Three's a Charm, and a Walk-off

There I was last night, fast-forwarding through the White Sox game against the Rays, Sox ahead 7-5 in the eighth inning, and the phone rings. It’s Clare, who can’t wait to say, “You know the Sox lost, right?” Why, No, I didn’t, but thanks for telling me, sweetheart. But I can’t blame my child for being ticked. Reynaldo Lopez comes in and in short order gives up a home run, single and walk-off home run. First, you go numb, then you get angry. Allow me to explain. Sox starter Michael Kopech was god-awful in the first inning, giving up four two-out runs. Let’s see, there was the four-pitch walk to Brandon Lowe; the Randy Arozarena at-bat that went from 1-2 to a walk; the double to Josh Lowe; and the homer by Harold Ramirez. Both hits were on 86-mph sliders down, by the way. I’m supposed to be impressed that Kopech only gave up one run in the next four innings; he also needed 104 pitches to make it through five. And that’s progress how, exactly? No complaints about the bullpen, until the ninth, that is. Brandon Lowe’s walk-off was on an 86-mph slider down, by the way. Which leads to the question, who’s the idiot calling for all these sliders? Kopech and Lopez? Yasmani Grandal? Ethan Katz? Pedro Grifol? Both Lowes are left-handed hitters; anything down—and especially kind of slow—is in their wheelhouse. Apparently, we’re slow on the uptake in that regard. But enough of complaining about White Sox pitching. Let’s move on to Luis Robert Jr., the purported five-tool superstar in waiting (and waiting). The Sox came back from a four-run deficit to go up 7-4, only Robert had nothing to do with it, going 0-for-6 on the night with eight runners on base. For the season, he’s batting .244 and two for his last twenty-nine. It’s only a matter of time before Robert takes it out on the field with him. How low can you go? We’ll find out today, with Dylan Cease pitching.