Winning Very, Very Ugly

And the rookies shall lead them. Down a run in the bottom of the ninth against the Guardians last night and facing one of the best if not the best closer in the person of Cade Smith, Braden Montgomery drew a one-out walk. Tristan Peters followed with an opposite-field double. After Jacob Gonzalez struck out, Sam Antonacci delivered the game-winning single. Sox 6 Guardians 5. Only it never should have come to this. The Sox were ahead 3-0 going into the seventh, but manager Vibes Venable thinks Grant Taylor should be a setup man; three runs later, Taylor proved how wrong that assumption is. The Sox then went ahead 4-3 in the eighth (Antonacci driving in the go-ahead run, of course), which led Venable to call on Seranthony Dominguez, who everyone outside of Venable at the Rate knows is not a closer; two runs later, Dominguez proved that point. So, a shoutout to the rookies for coming through. But when will Venable realize he has to flip-flop Taylor’s and Dominguez’s roles? And what’s up with Colson Montgomery, who went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts? Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but if Montgomery doesn’t hit, the Sox won’t make the postseason.

Second-guessing

What’s baseball without a little second-guessing? As in yesterday’s White Sox-Tigers’ game. No, make that yesterday and Saturday, because one questionable decision the day before played a direct result in the 5-4 defeat yesterday. Martin Davis pitched great, giving up just one run in six innings. The Sox were ahead 3-1 going into the bottom of the eighth. Grant Taylor came in for an inning, gave up a run. He hadn’t pitched in a week, so there may have been rust involved. You could also argue Taylor was rested and ready to pitch a second inning. Instead, manager Vibes Venable went with Seranthony Dominguez, who managed two quick outs before surrendering three straight singles. Game tied. Then came the deluge, courtesy of a move Venable made on Saturday. The Sox scored the go-ahead run in the tenth, and Venable thought he had a chance with Brandon Eisert and his 5.50 ERA. Nope. Eisert immediately gave up two hits to tie the score. Enter Jordan Hicks with his 5.60 ERA. One hit later, and the Tigers swept the Sox. So, why didn’t Venable bring in Sean Newcomb in the tenth, with that 2.58 ERA of his? The first batter for Newcomb, a lefty, would’ve been lefthanded-hitting Riley Greene. Oh, that’s right. Newcomb “opened” Saturday’s game with three innings of work and wasn’t available Sunday. That’s on Venable and, more so, GM Chirs Getz. You don’t win with openers, but with starters. Until the Sox get at least one more of those, they’re going to lose games like Saturday and, by extension, Sunday.

Wake-up Call

Sam Antonacci and Sean Newcomb came to play in Detroit yesterday afternoon. Their teammates, not so much. Tiger 4 White Sox 1. Antonacci provided the offense with a leadoff homerun while Newcomb nursed a 1-0 lead through three innings of hitless “opening.” Then came the relievers. Tyler Davis went .2 innings while walking the bases loaded. So much for him going two innings. Joe Rock bailed out Davis only to give up three runs in 2.1 innings of work. After Rock, Trevor Richards got nicked for a run in an inning. All of this while Sox hitters managed four hits, two by Antonacci. Calling Miguel Vargas, calling Colson Montgomery. You guys don’t hit .250, forget about the postseason, and a collective 0-for-8 won’t get you to .250. And GM Chris Getz needs to stop deluding himself that pitching “openers” solves anything. You need starting pitching. The trick is to find it without trading away the store, aka prospects. It’s why they pay you the big bucks, my man.

The Point

The point isn’t Tarik Skubal yelling at Mike “Magic Wand” Vasil in the fifth inning for possibly stealing signs. The point is Skubal struck out Colson Montgomery with the bases loaded in a 2-2 game. The White Sox needed runs, only to lose 4-3 after a misguided dive by centerfielder Tristan Peters in the sixth on a ball that scored two runs. Tigers 4 Sox 3. The second point worth noting is that Montgomery struck out three times in three at-bats, with a walk. As to two straight games with an “opener,” and a third planned for today, make of that as you will.

Small Ball, Sort Of

With the game tied at one last night, 5’11” Sam Antonacci led off the eighth inning at Yankee Stadium with a pinch-hit double. Four batters later, 5’9” Andrew Benintendi hit a pinch-hit grand slam. White Sox 5 Yankees 1. Not that the taller guys didn’t contribute, too. Colson Montgomery, who stands 6’3”, clubbed his 20th homer in the second inning while 6’6” Sean Burke showed what he can do when in control of his talent. Burke went 7.1 innings, the second time in his career he’s gone that deep in a game, giving up one run on five hits and a walk; the 26-year old from Sutton, Massachusetts, also struck out eight. And to think this is the same guy who gave up four runs in four innings against the Dodgers five days earlier. Go figure. There’s an old saying, that if you can’t take a series on the road from the Yankees, you better do it against the Tigers. Starting tonight.

Still Not Ready

Anthony Kay pitched like Davis Martin did the night before; the White Sox bullpen took the night off; and the Sox laid a second egg in the Bronx, losing to the Yankees 10-5. No pitching, no postseason, by the way. Right now, the hitting shows more promise long term. The Sox won’t go anywhere with Colson Montgomery hitting under .250. Last check shows him 25 points below that mark, but, like I said, there’s hope. Montgomery hit a three-run homerun last night to bring his team to within a run in the third inning, and he hit it lefty-on-lefty against Carlos Rodon. Montgomery added a second homer in the eight for the first multi-homerun game of his career. In addition, Sam Antonacci homered for the second time in three games, so that’s nice, and Chase Meidroth continues to impress. His two hits yesterday give him a .278 BA with a .347 OBP. Bet you the Red Sox regret including Meidroth in the deal for Garrett Crochet. Braden Montgomery is doing what I’ve seen him do twice in the minors after a promotion—start hot, then struggle. After a 4-for-9 start with three extra-base hits, Montgomery is batting .222 in 27 at-bats since being called up. If past is prelude, the rookie should go from hot to cold to hot again before long. Tonight would be a good time to start. Last and not least, Edgar Quero went 3-for-4, which makes me think he doesn’t want to be the catcher sent down when Kyle Teel returns from his rehab stint in Charlotte. Just keep hitting to make that happen, young man. Because, if the Sox don’t get better pitching, they’ll need to score a whole bunch of runs.

Not Ready for Prime Time

Davis Martin laid an egg in the Bronx last night, and the rest of the White Sox clucked along in a 12-2 drubbing from the Yankees. Ouch, in case I forgot. Martin gave up nine earned runs, all earned, in a labored 3.1 innings; Chase Meidroth and Jacob Gonzalez gave the Yankees two extra outs in a four-run third inning. And nine Sox batters managed four hits along with two walks. Ouch, again. Game two features Anthony Kay going up against ex-Sox lefty Carlos Rodon. I can’t wait.