Staying and Going

Lo and behold, the White Sox snapped the Bluejays’ ten-game winning streak yesterday afternoon with a 2-1 pitching gem anchored by starter Adrian Houser. How I’m going to miss that guy. The 32-year old righty went seven innings, giving up just one run on seven hits and two walks. Nine baserunners suggests Houser got help somewhere, and he did. How many times is a first baseman involved in three double plays, starting two of them? Hello, Tim Elko, called up for an injured Brooks Baldwin, who, yes, hurt his back in the weight room. Houser now sports a 5-2 record with 1 1.56 ERA. How it pains me to say the Sox would be stupid not to shop him, but it’s true. Maybe we could get a good hitting coach in return. More on that later. Houser was followed by Grant Taylor and Jordan Leasure, both of whom worked a scoreless inning. Michele was sitting next to me on the couch, granddaughter Maeve on her lap, wondering why I was mumbling about Leasure coming in for the ninth. “Isn’t he a good pitcher?” asked my better half. “No,” I answered, “he isn’t.” But he was yesterday, picking up his second save in five attempts. Edgar Quero had two doubles and an RBI; I figure he’s sticking around. Will Lenyn Sosa? I don’t know, but he did fine at DH, singling in what proved to be the winning run in the fourth inning. As I’ve said more than once, the guy can hit. Now, back to Elko, who struck out all three times. He’s fouling off hittable pitches; chasing after balls out of the zone; and taking pitches down the heart of the plate. Yet, as soon as he goes back to Charlotte, he’s hitting the cover off the ball. Baldwin credited a visit to the team’s mental health coach for helping him slow down the game and get hot at the plate the past week or so. Elko might want to do the same. I see talent. What I don’t see is coaching that helps that talent succeed.