The reason why there's so much rumor mill heat around Luis Robert Jr. and the Phillies is that he offers exactly what their roster lacks -- a lefty masher who can cover lots of ground in the outfield.
They're awash in lefties who can hit righties, especially ones who have a track record of vulnerability when they face opposite-handed hitters.
Jonathan Cannon came into this game with a fairly large disparity ...
- vs. RHB: .247/.308/.427 over 195 PA
- vs. LHB: .287/.359/.500 over 196 PA
... and he'll leave it with an even bigger gap.
He made it through the first inning unscathed, but the Phillies womped him over the next two. Brandon Marsh doubled over Nick Castellanos to third, and both scored on a pair of sac flies for a 2-0 lead.
An inning later, the first two reached in an even louder fashion. Trea Turner doubled for his 500th extra-base hit of his career, and then trotted home when Kyle Schwarber unleashed a 441-foot homer on a first-pitch sweeper to make it a 4-0 Philly lead. That was the first of two lefty homers in the inning, as Brandon Marsh tagged a plate-splitting changeup over the wall in right center for runs five and six.
"Felt like I had left too many pitches over the plate there early in the game," Cannon said. "Just not very good. Felt like I was on a pretty good run outside of the starts that I was kind of hurt in. Felt like the stuff's been good. Obviously two kind of tough ones back-to-back, so just get back in the lab with [Ethan] Katz tomorrow and kind of figure out what adjustments we need to make."
With Jesus Luzardo dealing for Phillies on the other side, the White Sox had to settle for moral victories, of which there were a couple.
Cannon managed to get through six innings with no further damage, which at least spared the White Sox bullpen. Tyler Gilbert handled the seventh, and Dan Altavilla took care of the eighth and ninth. Also, a White Sox uprising in the ninth inning helped them dodge their seventh shutout of the year.
Luzardo threw seven easy innings, allowing just two singles and a walk while striking out four. He stranded the bases loaded in a first inning that opened with Chase Meidroth reaching on an error, starting a string of 10 consecutive White Sox retired. The fifth inning unfolded in a similar fashion, with a single and an error putting Luzardo in a mild bind, but he struck out Meidroth and got Austin Slater to line out. He pitched to contact, and the contact never really hurt him.
"It was really about the fastball: he competed in the zone with it and we just weren’t able to adjust to it," said Will Venable, revisiting a familiar talking point. "I think we had the right approach. We had the right intent. We just weren’t able to execute. You’ve got to give these guys some credit, they’re some good arms we’re facing. Luzardo is an outstanding pitcher, has got really good stuff. Sometimes you just get beat. We’ll stick with the game plan."
Jordan Romano handled the eighth without issue, but another sloppy play behind Daniel Robert opened the ninth, when Edgar Quero reached because Bryce Harper didn't put himself in position to catch a low throw from Bryson Stott. Luis Robert Jr. won the battle of singular Roberts dropped a line drive to right to put runners on the corners, and this time the Sox converted. Colson Montgomery survived an eight-pitch matchup to hit a grounder weak enough for Harper to settle for the out at first, which spoiled the shutout, and then Lenyn Sosa hit a hanging sweeper for a forehand winner into the White Sox bullpen, which made the final score more respectable.
Bullet points:
*Both games have been fast: 2 hours and 24 minutes on Monday, and 2 hours and 15 minutes tonight.
*Sosa now has 10 homers and 40 RBIs. He's three back of the lead in both categories.
*There was a pregame moment of silence for Ryne Sandberg, the crosstown star who died Monday after a long bout with prostate cancer.
"He was a real gentleman," said Steve Stone. "He represented the game exceptionally well. When you are talking about a major league player, how you want them to act off the field, he was the guy you would be looking at."
