Game Thread: White Sox at Red Sox

Will instant replay have a different result?

As the bard of the Bronx would have phrased it, “It’s deja vu all over again,” as Shane Smith and Garrett Crochet take the mound against each other for the second time in a week.

Sunday’s matchup between the former White Sox star and a rising one lived up to the expectation of a pitchers’ duel, as it went scoreless until Smith ran out of gas in the sixth. Crochet kept up his side with a no-hitter until a Chase Meidroth single in the eighth, and picked up a 3-1 win.

Of course, last time Smith’s side was on a two-game winning streak (equivalent to about 12 games for a decent team) and this time it’s on a five-game losing streak, three of those losses being slaughters. Good thing there’s a reason they play the games. (And last time the other starter doing really well, Martín Pérez, hadn’t just been placed on the IL that morning, but that’s another story.)

Crochet will face a White Sox lineup with Meidroth leading off, so in case he has to break up a no-hitter again he can do it sooner, and newcomer Edgar Quero, who got his first major league hit last night and immediately became one of the best batters on the team, in the 7-slot.

The Boston lineup has Trevor Story, who had two three-run homers last night, hitting cleanup. Given how much Story has tormented White Sox pitching in the space of four games, Will Venable might be well advised to get some pregame exercise practicing holding up four fingers.

First pitch is scheduled for 3:10 p.m. Central with the forecast a toasty 82° under cloudy skies, with winds toward right at 16 mph. Rain is expected at about seven Boston time, but if this game is like the last matchup, which whizzed by in 2:20, the game should be long over by then. Usual broadcast suspects.