One Stepped Up, The Other Didn't

Ozzie Guillen, bless him, said this week that White Sox starter Sean Burke is his own worst enemy. The 26-year old righthander proceeded to prove Ozzie’s point by grooving the second pitch of the game to Shohei Ohtani. For added measure, Burke then gave up a two-out, two-run homer to Max Muncy. Dodgers 7 Sox 1. On top of our bad pitching, the Dodgers’ YoshinobuYamamoto came within four outs of a perfect game, until shortstop Mookie Betts booted a groundball by Chase Meidroth. But that still left the no-hitter intact. Which Tristan Peters took care of with a homer to right to lead off the ninth inning, thank you very much. Miguel Vargas said the hit made it feel “like we won the game after that. We really needed it.” [quote from story today on team website] I’ll say. Nobody, myself included, expected anything from Peters going into this season; he was just a guy. But given a chance, the onetime Savannah Banana has shown himself to be a plus-defender and, so far, a surprisingly good hitter, especially in the clutch. That homerun included.

About Last Night

Clare and Chris went to the White Sox-Dodgers’ game last night, leaving the Katzenjammer Kids to sleep over. I’m pretty sure they didn’t burn down the house and our hair was already green before they stepped through the door. What an evening. After batting practice and hot dogs outside, we went in for lots of Bluey mixed in with baseball, so I could be wrong about some of what I saw, or think I saw. The White Sox beat the Dodgers, 8-2, before a packed house at the Rate. I think. I do know I wanted to shout some inappropriate words at the TV screen for how Sox starter Anthony Kay was pitching in the second inning—two runs in, two runners on, nobody out, then bases loaded one out after the second hit-by-pitch in the inning. Miracle of miracles, the Dodgers were done scoring. In fact, Kay and three relievers retired the last nineteen Los Angeles batters in a row. Leo cheered Andrew Benitendi’s first-inning homerun while I cheered Miguel Vargas and Chase Meidtroth picking up three hits. As for Tristan Peters, he tripled on pitch shoulder-high, driving in two runs. Way to go, young man. You squash that bug. Funny how quiet a house gets with the kids gone.

The Business of Baseball

White Sox rookie Rikuu Nishida has a personality so infectious it would make even Ted Williams smile. But Nishida wasn’t hitting all that well (7-for-29, all singles), and Braden Montgomery looked to be ready. It only made sense to move one prospect up and the other down. Derek Hill had himself some nice hits as a spare outfielder for the Sox, including a pinch-hit homerun that beat the Royals back in May. Like Nishida, the veteran Hill was a positive presence in the clubhouse. But Hill is 30, and Everson Pereira clocks in at five years younger, with some pop in his bat. The smart move was to trade Hill, which GM Chris Getz did yesterday in a move with the Phillies, and active Pereira from the IL, where he’s been since late April with a pectoral sprain. Not that Pereira should feel too comfortable. Munetaka Murakami will be coming off the IL, late this month if his hamstring heels quickly. That means Pereira or rookie Jacob Gonzalez will go. And when Kyle Teel is activated, either Edgar Quero or Drew Romo most likely will have to find a new home. Even teams evoking talk of Cinderella and magical seasons go about the business of baseball.

Tuning Out the Static

We lost power just before 4 o’clock yesterday afternoon; it didn’t come back on for close to ten hours. Did I mention it was a little hot and stuffy in the house? Instead of sweating in the dark, I decided to spend much of the evening on the back porch, windows open radio in lap, trying to get the White Sox game, only it was all static until the bottom of the sixth inning, lightning bugs flashing, Sox ahead of the Braves, 2-0. Len Kasper’s voice faded in and out, loud if I pointed the antenna one way, then a whisper if I repositioned the radio for a second. It was dark by the time Bryan Hudson locked down the save in a 2-1 Sox win. Oh, to beat Chris Sale. I like how winning starter Davis Martin put it. He looked out at the scoreboard, where his and Chris Sale’s career strikeouts marks were posted, “mine at 250 punchouts and he had 3,000 or 2,000 or something like that. Some crazy big number. And I was just like, ‘Man, this is fun.’ This is who you want to play against and this is why you want to be in the big leagues.” [Tribune online story today] Yes, indeed. I’m guessing Braden Montgomery feels pretty much the same. The 23-year old rookie followed his walk-off homerun debut the night before with a 2-for-4 performance, both hits doubles, the first one coming against Sale and leading to a run in the fourth inning. The Sox picked Hagen Smith over Montgomery in the first round of the 2024 draft; now, they have both. Like I said, pinch me. I must be dreaming.

Pinch Me

Pinch me. I must be dreaming. Since when does a White Sox rookie hit a walk-off homerun in his major-league debut? Well, it happened last night in the bottom of the tenth inning when Braden Montgomery connected off of Braves’ closer Raisel Iglesias. Sox 6 Braves 5. Where to start? It was Montgomery’s second RBI hit of the night, following a fourth-inning single. Iglesias entered the game with a 0.87 ERA and thirteen saves in 22.1 innings of work; he had yet to give up a homerun this season. Well, that changed. And let’s not forget fellow rookie Jacob Gonzalez, who also had two hits on the night, along with an RBI. Or Miguel Vargas, who hit a two-run homer. Or (gulp) Erick Fedder, who pitched five innings in relief, giving up two runs, one earned. As for the following, best to remember in order to stop doing. By that, I mean the Sox had two runners thrown out at the plate on failed squeeze attempts and a third trying to score on a two-out single from second base. Hard to win games when you do that, especially against the best team in baseball. And you don’t want to do anything like that against tonight’s starter, ex-Sox lefthander Chris Sale. Clean baseball, smart baseball, winning baseball. Please.

Bears and Sox

I’ll do the silly stuff first. On Friday, the Bears announced they were moving forward on plans for a new stadium in Indiana. They also signaled a willingness to keep talking to the relevant powers that be in Illinois. Huh? Oh, it gets better. Today, a state Republican legislator announced he’s going to introduce a bill to give Bears-like megaprojects the power to negotiate payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT) with local governmental bodies. The bill also provides a property-tax relief provision. Only you can’t square a circle. The lower the payment negotiated, the greater the need for the affected governmental body to make up for the loss revenue, that or cut services. The greater the tax relief, the less willing governmental bodies will be to sign off on those payments in lieu of. Good luck with getting this thing to fly, sir. Now, for something completely different—the White Sox just called up outfielder Braden Montgomery. Alleluiah, alleluiah. May Hagen Smith follow soon after.

Chris Getz, Meet John Ford

The White Sox had enough hitting—five runs, ten hits—but next to no pitching against the Phillies, with an opener and three of four relievers coughing up nine runs on ten hits. The Sox could’ve scored as many as five more runs with some clutch hitting and along with a little luck; the wind kept two balls in the park. Not that it kept the other guys from cranking two out. Philadelphia 9 Chicago 5. We won’t talk about the Sox going into the bottom of the fifth up 5-4. If this were a John Ford movie (and baseball is a form of entertainment, right?), the cavalry would be showing up to save the day. In case anyone is wondering, Hagen Smith struck out nine batters in 4.2 innings of scoreless work for Triple-A Charlotte yesterday while Braden Montgomery upped his BA to .315 (with a .417 OBP!). Help could be on the way, and would be with Ford at the helm. But someone else is in charge of this production. He needs to send in the cavalry. Now.