Decisions, Decisions

Decisions have consequences, which White Sox manager Mickey Mouse discovered Sunday afternoon against the Royals. One bad decision led to another as the Sox lost 5-3 in a four-game sweep by the Royals. Mouse decided to take out starter Garrett Crochet after five innings of work with the Sox ahead, 3-2; Crochet had thrown 77 pitches. Steven Wilson came in for an uneventful sixth inning, and then, yikes. For reasons best known to himself, Mouse turned to reliever Deivi Garcia to pitch the seventh. Garcia entered the game with a 15.00 ERA and left with a 18.90 ERA. Nothing like walking the first batter, especially if you’re going to give up a homerun to the next batter. Wait, there’s more. First, manager Mouse elected to stay with Garcia, who gave up a one-out single before departing. Next, Mouse brought in Dominic Leone, who actually kept the ball in the park for a change. Too bad he couldn’t take a throw from second baseman Lenyn Sosa while trying to cover first base. In came an insurance run, as if any insurance was needed against the 27th best hitting team in baseball. Let’s do a quick review here on the 1-8 White Sox (not that anyone is saying they’re 10-28 going back to spring training). The defense was supposed to be better, only there were three errors yesterday. The catching was supposed to be better, but Martin Maldonado is 0-for-4 in throwing out attempted base stealers, not to be confused with his 2-for-18 at the plate. And base runners were going to be more aggressive, though the two stolen bases in six attempts would indicate otherwise. When he fired Kenny Williams and Rick Hahn (who hired Chris Getz in the first place, by the way), Jerry Reinsdorf admitted even he found it hard to watch the team. That was last year. What about now?