End Times, Part II

And I thought the White Sox winning in Seattle on Wednesday after the first seven hitters struck out verged on the unbelievable. And it was, just like last night in Oakland, where the South Siders were no-hit through 6.1 innings. Wait, there’s more. Not only did two known-but-to-family-and-friends’ pitchers (Austin Pruitt and Joel Payamps) throw no-hit ball, the A’s took a 3-0 lead into the ninth with two outs to go. Then Eloy Jimenez homered and pinch-hitter Yasmani Grandal walked. After a bang-bang play at first base went against A.J. Pollock, Andrew Vaughn singled in pinch-runner Leury Garcia from second base to make it a one-run ballgame. That said, Oakland’s A.J. Puk was one strike away from victory. Only he hit Seby Zavala on a 2-2 pitch. Next up was Romy Gonzalez, who was 0-for-3 with three whiffs on the night. And what did Gonzalez do? Why, he singled in the tying run, pinch-runner Adam Engel touching the plate with his left hand just ahead of catcher Sean Murphy’s tag. Wait, there’s more. Elvis Andrus doubled in the go-ahead runs to give the Sox a 5-3 lead, and win. This would all be totally unbelievable but for two back-to-reality performances from Yoan Moncada and Lucas Giolito. Moncada followed up his 5-for-6 game by going 0-for-5 with two strikeouts. As for Giolito, he struggled through six innings, allowing three runs on five hits and two walks. Two things of note here—Giolito’s velocity is down over past seasons, and he sweats like a bear while pitching. If the Sox can manage a win today behind Lance Lynn, they might actually accomplish the impossible. No, they won’t vault into first place against the Guardians, at least not yet. But they will force Chicago sports’ media to acknowledge their existence on the same day the Bears open their season, at home, no less. Like I said, end times.