Athletics 3, White Sox 2 (10 innings): because, of course

The South Siders get walked off in extras

The Chicago White Sox have dropped yet another series to the Athletics, allowing a walk-off home run in this one. What started out as promising turned boring, then promising again, and then ... reality.

Joshua Palacios started off the game with a BANG, as he clubbed a leadoff home run, his first of the season, off of Osvaldo Bido.

The 1-0 lead didn’t last long, though, as a leadoff single by Lawrence Butler and a double by Brent Rooker gave the Athletics a run in the bottom of the inning off of opener Brandon Eisert. Eisert’s day was over after the first, and Davis Martin took the mound in the bottom of the second inning.

From there on, the 1-1 tie would stay. Though each team tried many, many times to get something cooking, nobody could seem to score.

There were a few defensive highlights here and there, as Matt Thaiss flashed the leather:

Miguel Vargas joined in on the action, as he had had a strong offensive and defense showing recently.

The good news is that Davis Martin had a really strong outing, following opener Eisert. He ended his day with six innings, three hits, two walks, and five strikeouts. His ERA is now at 3.24.

Since nobody wanted to win, we had some free baseball with the game knotted at 1-1. A’s closer Mason Miller, of course, struck out the side in the top of the ninth inning, so no chances there.

With the ghost runner on second base to start the top of the 10th, Luis Robert Jr. took advantage, singling in a run.

Edgar Quero followed with a single to put runners on the corners with one out, but the team was unable to strike for more: Andrew Vaughn hit into an inning-ending double play. It was up to Jordan Leasure to protect the one-run lead in the bottom half of the inning.

This should be easy, right, considering the Athletics luck with RISP on the day?

False alarm. As we know, trends and statistics tend to get broken against the White Sox.

With one out, the lead was no longer protected:

Luis Urías walked it off for the Athletics, on a center-cut, first-pitch fastball for a 3-2 final. Series lost, again.

It might be time for Leasure to see some mound time in Charlotte at this point.

The team will have a much needed off-day after a long road trip, during which they went 3-7. I know the standards are low by saying this but it could have been worse, as the team is playing .250 ball this season but won at a .300 clip during the trip.

They’ll return home to start a series against the Milwaukee Brewers starting on Tuesday night at 6:40 p.m. CT. Bryse Wilson looks to get the start against Freddy Peralta, unless of course the White Sox want to operate like a major league club and select an actual starting pitcher to fill Martín Pérez’s second missed turn.

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Futility Watch

White Sox 2025 Record 7-21, tied for second-worst start in White Sox history and tied for 24th-worst start in baseball history. A 7-21 record projects to 41-121 over a full season.

The White Sox have opened the past three seasons as such, all among the 48 worst starts in MLB history:
2023 7-21
2024 6-22
2025 7-21

All-Time White Sox Record (1901-2025, 19,234 games) 9,601-9,633 (.4992). It’s been 73 games since the White Sox had an all-time winning record

• Race to the Worst “Modern” 162-Game Record (2024 White Sox, 41-121)
• Race to the Worst “Modern” Record in a 162-Game Season (1962 Mets, 40-120-1, finished three percentage points worse than the 2024 White Sox)
• Race to the Most White Sox Losses (2024, 121)
• Race to the Worst White Sox Record (2024, 41-121)

TIED, in each case

Race to the Worst Post-1899 Record (1916 A’s, 38-124 adjusted to 162 games) 3 games better

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