If you sensed that Wednesday's blown save cost the White Sox their best chance at ending their losing streak against the Dodgers, don't pat yourself on the back too hard. After all, we just watched a series between baseball's best team and the second-worst.
Nevertheless, that ended up being the case, as Dustin May followed Yoshinobu Yamamoto's lead in the opener by working over the White Sox lineup with minimal stress, while his counterpart trailed from the jump. Just like Tuesday's 6-1 defeat, this one wasn't even as close as the score suggested.
Aaron Civale fared better than Shane Smith, but he still trailed from the third batter onward, as Freddie Freeman got his hands in on an up-and-in cutter and rifled it into the right field corner to score Shohei Ohtani, who led off with the walk.
Another Ohtani walk started a bigger problem in the third, especially since it was exacerbated by an error by Chase Meidroth, who bobbled a Mookie Betts grounder to his right because of the speed of both runners, and both were safe. Freddie Freeman then took a middle-middle curve the other way for a double that scored both runners, as Betts challenged Benintendi's effort to get the ball back and won.
Civale had a chance to get out of the inning with no furhter damage when Teoscar Hernandez grounded out and Andy Pages popped out, but a Dodgers lefty once again foiled his attempt to go up and in, as Michael Conforto spun on a seemingly well-located fastball and lined it into the right field seats.
Freeman almost went deep in the same direction on another elevated curve in teh fifth inning, but Mike Tauchman managed to bring it back from the first two rows with a well-tracked, well-timed leap. Instead, Betts ended up providing the third Los Angeles homer when he pounced on a hanging 1-0 Tyler Gilbert splitter and sent it out to left for the Dodgers' biggest lead of the night.
Brooks Baldwin prevented the White Sox from suffering a pair of indignities against an ultra-efficient version of May. First, he broke up the no-hit bid Dustin May. First, he broke up May's no-hit bid by pulling a sinker through the right side. After Ryan Noda struck out, Tauchman followed with a carbon-copy single, which Hernandez let scoot past him to give the runners an extra 90 feet. Alas, Chase Meidroth was rung up on a 2-2 sinker that started off the plate and never got back to it, but home plate umpire Chris Segal saw otherwise.
Two innings later, Baldwin spoiled May's shutout. After Josh Rojas opened the eighth by floating a single to center, Baldwin fell behind 0-2, but extended the battle to a seventh pitch. Will Smith called for a fastball high, but May left the sinker thigh-high over the heart of the plate, and Baldwin crushed a 109.4 mph liner out to right for the White Sox's only runs.
May ended up completing seven innings on just 86 pitches. He never threw more than 15 in an inning, and the first, third and fourth innings required fewer than 10. He was able to widen the plate with sinkers arm side and sweepers away, which constantly put the White Sox offense on the defensive.
Bullet points:
*Civale lowered his ERA to 4.60 because only two of the five runs he allowed over his five innings were earned thanks to the Meidroth error.
*The White Sox have been swept by the Dodgers in consecutive seasons, and it's a seven-game losing streak against them overall
*Miguel Vargas went 0-for-12 in his return to Los Angeles, but he did make a tricky catch along the netting on the first base side to shorten Betts' at-bat in the first. He's in an 0-for-19 skid, and has just one hit in his last 33 at-bats.
