That Old Broken Record of Mine

The White Sox will win with a combination of pitching and hitting. Yesterday against the Royals, they got both, plus a bit of defense, in a 5-1 win over the Royals. Lucas Giolito went six innings, pitching one-run ball to square his record at 3-3. Yoan Moncada had two RBIs with a single, and Jake Burger drove in three with a bases-clearing double. A nice bit of hitting there, as Burger took a 1-2 pitch down and away from a side-arming righthander. He’s now batting .292 on the season, a good fifty-eight points higher than Andrew Vaughn. But Vaughn, unlike Tim Anderson (0-for-4, including a strikeout and two double plays), offers something defensively. With the score 2-1 in the top of the second inning, the Royals’ Nick Pratto doubled and then tried to advance to third on a grounder by Freddy Fermin. With Moncada having to stay back to play a tough hop, Pratto broke for third on the throw. He was out on Vaughn’s perfect throw across the diamond. Will Vaughn heat up at the plate? Probably. Will Rick Hahn address—in any meaningful way, none of that passive-voice double talk of his—Giolito’s impending free agency? I wouldn’t hold my breath.