Ouch

On the surface, the White Sox appear to be a mediocre team, as evidenced by their 33-35 record after losing 4-0 to the visiting Orioles last night. In fact, they’re much worse than mediocre. This was a team picked by many to go to the World Series. So, how do they get shut out by Baltimore? Yes, there were at least three outstanding plays by Orioles’ outfielders, all with runners on base. But as Stacey King likes to say, bigtime players make bigtime plays, and nobody last night got a big hit. Leury Garcia, of all people, almost did in the fourth, with the Sox down 2-0, two out and the recently recalled Gavin Sheets—looking as though he remembered how to hit—on second base with a double. Garcia hit the ball to right, and right fielder Austin Hays threw Sheets out, by a lot, at the plate. Gavin did not run through a stop sign, by the way. That makes thirteen times a Sox baserunner has been nailed at the plate. So, why does third-base coach Joe McEwing still have a job? You tell me. On second thought, don’t bother. McEwing makes nice with manager Tony La Russa, and that’s what counts. A fish rots at the head, they say. Things are so rotten on the South Side that Lucas Giolito is doing a James Shields’ imitation, unable to get batters out and forcing his fielders to risk their bodies to do it for him. Danny Mendick tore the ACL in his right knee after he collided with left fielder Adam Haseley as the two, along with third baseman Jake Burger, tried to catch a foul pop during Wednesday’s loss to the Blue Jays. Bad breaks happen to bad teams. If there’s a silver lining, it will be in the form of second baseman Lenyn Sosa, called up from Double-A Birmingham to take Mendick’s place. The 22-year old Sosa was batting .331 with forty-eight RBIs for the Barons. I’ll guess we’ll soon see if he’s the real deal, assuming, of course, La Russa doesn’t see fit torest him first.