Chicago White Sox Roughed Up By St. Louis Cardinals in 12-2 Loss

CHICAGO –– The White Sox returned to the comfort of home for Tuesday’s game against the Cardinals after a 1-5 stretch in Texas. The record looked far worse than the final scores, though, as manager Will Venable’s club played competitive baseball in four losses by five total runs against the Astros and Rangers.

They had played much better at Rate Field this season, too, posting a 16-18 home record versus a 7-31 run on the road. Shane Smith, the White Sox best pitcher, was set to take the mound, perhaps signaling the end of the losing streak.

But those bits of optimism were dispelled in a big way, as the Cardinals stomped the White Sox 12-2 Tuesday at Rate Field. That marked the southsiders' sixth straight loss, their longest losing streak since a six-game drought from April 13-19. It also tied their second-largest margin of defeat and dropped their record to season-high 27 games below .500.

With all of that in mind, Venable isn’t worried about issues compounding.

“Not at all. Not with this group,” Venable said. “They’ve done a great job every time we have a result that doesn’t go our way and have a tough game, they come back the next day ready to go, ready to battle and are prepared to play. I expect the same thing to happen tomorrow.”

Despite the lopsided outcome, the White Sox got on the board first, as Miguel Vargas extended his hit streak to six games. He roped his 19th double of the season to the left center field gap, good for the fourth most doubles in the American League. Rookie catcher Edgar Quero shot a single to the opposite field to bring Vargas home and give the White Sox a 1-0 lead. Quero is swinging a hot bat, too, going 14-for-35 in his last 11 games.

“Right-handed, he looks really comfortable, really confident,” Venable said. “He’s wearing out that four hole over there, using the whole field. Continues to take good swings and have really good at-bats. It’s great to see from Edgar. … That’s what is special about him. He’s a very advanced hitter. He can beat you in a lot of different ways and is willing to use the whole field. He’s got that club in the bag and he’s going to use it. It’s nice to see from such a young guy.”

But the Cardinal’s five-run second inning doomed the White Sox in the first of a three-game homestand. Nolan Arenado led off the inning with a sharp, 105.3 mph single, but that type of contact was a rarity. Smith walked Lars Nootbaar on four pitches in the next at-bat, putting runners on first and second base.

Pedro Páges laid down a bunt and initially did not run out of the box, but the ball stayed fair down the third base line. White Sox third baseman Miguel Vargas fielded it bare-handed, and his throw sailed wide of first baseman Lenyn Sosa. The throwing error allowed a run to score and tie the game 1-1.

“That bunt there, Vargy, he makes that play nine times out of 10 there,” Venable said. “And just was one that he wasn’t able to convert and we weren’t able to close the door there. Just makes it tough when you give them extra outs.”

Smith had control issues again, hitting Victor Scott II with a curveball in the next at-bat. The Cardinals added to their lead as Brendan Donovan’s single – with an exit velocity of just 69 mph – barely snuck past White Sox shortstop Vinny Capra. The White Sox should have gotten the next out at home, but Sosa fielded a ground ball down the first base line and tagged out Masyn Winn instead of nabbing the lead runner at home.

“I didn’t talk to [Sosa] about that play. It felt like he had time to come home,” Venable said. “That’s one of those where whatever happens you want to make sure you get an out, and he chose to get the out at first.”

That made it 3-1 Cardinals, and Herrera completed the five-run inning with another softly hit RBI single – this one at just 56.1 mph. After Arenado’s leadoff single at 105.3 mph, the Cardinals’ next four batted balls each had exit velocities of 70 mph or lower, though Smith also walked a batter and hit one by pitch.

"I think that's just baseball catching up to you sometimes,” Smith said. “Some loud contact in Houston that gets caught and soft contact today that doesn't. So that's baseball, that's life. Move on."

Smith got some help from his defense in the fifth inning as Michael A. Taylor robbed a home run from Iván Herrera in the right field corner. But after a walk and a single, the Cardinals added to their lead. St. Louis attempted a double steal with runners on first and third, and Quero threw down to second base. Willson Contreras broke home from third and was originally called out after a strong throw from second baseman Chase Meidroth.

After review, though, the call was overturned as Contreras pulled away his left hand to avoid Quero’s tag while sneaking his right hand around the catcher to home plate. Because the pitch was ball four, it was ruled a steal of home for Contreras, not a double steal. That gave the Cardinals a 6-1 lead in the fifth and signaled the end of the day for Smith, who was replaced by left-hander Tyler Alexander.

Smith certainly wasn’t at his best on Tuesday, but some unluckiness with soft contact and defensive mistakes out of his control led to more earned runs than there could have been. The rookie right-hander finished with 4.1 innings six hits, six runs, five earned runs, three walks and two strikeouts. That represented his second-shortest outing and most earned runs in a start this season.

“They found some holes there. Not a lot of hard contact,” Venable said. “Obviously giving them extra outs, two innings there, made Shane’s job tougher. Yeah, just got to convert those balls into outs somehow. Shane has had that a couple of times and has had to work through it. Today we weren’t able to stop the bleeding.

The White Sox got a run back in the fifth with a sacrifice fly by Capra, but the Cardinals responded immediately with runs in every inning from the fifth through ninth. Despite starting at shortstop, Capra made his second pitching appearance in 15 games with the White Sox and gave up a two-run home run to Victor Scott II in the ninth.

That raised Smith’s ERA from 2.37 to 2.85, but he’s still in contention to become the first White Sox rookie to make the All-Star team since Jose Abreu in 2014 and the first rookie pitcher in franchise history to do so.

“He’s still effective, still looks like he has all year and making it hard on batters," Venable said. "Again, tonight was really just more about us behind him defensively and not picking him up. Yeah, it’s been great for Shane.”

The White Sox pushed back Smith’s last two starts an extra day, with his workload in mind. He’s up to 72.2 innings after Tuesday’s start and approaching his career-high of 94.1 innings last season. In 2023, he threw just 59.2 innings.

Moving forward, Smith may adjust his routine between starts, though he didn’t think the extra rest affected his command early on.

“I think I can do a better job of it, instead of frontloading the work in the week and then leaving the rest of the days to kind of relax,” Smith said. “You know, if I have the seven days, making sure the back half of the week still has work involved and not as much recovery. You're still gonna do it, but making sure that balance is there. It wasn't really until Friday when I knew I was going to have the seven days, but even then you have the time to adjust. So just planning that way."

“Back-to-back seven days feels like a long time in between outings. But if that's the way it's gonna go, that's the way, you know, you better get used to it. I wouldn't hang my hat on it."

The interleague series continues Wednesday at 6:40 p.m. CT at Rate Field.

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