Another forgettable first inning dooms White Sox
If the White Sox (1-4) are going to make any noise in the playoff race, they will have to avoid falling behind early.
Outside of their lone victory, the White Sox have done a poor job of preventing opponents from putting up big, crooked numbers on the board in the first. Cleveland (4-1) scored three runs in the bottom of the first and never looked back in the nightcap.
Starter Carlos Rodón, who pitched in his first game since May 1, 2019, stumbled out of the gates. Though Rodón retired the first batter he faced, he proceeded to allow back-to-back doubles to José Ramírez and Francisco Lindor. That gave Cleveland an early 1-0 lead, and they were not done. Carlos Santana was next, and he launched a 395-footer to left to extend Cleveland's lead to three.
The White Sox got back within two when James McCann launched a 421-foot solo homer, his second of the young season.
In a tiny sample size of plate appearances, McCann boasts a crazy OPS of 1.750 this season. Though it is early, it is great to see McCann catching some fire at the plate.
Meanwhile, Rodón settled down with drama-free second and third innings. In those two innings, Rodón only threw a total of 24 pitches, and it appeared that he might be able to remain in the game for quite some time. But, that did not happen, as he ran into trouble in the fourth. After Rodón walked three hitters to load the bases, Steve Cishek took over with two outs. Unfortunately, Cishek could not prevent Cleveland from picking up a pair of insurance runs, as Oscar Mercado hit a two-run single to make the score 5-1.
The White Sox were not quite done scoring, as José Abreu put one on the board with his first homer of the season in the sixth.
That was Abreu's 180th home run of his career, all with the White Sox. With that homer, Abreu inched closer to No. 5 on the White Sox's all-time home run rankings, a spot held by Magglio Ordoñez (187).
With the score still 5-2 in the eighth, many White Sox fans, myself included, found themselves upset, as Nicky Delmonico came up to bat with two outs and a runner on second. Against all odds, Delmonico hit a soft liner (60.7 mph exit velocity) that found a gap on the left side of Cleveland's infield. On Delmonico's single, which had an expected batting average of .170, Abreu raced home to make the score 5-3. Then Zack Collins, representing the possible tying run, launched a sharp liner to center, and this happened:
Gosh darn it. First, Mercado hits a clutch two-run single, and then he makes a crucial catch in the top of the eighth. What a game, props to him.
The White Sox went down quietly in the top of the ninth, and Cleveland held on for a 5-3 win. So, things are not going well for the White Sox.
But, there are a couple of things to look forward to. Lucas Giolito is tomorrow's starter. Also, July 29 is the magic Service Time Manipulation Day in this odd season, so Nick Madrigal should be on his way to the majors shortly.
At 5:10 pm CST tomorrow, the White Sox will try to break this three-game losing streak. A good place to start would be a scoreless first inning on the mound. Let's hope they manage to pull it off!