A Whole Lot of Dumb

White Sox centerfielder Tristan Peters opened the eighth inning of a scoreless tie last night in Houston with a triple to deep right-centerfield. Catcher Drew Romo followed with a walk, at which point a whole lot of dumb stuff commenced. It started with Romo staying in the game. Why? Because “he’s catching a shutout,” Sox manager Vibes Venable told reporters after the game. [quote from today’s Trib story online] Then, why even keep Luisangel Acuna, whose one asset is his speed? Sam Antonacci proceeded to hit a grounder right at Houston shortstop Jeremy Pena with the infield drawn in. Peters hesitated an instant, then broke for the plate. Bad decision by him, and third base coach Justin Jirschele if he told Peters to go. Yup, out by a mile and defended by Venable in the postgame. With one out and runners on first and second (as opposed to second and third if Peters had stayed put and Pena took the out at first base), Munetaka Murakami singled sharply to right field. Maybe if Romo didn’t look back to check on the ball he scores. And a heck of a greater chance with Acuna running. But, hey, Romo was catching a shutout, right? After Miguel Vargas grounded into an around-the-horn double play (what, no safety squeeze? Oh, right, Romo was on third), Venable elected to stay with Sean Newcomb in a bases-loaded, two-out situation, righthanded-hitting Nelson Velazquez batting. What, no Grant Taylor? Velazquez singled to center. Astros 2 Sox 0. What could be worse than the above? Having Luis Castillo start today, that’s what.

Better

White Sox starter Sean Burke walked the first two Astros he saw last night, prompting a visit from pitching coach Zach Bove, who, according to what Burke told reporters after the game, said, “Look, let’s not go down this road again.” [quote from story today on team website] Bove was referencing the eight walks the 26-year old gave up in his previous start. Lo and behold, the tough love worked, and Burke pitched 5.2 innings of shutout ball. Sox 5 Astros 1. This Burke going back to good Burke is crucial to the Sox making the postseason. Ditto Colson Montgomery staying hot. Last night, Montgomery went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Gotta like that. If only Munetaka Murakami could join in. Instead, it was another three strikeouts for the Sox first baseman. Murakami could use a night off, like the one Braden Montgomery received (Randal Grichuk driving in two in his place). Let’s see if the rest cure pays off tonight.

Unacceptable

Ten walks should lead to more than three runs in a game, but not for the White Sox last night in Houston. Going 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position may have had something to do with it, along with leaving fourteen runners on base. Astros 6 Sox 3. Of course, manager Vibes Venable was all unicorns and rainbows after the game, with shoutouts to Munetaka Murakami (three walks vs. one strikeout) and Colson Montgomery (two walks, a double and a homerun vs. one strikeout). OK, but what about Braden Montgomery, Skipper? The rookie went 0-for-5, lowering his BA to a concerning .224, and he seems to be losing focus in the field. He caught a ball over the weekend and apparently thought there were three outs, not two, which allowed a Twins’ runner to move up a base. And last night he made an ill-advised dive on a line drive by Cam Smith that went for a triple. That seemed to throw starter Anthony Kay off his game. Kay proceeded to give Nelson Velazquez, hitting .186, a pitch he could deposit over the wall in left field. The pitch was on Kay, just like the play before belonged to Braden Montgomery. Maybe I’m being too negative here. It is possible Colson Montgomery is getting his swing back; I hope so. It’s also possible that Tommy Pham will be a September catalyst for the Sox. But I doubt it.

Pardon the Cliché

The White Sox went to the well once too often, and, by that I mean they once again used an opener yesterday against the Twins rather than a starter. Only Jordan Hicks and Tyler Gilbert combined to put them in a 3-0 hole after one inning on the way to a 5-1 loss. So much for sweeping the Twins on the road. Two silver linings, starting with Jose Urquidy, who threw five innings of one-run ball on just three hits, two of which stayed in the yard. Here’s your fourth or fifth starter, whichever. Urquidy throws junk, something most hitters can’t stand. When he’s on, the 31-year old righthander can locate his junk all over the strike zone. A manager should like that. Silver-lining number-two: Sam Antonacci went 2-for-4 with a double and run scored. That’s what a leadoff hitter is supposed to do.

Threes

The White Sox managed all of three hits yesterday in Minnesota, to go with three runs in a 3-2 win over the Twins. Three Sox pitchers secured the victory. Andrew Benintendi collected all three hits, falling a triple short of the cycle. Benintendi had two RBIs and two runs scored. The last time a Sox player had three or more hits and the only hits in a win was 1977, when Lamar Johnson did it (while singing the National Anthem, to boot). Yes, I remember. Erick Fedde went five innings in the start, giving up two runs. The righthander gave a Fedde-plus performance, giving up three hits and two walks while striking out four. Fedde has thrown 13.2 scoreless innings over his last three appearances, to lower his ERA to 4.16. Cold, then hot, thy name is Erick Fedde. Sean Newcomb followed Fedde with, naturally, three innings out of the bullpen. Bryan Hudson got the save with a perfect ninth inning. You couldn’t ask for things to go any better, unless, maybe, you were me. I checked the Sox minor-league box scores and saw that David Sandlin threw a two-hit, seven-inning shutout for Charlotte last night. Why not for the parent club?

Delay

We went to watch our son-in-law’s high-school football team play last night (41-6, good guys), which meant not watching the White Sox in real time. Clare told me the Guardians had lost, but, per standing instructions, kept mum on the Sox-Twins’ score. I got the good news after fast-forwarding the TIVO recording. Sox 7 Twins 4. Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery actually managed two hits apiece, alas, to go with two strikeouts apiece. Still, that’s progress, especially Montgomery’s three-run homer in the first inning. Too bad starter Luis Castillo squandered a 4-0 lead by the second inning. I guess the good news is that the bullpen bailed him out with five shutout innings. Here’s the thing, though—you can’t keep leaning on the pen to bail you out (or Andrew Benintendi to come up with two RBIs every game like he did last night). At some point in the not-too-distant future, starters need to go deep and take the pressure off relievers. Otherwise, there be trouble ahead, mateys. That said, let’s see if Montgomery and Murakami are ready to go on a tear. Fingers crossed.

Time Flies

The White Sox had a day off yesterday after playing sixteen straight days. I can only hope it provides the pause that refreshes as they start a weekend series in Minnesota. For me, I had time to think. God, just two years ago, the Sox were on their way to a record-breaking 121 losses. I looked at the team roster, and there were names I honestly couldn’t recall, which was probably for the best. New faces, new day. Go, Antonacci! The Sox were off, but not Chris Sale and the Braves. The 37-year old lefthander and onetime anchor of the White Sox staff threw a five-hit, complete-game 1-0 shutout against the Dodgers last night, striking out eleven without a walk. Clare told Michele to tell me this morning, and I told Michele to tell our daughter I knew. We were all Chris Sale fans in our family, my wife saying, “I wish he still pitched for the White Sox.” So do I, but stuff happens in baseball, teams collapse and have to rebuild (and rebuild again, it seems). If there’s any silver lining in re Sale, it’s that he’s more legitimate HOF credentials than Jacob deGrom. On his career, Sale is 158-97 with a 2.95 ERA and 2756 strikeouts vs. 105-74 and a 2.70 ERA and 2010 strikeouts for deGrom. I can just see a rangy, gray-bearded Sale giving his induction speech at Cooperstown. Would he wear a White Sox cap? Maybe if they allowed him to bring a pair of scissors to the podium.