Make it 114! Guardians finish sweep of White Sox, 6-4
Cleveland tries to give game away, but fails
It only took 340 pitches to get through this game, 170 for each side, so that was a pretty good accomplishment. Otherwise, no matter how hard Cleveland tried, they couldn’t help the White Sox break their 14-game home losing streak.
To be fair, it’s not like the Sox didn’t do their share of trying to give the game away, though they of course succeeded. That started in the first inning, when Lane Thomas came up with runners on second and third.
Two runs on an infield single, 2-0 Guardians. Two guys scoring on a ball that didn’t leave the infield is really rare, right? Well, yes — until Thomas was up again in the third.
In between, Austin Hedges hit his second homer of the year, so all told, it was 5-zip Cleveland. All those runs were off Davis Martin, who didn’t have the best of days but can’t really be blamed for four runs on two infield singles.
But then the Guardians got generous in the bottom of the third, showing that while they may have the best defensive stats in the league, they can still be kind. Corey Julks got a regular old single, then Andres Gimenez tossed away a Luis Robert Jr., grounder, Jhonkensy Noel misplayed a Lenyn Sosa fly ball into a single, three players circled but did not catch a foul pop by Miguel Vargas who then hit an RBI grounder, Matthew Boyd balked in a run thanks to miscommunication with Josh Naylor on a backdoor pickoff move, and Boyd stuck out his arm and deflected what would have been a ground ball out by Dominic Fletcher that turned it into an RBI single.
Voila, 5-4. Anybody’s game. Cleveland tried to help some more with another error and some bad base running, but the Sox refused to accept the donations. The Guardians added a run in the eighth and that was that.
The White Sox did manage eight hits, including two each by Sosa and Bryan Ramos, but only one went for extra bases, and most of the singles were scattered among the 18 times they struck out — Andrew Vaughn leading the way there with three.
At least John Schriffen had another day off and Len Kasper did the TV play-by-play, so there was a little upside.
It’s a day off tomorrow — I almost said off-day, but every day is an off-day for this team — then the A’s come to town. This year, even that doesn’t necessarily mean anything good.
Futility Watch
White Sox 2024 Record 33-114, worst 147-game start in White Sox history (14 games worse than the 1932 White Sox), worst MLB start all-time (a half-game worse than the 1916 A’s) and a season-high 81 games below .500
White Sox 2024 Run Differential -3011, tied for ninth-worst 147-game start in MLB history
White Sox 2024 Season Record Pace 36-126 (.224)
All-Time White Sox Record (1901-2024) 9,586-9,605 (.4995)
Race to the Worst “Modern” 162-Game Record (2003 Tigers, 43-119) 7 games worse; need to finish 11-4 to end season 44-118
Race to the Worst “Modern” Record in a 162-Game Season (1962 Mets, 40-120) 5 games worse; need to finish 8-7 to end season 41-121
Race to the Most White Sox Losses (1970, 106) new record set (114 and counting)
Race to the Worst White Sox Record (1932, 52-109-1*) CLINCHED, now 13 games worse than the 1932 team
Race to the Worst Post-1899 Record (1916 A’s, 38-124*) 2 games worse; need to finish season 6-9 to finish 39-123
*record adjusted to a 162-game season