeffrey Springs, who was 16 IP 1 ER .5 WHIP 24K prior to going down
Not a single Sox injury thus far has surprised whatsoever. Maybe you could argue they came a week or two prior than anticipated, or a degree or 5 more idiotic in nature (Joe Kelly) but that’s it. Hurt guys get hurt guys get hurt guys.
A new “I Rode Out The Sox Rebuild” pennant, except it’s a digital screen instead of cloth so we can continually add names to it over the decade to come without shipping out a new model.
“I’ve been a white sox fan for 100 years, and all I got was one lousy trophy.”
i can already hear the players who get traded, “thanks for getting me out of that hell hole of gutless and brainless wonders”. The on going Rick Hahn humiliation tour is what is keeping me interested, so really hoping there is no dead cat bounce coming.
They might be last in chase rate, but the TWTW I’m seeing out on the ball field right now is as infectious as an intimate night in Tijuana.
Great job fellas! Feel bad for the team, but they aren’t good and well constructed. At this point I’m hoping for over 100 losses. That’s the only way for changes. Totally out of it by July so they trade who they can. Maybe if they lose 120 and are Rockies or A’s level, and Rick will be promoted to “special advisor” and someone else can try to construct a team for $170 m
Three straight scoreless outings for Jose Ruiz.
We got played by Ruiz, clearly.
It’s funny how in most situations where things are going shitty, you assume they’ll improve at some point. The Sox are the exception. During the darkest days of The Russa experiment, I really thought that was the bottom. Maybe I was naive.
This team stinks
Man you guys are too pessimistic. Fans I’m talking too are really hopeful on the future; they’re fans of other teams though, but me and my boy Rick can still use it.
With this so called contention “window” Grifol is not the right guy should’ve hired Bochy. I knew it was risky hiring a rookie manager to begin with. Can they turn it around? WHO KNOWS Romy & Sosa looks like they not ready yet. Luis & Colas looks overrate at this point. There’s nothing you can hang your hat on with this team right now!!!🙄
It was a prison window all along….
I feel Hahn will never hire a Bochy or Guillen or Washingotn. I believe Hahn is terrified of baseball savvy and competent people around him that can tell him off. He only hire people that can speak marvelous things of the team Hahn constructed, and say a bunch of corporate phrases like “it was a tough series”, “we competed”, “they work their arse off”, “I have 100% confidence on this team”, “when we get our guys fully healthy we’ll turn things around”….etc etc.
The Sox are 5 games out on April 24th.
Now they open a series against the Blue Jays, who are six games out.
Easy part of the schedule
Which is irrelevant because we aren’t competing with the Jays in our division, which was my point, the competitiveness of the division and what it will take to climb over the teams in front of us.
“7-15” is a worse way of describing the way they’re playing than “five games out on April 24.”
100%% agree, however the, 5 games out shows the way the rest of the division is playing and gives context to the direness of the situation better than 7-15…IMHO.
And the AL central isn’t competing with anybody
And have never made the playoffs after losing 15 of their first 22 games.
Oh sure, but those numbers are biased because they almost never make the playoffs.
How many games out were they and how many teams were above them when they lost 15 of their 22….which is pretty much my point.