White Sox again snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, fall to Oakland 3-2
Two bad teams, two awful owners, but someone had to win
As Yogi the bard would put it, it was deja vu all over again:
- Excellent starting pitching performance. Check.
- Feeble offense after the second inning. Check.
- Bullpen failure. Check.
- A soupcon of ill fate. Check.
The excellent pitching came from Davis Martin, making just his second start back from 2023 TJS and thus on a strict pitch count. Of the 82 pitches he did throw, 57 were strikes, including a superb 17 of 21 first pitches. He gave up just two hits, and walked and hit one while striking out four. Sure, it was the A’s, and plate umpire Tom Hanahan was being generous to pitchers (hey, umps have getaway days, too), but it was still an excellent performance.
A’s starter Joey Estes was also good, but not quite as good as Martin. The 22-year-old made the mistake of getting 92 mph fastballs way too close to the middle of the plate to consecutive Andrews with no outs in the second, the first leading to a 104.8 mph double to Andrew Vaughn, who got to third when the ball was kicked around in the outfield, and the second was to Andrew Benintendi.
Benintendi’s second two-run homer in as many games looked for a long time like it would stand up, but, well, these are the White Sox we’re talking about. Nicky Lopez doubled three batters later, but then the offense called it a day and only got four more hits, all singles, three of them only existing thanks to lousy Oakland D.
Once Davis exited, Touki Toussaint came in and yielded a solid single, got one out, issued a walk, and then a broken-bat single by Armando Alvarez gave the 30-year-old rookie his second major league RBI and put the A’s on the board.
Ah, well, broken-bat singles happen, right? But usually not two in one inning, off of different pitchers, which occurred when Dominic Leone came in to face .192 hitter Zack Gelof. That single tied the game, and a sac fly put the A’s up, 3-2. In the middle of all that, Lopez tried to get a force at second and failed, though he did close out the inning nicely to limit the damage.
The Sox had six outs left, of course, but decided not to tire themselves out by getting on base. On the up side, while they were thoroughly overmatched by the 102 mph offerings of closer Mason Miller, they didn’t strike out against him — which is an accomplishment of sorts.
Speaking of accomplishments that don’t end up mattering, Lenyn Sosa was obviously influenced by Olympic gymnastics on a foul pop in the fourth.
For the record, this defeat stops the White Sox winning streak at one, and extends the streak of losing series to 11. The Sox now get a day off before coming home for two games against the Cubs, followed by another day off, on a Sunday, no less. The TV announcers were all excited about how tossing a football around before the game energized the Sox, so maybe a chance to watch NFL preseason games Sunday will inspire them to play well for a whole game instead of just part of one.
Futility Watch
White Sox 2024 Record 28-89, worst 117-game start in White Sox history (nine games worse than the next-worst, 1932 White Sox), third-worst start all-time, and 61 games under .500
White Sox 2024 Run Differential -248, ninth-worst 117-game start in MLB history
White Sox 2024 Season Record Pace 39-123 (.239)
All-Time White Sox Record (1901-2024) 9,581-9,580 (.50002)
Race to the Worst “Modern” 162-Game Record (2003 Tigers, 43-119) 4 games worse
Race to the Worst “Modern” Record in a 162-Game Season (1962 Mets, 40-120) 2 games worse
Race to the Most White Sox Losses (1970, 106) 17 games worse
Race to the Worst White Sox Record (1932, 52-109-1*) 13 1⁄2 games worse
Race to the Worst American League Record (1916 A’s, 38-124*) 1 game better
*record adjusted to a 162-game season