White Sox 4, Rays 1: Chicago manages to salvage a victory
Hitting, pitching, and defense wins games. Who knew?
The reign of the Tampa Bay City Connect jersey is officially over. The Sox won tonight’s contest ... and took the season series from the Rays, 4-2! Surprisingly, the Good Guys went 3-3 on their six-game road trip. It’s amazing what can happen when you hit well, pitch strong, and play solid defense.
The contest started off with a quiet intensity, as both Chris Flexen and Aaron Civale held their opponents scoreless through three. However, the tension broke in the bottom of the third when a double by Isaac Parades drove in Yandy Díaz, giving the Rays a 1-0 lead. The Sox retaliated in the top of the fifth with a mammoth two-run long ball by Paul DeJong, who now leads the team in dingers, with five. Did anyone have that on their bingo card?
The Good Guys added two more insurance runs in the sixth when rookie Bryan Ramos knocked in Andrew Benintendi, who led off the inning with a two-bagger, and MVP Tommy Pham singled home DeJong. Ramos has been a breath of fresh air since coming up from Birmingham last weekend. He’s slashing .357/.375/.429 with a .804 OPS and two RBIs.
Folks are going a little crazy about Ramos’ fundamental execution on this single, and they’re not wrong. With nobody out and a runner on second, Bryan wanted to be sure to, at the very least, have a productive out by driving the ball to the right side; he did, and lo and behold his dribbler trickled through for an RBI single.
Flexen secured the W and earned his second quality start of the season. The righthander performed well through six innings, allowing one run on three hits and one walk while striking out eight. He really seems to have found his rhythm, as his last three starts have been consistently strong.
Out of the pen, Steven Wilson, John Brebbia, and Michael Kopech held the Rays to only one hit over three innings. Kopech briefly made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth with one out when he didn’t cover first base correctly on an infield knock by Harold Ramírez. Have no fear: The flamethrower ultimately got the save by getting Isaac Paredes to ground into a double play to end the threat and the game.
The Sox now head home for a seven-game stretch. They’ll face the AL Central first-place Cleveland Guardians for four games and the upstart Washington Nationals for three. We’ll have all your coverage here at South Side Sox!
Futility Watch
White Sox 2024 Record 9-28, worst 37-game start in White Sox history (1 game ahead of the 2018 White Sox, at 10-27) and tied with nine teams for ninth-worst in MLB history
White Sox 2024 Run Differential -89, tied with one team for the 22nd-worst 37-game start in MLB history
White Sox 2024 Season Record Pace 39-123 (.243)
Race to the Worst “Modern” 162-Game Record (2003 Tigers, 43-119) 4 games ahead
Race to the Worst “Modern” Record in a 162-Game Season (1962 Mets, 40-120) 2 games ahead
Race to the Most White Sox Losses (1970, 106) 17 games ahead
Race to the Worst White Sox Record (1932, 52-109-1*) 13 1⁄2 games ahead
Race to the Worst American League Record (1916 A’s, 38-124*) 1 game behind
Race to the Worst MLB Record (1899 Spiders, 21-141*) 18 games behind
*record adjusted to a 162-game season