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.

Good News, Bad News

Always lead with the positive stuff, like Tristan Peters homering in five straight games, part of a fifteen-hit barrage that produced a 10-4 White Sox win over the Rangers last night. Oh, and the Sox tied their season high of seven games over the .500-mark. Now, for the bad news, and not just Munetaka Murakami’s continued woes at the plate (0-for-3 last night, resulting in a .219 BA). No, what’s really concerning is Sean Burke. He hasn’t been good his last three starts, giving up ten earned runs in 13.1 innings. It looked early on it would be Burke’s night, even after he walked two Texas batters in the top of the first inning. The 26-year old righthander picked off one baserunner while catcher Jake Rogers threw out the other trying to steal second base. The Sox even took a 2-0 lead in the second. Burke promptly gave it back in the third, on a walk and a homerun by Joc Pederson. The purported ace of the staff walked two more but managed to get out of the inning without any further damage. Then he walked the first two batters in the fourth. After eight walks in three-plus innings, it was, So long, Sean, hello, bullpen. Sean Newcomb was great, going three shutout innings, while Jonathan Cannon was Jonathan Cannon, giving up two runs in three innings. Newcomb is up to 75 innings on the season (the last 17.1 featuring not so much as an earned run) How long can he keep it up? And why is Cannon replacing an injured Huascar Brazoban instead of, yes, David Sandlin or Drew Thorpe? Cannon is 5-6 with a 5.18 ERA in Triple-A, not exactly numbers that give one confidence. As the saying goes, curious minds want to know.

Imaginary, Real

I keep hearing how pitcher Jackob deGrom is HOF-worthy, and, for the life of me, I can’t see it. At age 38, deGrom has a 105-74 record and 2.70 ERA. That includes last night, when the veteran righthander gave up six runs in the first inning to the White Sox, who went on to beat the Rangers 11-7. Nobody is mentioning Sox rookie outfielder Tristan Peters for Cooperstown, though I doubt he cares. After going from one to another to a third organization, the 26-year old seems to have found a home with the Sox. A 3-for-3 night with a homerun in four consecutive games no doubt has Sox GM Chris Getz feeling good about his talent-scouting chops. This is where baseball stands out from the NFL and NBA, neither of which feature 26-year old rookies any more often than Haley’s Comet comes around. In baseball, it happens all the time, though more often with pitchers than position players. From what I can tell, it happened with Peters because of the right combination of skills and coachability. He had a reputation as a plus-defender who could bunt, which got him a look-see in spring training, where he hit .270, good enough for a spot on the roster. Through April, he looked to be a rangy slap hitter, with just three RBIs in 66 at-bats. Then came May and June. Maybe it was Peters’ first homerun, a three-run shot against the Cubs on May 17, that announced his arrival, or just a steady approach to the plate. Either way, the native of Winkler, Manitoba, has established himself at the lower end of the batting order. And, because he can express himself, he’s done a number of postgame interviews in which he’s made comments that touch on coachability. Peters has eleven homers that have basically come in two bunches. During the first bunch, he mentioned that he’s trying to stay within himself after going the power route for a time in the minors. Indeed, last year in Triple A, he struck out 102 times while hitting fifteen homers and batting .266. As we speak, Peters is hitting .277 with eleven homers and 72 strikeouts in 354 at-bats, together with a 342 OBP. I’ll take that kind of production over make-believe HOF stats any day of the week.

Some Questions

Some questions are in order following the White Sox losing 11-2 to the visiting Rangers last night. We’ll start with pitching. Do Luis Castillo and Jose Urquidy have anything left in the tank as starters? Castillo has a 5.89 ERA in four starts since he came over from the Mariners while Urquidy, who lasted a mere three innings last night, clocks in at 5.62. Meanwhile, David Sandlin and Drew Thorpe languish in Triple-A. Now, let’s switch over to hitting. Sam Antonacci is batting .136 over his last seven games, .204 over his last fifteen and .227 over his last 30. I’m hopeful the 23-year old rookie can snap out of it a la Tristan Peters, who homered in his third straight game. Peters, who couldn’t hit a lick after the All-Star Game, is hitting .317 with four homeruns over his last fifteen games. If only Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery demonstrated the same ability to bounce back. Murakami is batting .107 over his last seven games, .148 over his last fifteen. Montgomery, for what it’s worth, is consistent, hitting .192 over his last seven and .190 over fifteen, and that’s an improvement over .171 over his last 30 games. Will they ever produce on a consistent basis? Or for that matter, will Vibes Venable manage like a manager should? Recapping the box score in postgame comments hardly qualifies. Making decisions and motivating players does.

By Any Means Necessary

I was back at the Rate yesterday for the second time in four days. Talk about agony and ecstasy rolled into one afternoon. Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery went a combined 0-for-7; Sox hitters managed two singles through seven innings before scratching out a run in the eighth for a 1-0 lead; and Grant Taylor allowed the tying run in the ninth. Maybe I should mention here Tristan Peters walked it off with a one-out homerun that bounced off the top of the wall in deep right-centerfield. Sox 2 Mets 1 for the series clincher. Some guy across from me needed to let the world know the Mets’ Francisco Lindor was the center of his universe. Other than that, the crowd was pretty pleasant, especially the fan sitting next to Michele who noticed I was keeping score. “If they had Bobby Jenks for late in the game, they’d be in the World Series,” he leaned over to tell me. We both agreed there was a lot of talent on the roster, with more on the way. Hey, Commissioner, how about short centerfield as a new position? That way, we could bring up some of those middle infielders the Sox have been collecting. The starting rotation remains a problem, though the opener-bulk thing worked like a charm yesterday. Sean Newcomb opened with two scoreless innings followed by Erick Fedde with four shutout innings of his own and another two from Hagen Smith. But what are the odds of Newcomb, Fedde and/or Taylor pitching tonight against the Rangers? But that’s a worry for another game. As for this one, a perfect afternoon in late August with a perfect outcome.

No Pitch, All Swish

Well, this was bound to happen. Luis Robert Jr. hit two homers and drove in three runs against his old team last night as Mets doubled up on the White Sox, 10-5. No pitching, and two hitters providing eight strikeouts between them. Luis Castillo gave up four runs on eight (!) hits and a walk in just 2.2 innings of work. None of the three pitchers who followed, including scored-upon-again Huascar Brazoban, provided anything close to relief. Starting pitching, or the lack thereof, is a problem that needs to be addressed yesterday, if not sooner. Ditto the feast-or-famine nature of the Sox offense. Two homeruns, from Braden Montgomery and Tristan Peters, were nice, the 1-for-10 performance with runners in scoring position and the thirteen strikeouts, not so much. Which brings us to the four-strikeouts’ twins, Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery. The one has a .225 BA, the other .215. Last night, Murakami looked more zombie at the plate than hitter while Montgomery continued his distressing habit of taking hittable pitches for a called strike three; he did it twice, once with the bases loaded. Short-term, this has to be fixed to the point both hitters can put up a .230 BA at least. Long-term, the front office has to decide whether either or both of these players is worth building around. I honestly can’t answer one way or another.

Heavy Artillery

The White Sox were dead, dead, dead for five innings last night against the Mets, never more so than in the top of the fourth when centerfielder Brenton Doyle lost a lazy flyball off the bat of Luis Robert Jr. (!) that turned into a double leading to two runs on the ensuing single by Brett Baty. After Bo Bichette homered in the fifth, the 4-0 score felt more like 14-0. Then, Boom!, times three in the sixth. Munetaka Murakami walked with one out, followed by a homerun by Miguel Vargas followed by a homerun by Randal Grichuk followed by a homerun by Colson Montgomery to tie the score. Wait, there’s more, one more to be precise. I have a theory that when a team scores three or more runs from the sixth inning on to tie the score but not go ahead, odds are it will lose. Not last night. With two out and a runner on third, catcher-of-the-night Jake Rogers lifted a flyball that just cleared the fence in left-centerfield. Sox 6 Mets 4. So, Robert Jr. played but did not hurt his old team, and Bichette homered for the sixth time against the Sox (to go with a career .361 BA), for once not deciding the score. Strange times, indeed.

Almost

Leo almost saw his first-ever no-hitter at his second ballgame yesterday afternoon. Thank you, Andrew Benintendi, for that seventh-inning single. Braves 2 White Sox 0. Anthony Kay gave up those two runs in six-plus innings of work. Too bad there’s no manager ERA because Vibes Venable doubled a one-run lead by bringing in Huascar Brazoban with a runner on second and nobody out. Bad decision The 36-year old Brazoban must think he’s still pitching for the Mets. He proceeded to give up a deep flyball to right field that allowed Michael Harris II to tag up and move to third. This was followed by singles of 93.9 and 103.2 mph. t was goodbye, Brazoban, after he managed to strike out Ronald Acuna Jr., and hello, Hagen Smith, who worked 1.1 perfect innings, with three strikeouts. And Venable didn’t go to Smith from the start why, again? That extra run mattered because the Sox put their first two runners on in the bottom of the seventh. In a 1-0 game, you think of bunting in that situation, or at least I do. Down 2-0, not so much, although a bunt attempt would’ve been better than the three strikeouts that followed. Also, with every batter being the tying run, that puts extra pressure on the pitcher. Again, two runs down, not so much. After the game, Venable went into his typical “cover your players” mode. Oh, Atlanta’s pitching was really good and “We’ve got to get him [Brazoban] competitive in the zone,” whatever that means. [quote from story in today’s Sun-Times] No, Vibes, you need players who can produce, and you need to shake things up in a game when they’re not going your way. See seventh inning, above.

Simple as Pie

It’s simple, really. You either protect a lead, or you lose a game, which the White Sox did again last night at Wrigley Field, 4-3. In the seventh and the Sox ahead 3-2, manager Vibes Venable stuck with Huascar Brazoban after a leadoff walk on four pitches. Brazoban rewarded his manager’s faith in him by walking the next Cub batter on five pitches. In came Grant Taylor, who got two strikeouts before yielding a game-tying single to Alex Bregman. Then it rained. That meant Taylor couldn’t come out to pitch the eighth. Instead, it was Trevor Richards, who retired the side in the eighth only to give up a leadoff double in the ninth and a walk-off single to Bregman. Apparently, Venable didn’t check the weather forecast. Otherwise, he might have used his relievers differently. Then again, probably not.

Decisions, Decisions

The White Sox took a 5-4 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning at Wrigley Field last night, when Sox manager Vibes Venable decided to stick with reliever Jordan Hicks after the righthander had faced and retired one Cubs’ batter in the eighth. Last week, Sox GM Chris Getz decided to acquire veteran catcher Jake Rogers, which meant sending down Edgar Quero, he of the walk-off homerun against the North Siders back in May. In two games, Rogers has hit into two double plays and shown little behind the plate, though he did pick Alex Bregman off of third base in the seventh. But Rogers didn’t show the same ability challenging calls behind the plate. With one out and a 1-1 count to Bregman, Rogers challenged home-plate ump Scott Barry’s ball-call of an inside pitch to Bregman; the call was upheld, leaving the Sox without any more challenges in regulation. This is where it hurts. Bregman walked, and so did the next batter, Ian Happ, even though ball four was clearly strike three. Oh, well. Instead of two out and one on, it was two on and one out for Nico Hoerner, who singled in the tying run. Extra innings it was. With the score still tied going to the bottom of the tenth, Venable called on rookie Hagen Smith to make his fourth major-league appearance. First batter, Pete Crow-Armstrong. Three pitches later, Cubs 7 Sox 5. Where was Grant Taylor in any of this? Or Edgar Quero?

Been There, Done That

The White Sox went back to the longball yesterday in Detroit to beat the Tigers, 7-5, and sweep the three-game series. Drew Romo (!!) and Munetaka Murakami both hit two-runs shots with Miguel Vargas adding a solo blast to account for five runs. A groundout from Sam Antonacci and single by Colson Montgomery (!!) accounted for the other two runs. Manager Vibes Venable continued his streak of knowing exactly what to do when with both pitching and hitting. Venable lifted Sean Burke after 4.1 innings due to the simple fact Burke—four runs on five hits and three walks—just didn’t have it. Hagen Smith and Sean Newcomb provided four spotless innings of relief (Huascar Brazoban gave up a run in .2 innings), with Newcomb picking up the save. Venable’s other big move was to pinch-hit Randal Grichuk for Andrew Benintendi to start the sixth inning, the Sox down a run. Grichuk doubled to dead centerfield and scored on Montgomery’s hit. Talk about reading the situation correctly, and delivering accordingly. More please. The sweep puts the Sox at 65-58, equaling their season high of seven games over .500. To improve on those numbers with three games at Wrigley would be satisfying, indeed. Venable keeps refusing to say that his team has made any statements lately. Trust me, two out of three from the North Siders would constitute one, regardless.

Double the Fun

The White Sox found a way to win in Detroit yesterday that didn’t involve hitting homeruns. Instead, they went with doubles. Sam Antonacci lined the first pitch of the game through the right side of the infield. Because centerfielder Javy Baez (!!##@) let the ball come to him, Antonacci took the extra base and scored on a two-out single by Braden Montgomery. With two out in the third inning and the score tied at one, Colson Montgomery (??!!!) capped a nine-pitch at-bat with a two-run double down the right-field line. Oh, to see more of that from our shortstop. But you take what you can get. Including a pinch-hit double from Randal Grichuk to start the seventh inning. I should also offer up a tip of the cap here, however grudging, to manager Vibes Venable, who went for the righty-lefty advantage with Grichuk batting for Antonacci against lefty Drew Sommers. One out later, Venable stuck with lefthanded Andrew Benintendi against Sommers and was rewarded with what proved to be the game-winning single. Sox 4 Tigers 3. Starter Anthony Kay went 5.1 innings, followed by three relievers, so Venable needs a strong outing from Sean Burke. Because taking three games from the Tigers would be ever so sweep.

Ball of Confusion

My God, this White Sox team is confusing. Colson Montgomery had another o-fer night (0-for-5); Jose Urquidy in his Sox debut (three runs, five hits in 3.2 innings of work) made me think fondly of Erick Fedde; and Drew Romo lowered his BA to a pretty microscopic .132. All that, and they still beat the Tigers in Detroit last night, 9-5. What gives? Well, it helped that Tristan Peters and Braden Montgomery both showed signs of life at the plate, with three hits apiece. Peters socked a two-run homer while Montgomery countered with a two-run triple. More, please. Miguel Vargas also looked to be breaking out of his slump with a four-hit effort, including two homers. Like Peters, Vargas had himself a two-run homer, and, like Munetaka Murakami, a solo shot. More dingers with runners on base, please. Now what? Well, one game at a time and all that. Plus a quality start from Anthony Kay. Please.

Wait Till Next Year

Two years ago, the White Sox went 41-121 while improving to 60-102 last season. Right now, their record stands at 62-58. That may be all the miracle a Sox fan can expect or ask for as their team battles for a division title (and how odd to write those words). Take yesterday afternoon’s 9-8 loss to the Reds (please). Davis Martin stunk, again; Colson Montgomery and Miguel Vargas both went 0-for-5; Braden Montgomery looks like he’s getting batting tips from the 0-fers; and somewhere manager Vibes Venable made the obvious obvious in his postgame comments. If you believe Bleacher Report and USA Today, the White Sox have the eighth-best minor-league system in all of baseball, and I think those rankings are erring on the side of caution. The team has middle infielders everywhere to go with some intriguing outfield and catching prospects plus enough pitching to keep me wondering how Erick Fedde stays employed. Speaking of which, if I were Davis Martin… Ex-GM Rick Hahn missed a chance to reset the Sox roster both after the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Yoan Moncada and Eloy Jimenez could have brought sizable returns while the team pivoted to young players like Gavin Sheets and Jake Burger. Instead, we got systemic collapse. Current GM Chris Getz now finds himself in the same situation. He has a left fielder (Sam Antonacci) who looks great when he moves to second base and a second baseman (Chase Meidroth) who can play a very nice shortstop. Plus Getz has a system full of middle infielders, starting with Roch Cholowsky, Caleb Bonemer and Billy Carlson. Something’s got to give, not this season but next. That, or Epic Collapse 2.0.

Oops

I didn’t mean to peak; it just happened. The White Sox beat the Reds 5-0 last night on a combined two-hitter from Luis Castillo (seven innings); Hagen Smith (one inning, three strikeouts); and Huascar Brazoban (one uneventful inning). Pitching is everything. Without it, you have today’s score of Reds 8 Sox 4 in the top of the fifth. Better to focus on the past. I mean, how often does Drew Romo get two hits in a game, including a homerun, along with two RBIs? Chase Meidroth also homered, number twelve, to go with 48 RBIs. In the minors, Meidroth never hit more than nine homers or drove in more than 57 runs. How do you spell “success”? Plus Sam Antonacci had three hits. Too bad he and Meidroth don’t pitch.

What Marvin Gaye Said

A game like last night’s ten-inning, 5-4 White Sox loss to the Reds makes me want to holler; a less mature version would also throw things. Here’s why. The Sox hit three homeruns—all solo shots—to go with seven innings of one-run ball from starter Sean Burke, everything wasted when Cincinnati scored three runs in the eighth to tie the game at four. Manager Vibes Venable thought he could bring in Bryan Hudson to retire three right-hand hitters, two of them switch hitters. Nope. All three singled. Things might have improved with Grant Taylor replacing Hudson, but they didn’t. Taylor was off, that or in love with his slow, breaking stuff. Runners moved up to second and third on a deep-enough flyball to right field on an 87.6 mph slider out over the lower corner of the plate. Taylor then walked a batter before yielding a two-run single to Tyler Stephenson. Did Stephenson hit Taylor’s best pitch? Not unless an 85.1 mph curveball on the outer half of the plate counts. After that, it was just a matter of time. The Reds’ bullpen has the fifth-worst ERA in baseball. How odd that Cincinnati relievers retired eighteen of nineteen batters faced. After the game, Venable said the three softly-hit balls off of Hudson were “[j]ust baseball” and “just part of the game.” [online story in today’s Tribune] What a crock and dodge of responsibility. Venable put in a reliever who left the ball over the plate to three straight batters. Exit velo has nothing to do with it. Did I mention Colson Montgomery struck out three times in an 0-for-4 night? On the year, Montgomery is hitting .213 with 157 strikeouts over 473 plate appearance. In other words, he’s striking out 33 percent of the time. Tell me how you win a division with numbers like that.

Retirement

Ex-White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson made his retirement official yesterday in a Zoom call with Chicago media. The 33-year old, onetime face of the franchise gave voice to joy; sadness; and, possibly, regret during his video announcement. It made me think of my daughter. Unlike Anderson, Clare knew when her career would end; most female athletes do. Every sport has its season. When the calendar runs out after senior year, the playing and competing end, except for a lucky few who play professionally. Was my then 22-year old any less emotional than Anderson yesterday? Probably not; she just did a better job hiding it, what with graduation and graduate school following in the wake of Senior Day. But I’m sure there were moments when she felt a void. Clare had been hitting a ball since before she was four. Anderson mentioned some business ventures along with the challenge of being a father and husband. If he’s anything like my daughter, he’ll find meaning, and perhaps a little joy, in teaching the game he once played.

Heaven-sent

Things looked bleak for the South Side Nine on a Sunday afternoon, Davis Martin their starting pitcher. The pride of Abilene continued his bad habit of late, for the third straight game letting the other side score right out of the gate. This the visitors from Cleveland did twice, only to let the home team cut the lead in half thanks to a double off the bat of that Man from Japan. Then the heavens opened up, and the rain did pour. Not a pitch was thrown for one hour, then two, plus another 23 minutes or so. When it came time to resume, the vibing Venable pointed to rookie Hagen Smith and said, off, my boy, to the mound you go. White Sox 5 Guardians 3. Smith was what you might call effectively wild, striking out three in the second while walking a batter before walking the bases loaded in the third. One line drive to third baseman Miguel Vargas later, Smith not only escaped the jam of his own making, he set himself up for the win. That’s because the Sox scored four in the bottom of the third, three on a Colson Montgomery laser over the wall in right. Montgomery said later he was taking stock of things, offering that, “Success, it leaves clues.” [story today on team website] Yes, grasshopper, it does. Now, make like Sherlock, and figure them out. For reasons best known to himself, Manager Vibes used reliever Trevor Richards for the third time in four games. The overuse showed in the ninth when Richards gave two walks along with two wild pitches, leading to a run on a sacrifice fly by Jose Ramirez. Rookie righthander Tanner McDougal, brought up along with Smith from Triple-A Charlotte, was warming in the bullpen, just in case. For that, I can’t wait. Honestly.

Better

Well, White Sox manager Vibes Venable managed to keep track of mound visits last night, and his team capitalized on a reservoir of emotion following the retirement of Ozzie Guillen’s number 13 to stop a four-game losing streak. Sox 6 Guardians 3. Before I forget, a tip of the cap to starter Anthony Kay for another solid performance (two earned runs in six innings) and GM Chris Getz for going out and signing the 31-year old lefthander, who had spent the two previous seasons pitching in Japan. At 9-5, Kay has pitched like anything but a journeyman with four career wins going into 2026. Chase Meidroth had two more RBIs, as did Tristan Peters. The former Savannah Banana is showing signs of breaking out of a horrendous month-long slump. If so, it couldn’t happen at a better time.

Speaking of Dunce Caps

White Sox manager Vibes Venable donned the dunce cap in the top of the first inning against the Guardians last night when he left the dugout to visit starter Noah Schultz after a two-run single put the visitors up by two and threatening for more. Somehow, Venable missed that pitching coach Zach Bove had already made a visit after Schultz hit Jo Adell to load the bases. And Venable has a bench coach why, again? Sadly, there’s more in this 8-2 loss. Venable brought in David Sandlin, just called up from Charlottee, and the 25-year old righty did all that you could ask on short notice. Sandlin got out of the first without further damage and then kept Cleveland off the board through the fourth. Ah, but the fifth. That’s a different story requiring an even bigger dunce cap. Sandlin got Steven Kwan to ground out before giving up a single to Chase DeLauter. Did Venable think it was time to take out his pitcher? Nope. Ditto after Sandlin yielded a walk and then a hit-by-pitch. Maybe Venable was still in shock from his first-inning faux pas. Whatever the reason, not only did he stay in the dugout through all that but for Angel Martinez’s grand slam as well and two hits after that. What does this all mean? Heaven help the White Sox if the team takes on the personality of its manager, that’s what.

Enough

You know what I’ve had enough of? White Sox manager Vibes Venable complimenting the other team for beating his team. Venable did it again last night after the Red Sox came back a total of five time to tie the score—three times in extra innings—before pushing across the winning run in the thirteenth. Bad Sox 12 Good Sox 11. This was a game the White Sox needed and Venable managed away. He used everyone out of the bullpen except Sean Newcomb. Guess what? I would’ve used Newcomb and/or a starter to get the win. Chase Meidroth gave the Sox a two-run lead with a homer off Aroldis Chapman in the top of tenth, only for Venable to treat Trevor Richards like he was the second coming of Rollie Fingers. Richards gave back both runs, plus one in the eleventh. Instead of saying how good the Red Sox were, Venable could’ve put on a dunce cap. Same message.

Numbers Game

The Bad Sox had their way with the Good Sox last night, shutting out the visitors 4-0. Live by the long ball, die a whole bunch of other ways. Like the stolen base. Boston had three to our zero, and two of those set up runs. Not only did Drew Romo fail to throw out two would-be base stealers, he let one advance to third on a throwing error. Did I mention Romo went 0-for-2, dropping his average down to .132? Romo left it to his teammates to collect three singles and a lonely double. Ah, batting average. The White Sox rank seventh in all of baseball for homeruns, the Red Sox 24th. But Boston ranks twelfth in BA and fourteenth in OBP to 22nd and seventeenth for the White Sox. Did I mention the Red Sox have the third-best team ERA at 3.49 while the White Sox are thirteenth at 4.08? Let me channel my inner Hawk Harrelson here. (Ignore the shuddering.) The Carmines are on an incredible hot streak right now, going 30-5 since June 25. In baseball, it’s not only who you play but when you play them. Which is what all the numbers are pointing to.

Danger

Danger, Will Robinson! Danger! Davis Martin is pitching, and for some time now, that’s a bad thing, as evidenced by six first-inning runs at Fenway last night. Bad Sox 14 Good Sox 2. After the game, Martin said he may have been tipping pitches. What, that wasn’t happening in April and May, when he was 7-1 with a sub-2.00 ERA? All I know is he hasn’t gone a month since with an ERA under 5.68. It can’t all be attributed to tipping pitches. The 29-year old righthander has a 6.55 ERA over his last seven starts and 5.54 over his last fifteen. What gives? The analytics’ crew better get their gizmos out to find the answer. And quick.

Then and Now

When the trade deadline passed yesterday at 5 PM, the White Sox showed themselves to be astute buyers, acquiring catcher Joey Bart; reliever Huascar Brazoban; and outfielder Brenton Doyle. They join starter Luis Castillo, traded for over the weekend. GM Chris Getz was able to hang onto all his top prospects. Will it push the Sox over the top and into the postseason? We’ll have to wait to find out. All these names make me think of players acquired for pennant drives long ago: Ken Boyer; Smoky Burgess; Rocky Colavito; Jim King; Frank Lary; Moose Skowron. I remember them all, if not the World Series they were supposed bring along.

Power's Back On

The White Sox hit three homeruns yesterday, beating the Rays 9-1 behind some pretty good pitching from starter Anthony Kay. As ever, I should be happy, but— Will Colson Montogmery ever figure things out at the plate? Yesterday, Montgomey doubled with two out in the top of the first, which set up two runs, so, good that. Only he proceeded to strike out his next four at-bats to leave him batting .215 at the end of the day. Four strikeouts, oh my. Subtract one, and you’ll end up with three, just like catcher Drew Romo, whose 0-for-4 left him hitting a pretty miniscule .134. Would it even be mathematically possible for Romo to get his BA to Montgomery’s .215? Right now, lack of production from behind the plate makes it look like the Sox are playing without a DH in the lineup. And I can think of some Sox pitchers of yore who could hit better, as in Gary Peters and Juan Pizarro. But a win’s a win, and the Sox took the series, two games to one. Now, it’s on to Boston, where I really, really like to see our Sox beat those Sox.

Power Outage

The problem with big-power/low batting-average teams is feast-or-famine syndrome. Friday night, the White Sox hit four homeruns and won. Yesterday afternoon, they managed all of five singles and lost. Rays 1 Sox 0. The silver lining is that Noah Schultz pitched five innings of one-run ball. The Tall One scattered three singles while striking out four and walking no one. Schultz was also pretty efficient, throwing just—for him—67 pitches. The question now is, what becomes of the 22-year old lefty in the wake of the Sox trading for starter Luis Castillo? Bullpen? Back to Charlotte? Tune in, and, while you’re at it, read all the “experts” who think the Sox gave up too much for the 33-year old righthander. All of a sudden, ex-Sox Seranthony Dominguez has a value beyond his 3.99 ERA and five blown saves. Yes, I would’ve liked to hold onto catching prospect Boston Smith (what a name), but what were the odds of Smith leapfrogging from Double-A to take over from Kyle Teel and company anytime soon? In my book, it was a trade worth making. Time will tell.

Slug/Pop

“Slug” is how ballplayers and coaches refer to power these days. I prefer “pop,” if only because a little dweeb who turned into my brother-in-law would run around the kitchen of his house, yelling “Doug the Slug! Doug the Slug!” when I came to pick up his sister for a date. Some things are hard to let go of. But if the White Sox want to talk about team “slug,” that’s fine with me, as long as they keep getting results like last night’s 6-1 win over the Rays at Tropicana Field. Miguel Vargas; Andrew Benintendi; Munetaka Murakami; and Colson Montgomery all homered off Rays’ starter Nick Martinez, who had a 10-2 record with a 2.45 ERA entering the game. And there wasn’t a cheap one in the bunch. Eight hits on the night, four homeruns and four singles, plus two walks. Two of the homers were solo shots, the other two two-run bombs. Odd, like saying the offense is hitting on “all five [cylinders].” Murakami and Benintendi also collected singles, which pushes each of them to .250, my Mendoza Line for sluggers, if you will. Like I said, they can call it whatever they want, as long as they keep getting results.

Walk-off Walk

Talk about temptation. I had breakfast on Lincoln Avenue this morning, Yankees’ fans seated behind me and alongside; the guy closest to me was definitely confusing his fork with a shovel. How do I know they were Yankees’ fans? Let’s just say they made certain fashion statements that, given their advanced age, were hard to miss. What I wanted to say, but refrained from, was: You guys on the East Coast sure play a sloppy brand of baseball. One game, your catcher lets in the tying runs with two outs in the bottom of the eleventh by throwing a pickoff throw—at third base, mind you—down the third-base line. Next game, a hitter overslides third base on a double and your reliever is walking in the winning run on four straight pitches to someone who’s five for his last 47 at-bats. But that’s what Fernando Cruz did to Tristan Peters yesterday afternoon. Sox 2 Yankees 1 in eleven innings. And now for a random observation. I mentioned channeling emotion into effective performance and how manager Vibes Venable denied Sam Antonacci that chance Wednesday night. Well, yesterday, Antonacci batted in the bottom of the eleventh and hit a ball that all but ate undressed baseman Ben Rice. Somehow, Rice kept the ball in front of him, denying Antonacci the walk-off hjit; instead, it turned into an infield single that helped set the stage for Peters. My point is, Antonacci was ready. I just hope Venable is tonight managing in St. Petersburg

I Should Be Happy, But—

The White Sox put themselves in a 4-0, first inning hole last night that Yankees’ starter Cam Schlitter only deepened by retiring seventeen of the first eighteen batters he faced. Then something happened. The Sox rallied to win 6-5 in twelve innings, thanks to a flare of a single off the bat of Edgar Quero. Still. The Sox tied the score at four with back-to-back homeruns from Sam Antonacci and Munetaka Murakami in the eighth. Two innings later, with a chance to win the game with a runner on third and one out, manager Vibes Venable pinch-hit for Antonacci to get a righty-lefty advantage. The move didn’t work as Randal Grichuk grounded out with the infield drawn in. Antonacci is hitting .200 against lefties, .300 against righties. The next batter, Murakami, is 195 against lefties and .260 vs. righties. But Venable didn’t pinch-hit for Murakami. Baseball is a game of emotions, as evidenced by Davis Martin’s performance. Martin gave up three hits and a walk in that first inning, only to settle down and throw five shutout innings during which time he scattered two singles and a walk. Good for him. Now I wonder, what happened? Odds are he channeled those emotions into an effective performance. Which was what Antonacci did with that homerun in the eighth, going 0-for-3 in his previous at-bats. Do you think that would’ve stopped all of a sudden because of the pitching matchup? We’ll never know. And neither will Venable.

Patience

It’s hard to be patient after enduring three straight seasons of the White Sox losing 100-plus games a year. Finally, they’re winning more than losing, and I want more. But how realistic is that? Nobody expected the Sox to be four games over .500 at the end of July. I could make an argument there isn’t one set position outside of right field, where Braden Montgomery plays. And yet a bunch of guys who may or may not be on the South Side have their team in first place in the AL Central, this despite losing again to the Yankees last night, 3-2. The game was not as close as the score might indicate. That’s because the Sox were shut out for 8.2 innings, when Chase Meidroth—keep at second, move to another position or trade?—hit a two-run homerun, bringing up Everson Pereira as a last hope. Need I say more? Anthony Kay had one bad inning that proved baseball truly is a game of inches. Tristan Peters almost made a great catch crashing into the wall in center field, Max Schuemann bounced a ball over a drawn-in infield. Instead of zero runs, it’s three runs. And, if the middle of the order doesn’t produce…Well, I’ve said enough about that. So, I’ll try to be patient and cross my fingers that the Sox can go last-to-first. But it would be silly to expect them to.

Blah

Where to start? Noah Schultz squandering a three-run lead? White Sox relievers coughing up six runs? Third-base coach Justin Jirschele sending a hobbled Colson Montgomery home on a throw that beat him, oh, by a good ten feet? Take your pick. It all adds up to a 9-5 loss to the Yankees. We’ll start with Schultz, who told reporters after the game he was “a little gassed out” by the time manager Vibes Venable pulled him in the top of the fourth inning. [story today on team website] So, how does a 22-year starter old get “gassed” if he only goes 3.1 innings? Oh, that’s right. He needed 72 pitches to get there. Not good, but a real incentive to find an alternative to Schultz the next time his turn comes up in the rotation. Hello, David Sandlin. As for the relief pitching, it’s always a crapshoot unless the stars align, the way they did in 2005. All a manager can do is juggle his streaky pitchers with his lockdown ones, trying to exploit the good streaks while minimizing the bad stretches and at the same time not burn out his go-to guys. In my book, Venable did everything right last night. He didn’t wait around for Schultz to implode and tried to get the right matchups with the relievers he brought in. It’s just that Chis Murphy, Bryan Hudson and Sean Newcomb looked intent on streaking the wrong way. As for Jirschele, stupid is as stupid does. Philosopher Gump knew that, and so did Barack Obama. The next time he gets a chance, the Sox third-base should look up exactly what the ex-President say about that.

A Day to Remember

We accompanied our grandson to his first-ever White Sox game yesterday afternoon, and I think he enjoyed himself in all the ways a kid should on such an august occasion. I mean, he wore a Munetaka Murakami shirt in honor of his favorite player; scored a Murakami bobblehead; and watched his hero hit a homerun in a 12-3 Sox romp. Leo missed Mune’s second homer of the day in the eighth inning, by which time he was asleep in the car on the way home. I saw it for him. Thank you, Erick Fedde for providing the perfect argument against spending big on a closer. Closers can’t close when there’s no lead to close on. And Fedde kept putting his team in the hole giving up the lead when given it. The desperation fourth—or fifth—starter gave up a leadoff homer to Jeremy Pena in the first, then let the Astros tie the game at two and three before manager Vibes Venable saw fit to pull him with one out in the fifth and one on. That’s three runs in 4.1 innings of work, for anyone keeping stats out there. If the Sox want to build something special, they need a minimum of two more quality starters. You rarely get those at the trade deadline, and never on the cheap. No, you’re better off to develop them; sign them as free agents; or swing big trades for them in the offseason. Right now, GM Chris Getz would be best off improving his roster around the edges and going with the team he constructed during spring training.

Tell Me

Tell me why White Sox GM Chris Getz would raid his minor-league system for closer Mason Miller? What good’s a closer if your team keeps losing games in the sixth inning? The Sox did it Friday night, giving up eight runs to the visiting Astros, and again last night, when they coughed up a more modest three in a 4-1 loss. It might’ve been different had Sean Burke not hit the leadoff batter that inning or if Colson Montgomery had made a nice play on the grounder his way by the next batter (Jeremy Pena) and started a double play or Braden Montgomery hadn’t let a ball get by him in right field with the bases loaded. But all that happened, along with next to no hitting from the Sox. So, repeating myself as I do, let me say that, if the heart of the order doesn’t produce, all the lockdown closers in the world won’t matter. And the two-through-five hitters last night went a collective 3-for-15 with six strikeouts and one lonely RBI.

“Pahpped It Up!”

Good thing Harry Caray wasn’t around to call last night’s White Sox-Astros’ game. Caray, who had an unmatched ability to heap scorn on the home team, would’ve run out of disgust long before the last of eleven [!!!] popups by Sox hitters in last night’s 9-5 stinker at The Rate. What stunk? Well, Davis Martin threw five shutout innings before collapsing in the sixth. Manager Vibes Venable had lefty reliever Bryan Hudson face two righthanded hitters who drove in five runs between them. To add insult to injury, Seranthony Dominguez gave up a single and two walks in .1 innings, allowing both inherited runners to score. Oh, and Sox hitters went 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position. I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again: This team won’t go anywhere if players like Miguel Vargas and Colson Montgomery don’t hit .250 or above. Last night, the duo went a combined 0-for-7. Vargas hit two popups to four [!!!!] for Montgomery. Yikes and Ick. Instead of shipping off prospects for a rental or a closer that’s not as important as a good starter over the long term, GM Chris Getz has to ask himself what he wants his infield to look like next season and the ones immediately after that. If he thinks Caleb Bonemer and Roch Cholowsky are going to be better than Vargas and Montgomery, he has to deal the latter two, better at the winter meetings than the trade deadline. But he has to do something. You don’t win titles popping out eleven times a game.

You Got That Right

I used to say, with Leo, we didn’t so much babysit as baby-chase; that boy had—and has—a near-endless supply of energy. Only his little sister has more. You try running after a whirling dervish. Michele and I (though, honestly, mostly Michele) tried to keep up with our charge for over eight hours yesterday, at the end of which my wife was not in the mood to make dinner. Given that my culinary skills don’t extend much beyond can-opener and microwave, we decided to go to one of our favorite summertime spots, La Barra, in nearby Riverside. Ordinarily, I don’t care much for sports’ bars; they bring out the worst in me. I mean, who wants to sit across from someone whose face is glued to a TV screen? No, we go for the outdoor tables; the pizza; and the parade of humanity that passes on sidewalk and street, the backdrop provided in part by Frederick Law Olmsted, who laid out Riverside back in 1869. Think trees, curved streets and Victorian water tower (plus train station). All of it helped relieve aching, grandparent muscles. After filling up on thin-crust pizza topped with sausage and mushrooms (curious Chicagoans want to know, I’m sure), we got up to leave, passing a couple on our way. The woman looked up at me and immediately did a double-fist pump in the air while shouting “Yea!” For a second, I thought I had myself a groupie, but only for a second, because the woman immediately shouted, “First place!” I was wearing my 1959 White Sox cap. I smiled back and nodded. Cheers by association is just fine by me.

I Should Be Happy. But—

A 4-2, series-clinching win for the White Sox over the Rangers should have me doing cartwheels. But a couple of things are keeping me earthbound. Not the relief pitching, though. Last night, Jordan Hicks; Grant Taylor; and Bryan Hudson hurled four perfect innings in relief of starter Anthony Kay. Taylor, especially, was in command, striking out five of the six Texas batters he faced. You can’t knock that. Or the six hits and four RBIs that Chase Meidroth and Andrew Benintendi provided, along with the three runs Braden Montgomery scored. But just seven singles on the night, provided by the above three? Colson Montgomery can’t seem to crack the .230 mark. Not good. Or Miguel Vargas .250. Ditto. I won’t even talk about the catching situation, other than to wonder why Korey Lee has spent most of the last two seasons in Charlotte. And the starting pitching is Wegovy-thin. Anthony Kay likes pitching in traffic so much, they should save him for the tenth. Talk about channeling your inner Erick Fedde. How Kay limited the Rangers to two runs is a mystery. Ordinarily, you give up five hits and two walks in five innings, you’re asking for trouble, more so if you hit a batter, which Kay did. The lefty escaped a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam in the fourth only through a great play on a groundball to Miguel Vargas, who turned a 5-3 double play to limit the damage to one run. You can’t argue with success, I guess. But I insist on my right to nitpick.

What He Should've Said

The Tall Enigma pitched for the White Sox last night in Texas, but not for long and certainly not well. Over 3.2 very bad innings, rookie lefthander Noah Schultz was pummeled by Texas hitters who tallied five runs on eleven hits. Final score Rangers 10 Sox 0. After the game Sox manager Vibes Venable gave Schultz the verbal equivalent of a participation trophy. “It was a rough [outing for Schultz],” admitted Venable of the ever-so-obvious. “At the same time, he was in the zone. That’s something we’ve really been working hard on, getting him in the zone. He’s done a nice job with that. He just didn’t miss any bats. Got to credit the Rangers big time today.” [story today in online Trib] No, you don’t; let the other guy mete out credit to his player, Vibes. Your job is to get the best out of your roster. What has having Schultz get “in the zone” accomplished, outside of a 3-7 record and 6.04 ERA? Time to drop the rah-rah approach, if only with Schultz. Instead, try pointing out those stats to the person who generated them, and then hint, strongly, numbers like that usually earn demotions. My way can’t be any worse than yours.

Accentuate the Positive

First, the good news—the White Sox really looked like they were going to stink up the joint last night in Texas against the Rangers. First, they let Jacob deGrom off the hook in the first inning, failing to score after putting runners in scoring position and nobody out. Then, they spotted deGrom a 2-0 lead. Thank heaven for Sam Antnoacci and Andrew Benintendi. Long story short, Sox 10 Rangers 3. Antonacci scored the Sox first run in the third and drove in the tying run in the fifth while Benintendi hit a bases-clearing double later that inning to knock out deGrom. The pitcher whom some people like to tout for the Hall of Fame, this despite a mere 103 career wins at age 38, gave up five runs on seven hits and two walks in 4.2 innings. Erick Fedde did his Houdini act for four innings while Chris Murphy picked up the win in relief. This was all to the good, along with Jordan Hicks’ continued resurgence. The righty struck out two in .2 innings when it counted and now has a 0.00 ERA over his last seven appearances. I did not see that coming. The only downer to report is Kyle Teel’s injury, an ankle sprain incurred during a play at the plate in the bottom of the second inning; Teel missed on a sweep tag of baserunner Ezequiel Duran. Here’s the thing—there was no contact on the play. Teel just pivoted on his ankle, and something happened. Oh, well. Edgar Quero’s back with Teel making another visit to the IL If ever a player needed to seize an opportunity, it’s Quero, now. We’ll see soon enough.

Seeing is Believing

It’s plain to see this isn’t your White Sox of 2022, 2023, 2024 or 2025. For proof, look at yesterday’s 3-0 win over the Blue Jays. This year’s Sean Burke is everything that last year’s version could only hint at. The 26-year old righthander went 6.2 innings, yielding three baserunners on two singles and a walk. As for Colson Montgomery, his BA remains an anemic .224, but there are definite signs of improvement. In the sixth inning with the Sox ahead 1-0, Montgomery took a 1-2 splitter from Jays’ starter Trey Yesavage and deposited it over the wall in right. Wait, there’s more. The much-maligned Andrew Benintendi (yes, oftentimes by me), followed with a double, this to go with his sacrifice fly in the fourth. That brought up Braden Montgomery, who capped an eight-pitch at-bat by singling to center on a 1-2 fastball from Yesavage. Talk about textbook approach. Montgomery would foul off a pitch, step out of the box and compose himself, again and again. The rookie had no interest in trying to jack the ball, just solid contact, which he delivered on. Oh, more, more please. Now, consider the ninth inning, when Grant Taylor gave up an infield single and a bunt single to the first two batters he faced, bringing up Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Pick any of those past seasons, and you know what Guerrero was going to do, as in going-going-gone! Nope. Instead of a three-run jack, Guerrero lined out to Braden Montgomery in right on a nice play. Mercy. A 6-4-3 double play later, and the Sox took the three-game series. Next up, a visit to Texas for a three-game set with the Rangers. Bad news—they’ll be facing Jacob deGrom. Good news—deGrom is both righthanded and 38. This should be a good game.

One or the Other

Take your pick—the sound of silence, feast or famine. Either one describes the White Sox going from scoring twelve runs on Friday to getting shut out yesterday in Toronto, 1-0. At least Davis Martin pitched well, giving up that lone run in 5.2 innings. With a little ++ defense on a double to center by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and a single up the middle by George Springer, Davis could very well have pitched himself to something between a no-decision and a win. Yes, his offense collecting all of four hits off of Shane Bieber and three relievers would’ve made that quite the challenge, but two of those hits were doubles leading off an inning. Then there was the hard-luck case of Luisangel Acuna, who came into the eighth as a pinch runner. Alejandro Kirk got off a pretty crappy throw, only it tailed into the runner, making for an easy tag. It could just sailed away from Acuna. Oh, well. You want to win, you bounce back.

Dance to the Music

Last Friday, we saw Los Lobos in concert, and the White Sox crushed the Athletics, 14-1. Last night, we travelled up to Ravina to see Paul Simon, and the Sox demolished the Blue Jays, 12-4. We may be on to something here. Twelve hits for the visitors, with every starter managing at least one hit. Sam Antonacci clubbed his seventh homerun of the season while Colson Montgomery and Braden Montgomery provided bases-clearing base hits, a double for Colson vs. a triple for Braden. More, please. The starting pitching could’ve been better, with Anthony Kay unable to go more than four. But a shoutout to rookie lefthander Tyler Schweitzer. The pride of Indianapolis and Ball State picked up his first career win with three innings of scoreless relief. At the risk of repeating myself, more please.

A Baseball Game of Musical Chairs

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: Don’t get too attached to a White Sox player, especially an infielder or anyone named Andrew Benintendi. With promising middle infielders up and down their minor-league system, the Sox will have to find room for the best of them, and sooner than later. How long before Caleb Bonemer puts up Triple-A numbers that can’t be ignored? Or Roch Cholowsy? But what happens to incumbent shortstop Colson Montgomery? He could slide over to third base to make room for one of the above, but then what happens to Miguel Vargas? Well, he could switch over to first base, but that means something has to give with Munetaka Murakami. GM Chris Getz could let Murakami walk after next season, which would be a real gamble given Murakami’s power and popularity on the South Side. Or he could sign Murakami to an extension and install him as the primary DH, Benintendi’s role right now. The 32-year old Benintendi is signed through 2027. I’m pretty willing to bet the bank he’ll be gone after that, if not sooner. Shortstop is the highest-skill position in baseball, with centerfield coming in second. So, one of the stable of young shortstops could make the switch to the outfield a la Robin Yount back in the day. Then, what happens to Tristan Peters? Like I said, don’t get too attached to anyone on the 2026 White Sox. They might not be here for long.

A Hard, Necessary, Conversation

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree; great minds think alike; like father, like daughter—take your pick. Whatever the reason, Clare and I were asking the same question last week when the White Sox picked Landon Thome with the 34th selection in the draft. “Would you tell him to sign or go to college?” daughter asked father, or vice versa. We both agreed, “Go to college.” Let’s count the reasons why. Start with the fact that the Sox are full of middle infielders, and that’s not even counting number-one pick Roch Cholowsky. Five of the top eleven prospects in the Sox system are middle infielders. How exactly does the eighteen-year old Thome expect to jump over them? Also consider the middle infield on the major-league level with Chase Meidroth and Colson Montgomery, plus Miguel Vargas at third and middle-infielder Same Antonacci forced to play left field. Where exactly does Thome fit in? The younger Thome stands an even six feet and weighs 177 pounds; he looks like he has another year or two of high-school eligibility left. Yes, the White Sox will wait for him to fill out, but the expectation for a professional, as opposed to a college, player is to perform from day one. I’d argue there’s a lot more pressure playing at Single-A Kannapolis than Florida State, where Landon Thome has committed to attend. And any high-school player making the jump puts his body at risk that first year, as it adjusts from playing just 50 games a season to 130-plus games. College offers players a chance to grow both physically and emotionally before jumping into the pros with its expanded schedule. That’s what Clare would be telling her son. Me, too.

The Big Stage

Ordinarily, I don’t care about the All-Star Game, outside of the American League winning. And they did that last night in Philadelphia, 4-0 on a three-hitter by more pitchers than I have fingers. What stood out, though, was Miguel Vargas of the White Sox; he did two things of note. First, he appeared on the red carpet with his parents alongside him. Classy move, that. Then, the native of Havana, Cuba, hit like the game mattered. In the top of the fifth inning, center fielder Andy Pages robbed Vargas of a sure double with a running catch in right-center field. Which set up the eighth inning. Vargas took a slider down and in from former minor-league Dodgers’ teammate Justin Wrobleski and deposited it 433 feet into the second deck at Citizens Bank Park. A giant-sized shot from a regular-sized player (6’2”, 225 pounds) by current baseball standards. Oh, if only that line drive had fallen in. Vargas and not Cody Bellinger, with a two-run single in the first, could’ve been named MVP. Oh, well. What stands out here is both Vargas’ humility and intensity. Both bode well for the White Sox in the second half of the season, starting Friday in Toronto. I can’t wait.

Traditions

If it’s the day before the All-Star Game, that means Home Run Derby, which means watching it with Clare. Evidence of her winning and tying two such contests available on request. Of course, we had hot dogs, and of course we rooted for Munetaka Murakami of the White Sox. He did better than the Yankees’ Ben Rice, so I’m happy. Leo was more bothered than I was that Munie didn’t move on to the second round. MLB may want to take note of this—my grandson, three weeks short of five years old, grew tired of it all after 1-1/2 hours. He left the adults on the back porch to watch the ballplayers while he went into the living room to turn on Bluey. I wanted to join him.

Throw a Righty Against the White Sox—

And you’re asking for trouble. That’s what the A’s did yesterday, and it led to a 9-1 drubbing at The Rate. Noah Schultz, aka The Tall Enigma, put his team in an early 1-0 hole by serving up a two-out gopher ball in the top of the first inning to Shea Langeliers, but Sam Antonacci took care of that with a leadoff homer of his own, thank you very much. More hits and runs followed, capped by a three-run line drive off the bat of Braden Montgomery that just cleared the fence in right to finish off a six-run inning. After that, Schultz pitched up to his potential, tossing five innings while giving up just four hits and no walks. With that, we come to the All-Star break, the unofficial halfway mark of the season; at 50-45, the Sox passed that point a few games ago. What happens next? As long as it’s nothing dumb, who cares? Dumb would be GM Chris Getz trading young talent for a rental player or two. Nope. Challenge the coaching staff to do their jobs. If they come through, the Sox win the Central Division, and maybe get a shoutout from the Pope in Rome. It’s as simple as that.

Feast of a Famine

The A’s started another lefty yesterday, and the White Sox lineup managed all of five hits and a run. But it was enough to win 1-0 when Chase Meidroth doubled in Colson Montgomery for the game’s only run in the sixth inning. For what it’s worth, three righthanded hitters collected all five hits—oddly, three of them doubles—for the Sox. So, I guess this is a good thing. Now, for two tips of the cap in recognition of players I usually say little nice about, starting with Erick Fedde. The veteran righthander ditched the Houdini routine with four shutout innings during which he gave up just two hits and a walk. The 33-year old Fedde is 4-1in his last seven games with a 2.64 ERA over 30.2 innings. You can’t argue with that. Or the way Luisangel Acuna has been playing, for that matter. Acuna six for his last eleven? Yup. But wait, there’s more. The ex-Met (how are you guys enjoying the non-production of Luis Robert Jr.?) has been playing mean defense at shortstop. Yesterday in the top of the eighth with the tying run on third, nobody out and the infield in, Acuna snared a 104.2 mph grounder off the bat of Tyler Soderstrom for the out. I’m not sure that Colson Montgomery makes that play, and I mean no disrespect to Montgomery. If Acuna can keep hitting, his glove and his speed become all the more valuable. One more game before the All-Star break, and the A’s are starting a righthander. This is when good teams pounce.

They Hit

Talk about a perfect Friday night. Michele and I stood, oh, no more than 35 feet from a stage holding members of Los Lobos, if not the greatest rock-and-roll band still standing, then on the short list. Bertha, don’t you come around here anymore. And then to come home to find the White Sox were in the process of demolishing the A’s, 14-1, with Sean Burke pitching seven innings of one-run (and zero-walk) ball while Tristan Peters hit for the cycle for the seventh time in franchise history (and I’ve been around for all of them except for Ray Schalk’s in 1922). Not only that, Sox announcer John Schriffen actually sounded both exciting and professional calling Peters’ eighth-inning triple that completed the cycle. Mercy. Not to break the mood, but the Sox couldn’t touch opener Jacob Lopez, a lefthanded sporting a 7.04 ERA. Good thing the A’s decided to bring in righthander—and ex-Sox—pitcher Aaron Civale; that was good for four runs over the next 2.1 innings. Here’s the thing, though. The A’s are starting lefty Gage Jump, and he doesn’t stink. So, we’ll see, Bertha, we’ll see.

Not T-Ball

The Bad Sox finished a three-game sweep of the Good Sox with a 2-1 win yesterday afternoon. This time, the White Sox had pitching but next to no hitting, as in seven singles. A lefthanded starter, eek! After the game manager Vibes Venable made comments fit for a t-ball coach handing out participation trophies at the end of the season. “We just got beat,” Venable informed reporters of the obvious. “We tried to make a bunch of adjustments. These guys were working really hard pregame to solve for some of these dynamic [!!] fastballs these lefties had and we weren’t able to solve for it. I don’t want to label this one a slump, but [it was] a series where we weren’t able to produce offensively, which is something we are used to doing.” [story in today’s Tribune] Where to start? Oh, I know: “working really hard pregame to solve for some of these dynamic fastballs” the Red Sox were throwing. First, pregame doesn’t count for anything, or at least it didn’t this series. Professional ballplayers are supposed to work really hard. That’s why they’re professional ballplayers. Second, those “dynamic” pitches thrown by Boston starter Patrick Sandoval were part of his first start since June 21, 2024, when a left-elbow injury sidelined him for two-plus tears. Funny how Randal Grichuk and Miguel Vargas looked like they were facing Randy Johnson in his prime. It’s simple—if the Sox don’t hit lefties, they can’t win. And the A’s are scheduled to start Jacob Lopez, a lefty with a 7.04 ERA. Let me repeat. If the Sox don’t hit…

More of the Same

If anything, last night Davis Martin was worse than Noah Schultz. Martin failed to match Schultz’s five-inning start, instead struggling through four innings while giving up five runs on hit after hit, six to be exact, along with two walks. Bad Sox 5 Good Sox 0. By the way, that score means White Sox hitters fared even worse than they did in the previous fame, when they at least scored a run while collecting four hits and two walks. Last night, it was just four random singles and a walk. Boston has sent two lefties to the mound, and the White Sox have been clueless how to respond. Guess what? Another lefty goes today.

Not Ready for Prime Time

White Sox rookie lefthander Noah Schultz barely got out of the first inning last night against the visiting Red Sox, stranding the bases loaded after throwing about a million pitches. Schultz wasn’t as lucky in the second inning, giving up two homeruns to players I’ve never heard of; unlike ESPN, I don’t fixate on the AL East. The runs still counted, though. Bad Sox 8 Good Sox 1. Schultz toiled through five innings, yielding four runs on seven hits and three walks while needing 92 pitches to underwhelm. The final score would’ve been 4-1, but manager Vibes Venable went to the Brandon Eisert well once too often. Did I mention Good Sox hitters managed all of four singles on the night, three by Sam Antonacci? The Bad Sox are throwing another lefthander tonight against a Good Sox lineup that tilts lefty for the first time in I don’t know how long. Alright, it’s time for you righties to deliver. Yes, Randal Grichuk, Junior Perez and Luisangel Acuna, I’m talking about you.

He Got That Right

Today, Michele and I were out of the house pretty early to hit the lakefront. If you haven’t walked it, you have no idea what you’re missing. Think the color blue, sky and water, with a cool breeze. At one point, a couple passed us walking in the opposite direction. “It’s iconic,” the man said in a distinct British accent, the first syllable more “oi” than “i.” Either way, he was right. The number of Sox caps and Cubs’ caps encountered were pretty much even with just one or two sad Bears’ caps begging for attention. A number of years ago, billionaire Ken Griffin paid to separate wheel from foot traffic wherever possible along the path. This kept encounters with bikes, pedal- and e-powered alike, to a minimum. Ditto those lunatics on their motorized wheels. Why is it that roller skaters are attracted to me like magnets? Our reward for walking eight miles is lunch at the Clocktower Café, which serves as the nineteenth hole for the public Sydney R. Marovitz Golf Course. We ate on the terrace, where netting protects patrons from any errant golf balls. I recommend the hamburger or brat. And say Hello to Charlie, one of nicest dog hosts I’ve ever met. She’ll make sure you go home without any ketchup or juice on your fingers.

Devo, Houdini

To quote the best group that ever came out of Akron, Ohio, how long can this go on? How often can Erick Fedde get away with his Houdini act? Yesterday in soggy Cleveland, Fedde did Fedde—putting runners on, minimizing the damage—over 5.1 innings to earn the win as the “bulk” pitcher in a 7-6 contest. The veteran righthander was charged with three runs, two earned, and might’ve given up just one run if Colson Montgomery hadn’t misplayed a sure double-play grounder. But eight hits and a walk. How long can this go on? Accentuate the positive, I guess. Kyle Teel homered in the first (then misplayed a foul pop that helped fuel a three-run Guardians’ response in the bottom half of the frame). Montgomery hit a two-run homer while Tristan Peters added a solo shot. The wind cheated Sam Antonacci and Braden Montgomery out of homers good for four runs. Oh, well. Rumor has it Munetaka Murakami could be back by the weekend. I’m less concerned in who the Sox will send down to make room for Murakami than who they should bring up. As in a pitcher, a starter, someone like David Sandlin. Or David Sandlin, even.

Say What?

It’s good to know that my telepathic powers remain strong, even when my subject is playing in a city over 300 miles away. How else to explain Colson Montgomery’s performance in last night’s 3-1 White Sox win over the Guardians? Montgomery hit a run-scoring, opposite-field double in the first and followed that with a solo-shot homerun in the eighth off reliever Tim Herrin (homerun number eight in lefty-on-lefty matchups). Things only got weird in the postgame. That’s when Montgomery noted, “Today, I felt pretty comfortable at the plate. I was more committed to my plan than most days. I feel I’ve been pretty inconsistent with my approach and things like that. Today I just felt pretty committed to my plan.” [today’s online Trib story] Say what? You know you’re not following your planned approach to hitting? Gosh, I made sure my daughter followed hers throughout high school and college. Either pay one of your parents to do the same, Colson, or have a Sox coach remind you. Every game, between innings if necessary. Before I leave and try to figure out how to find today’s game on Peacock, a shoutout to starter Sean Burke (six innings, one run, no walks and eleven strikeouts in six innings) along with relievers Brandon Eisert (two perfect innings) and Grant Taylor (the save with no more drama than facing the tying run after a two-out walk). Now, repeat for the split and a one-game lead in the AL Central.

Second-guessing

I can’t blame White Sox manager Vibes Venable for calling on reliever Seranthony Dominguez last night. Domiunguez was fresh, the Sox were up by two going into the bottom of the seventh, and miracles do happen. But not last night in another walk-off win for the Guardians, 4-3 in ten innings. Dominguez walked two of the three batters he faced, and both those runners scored. Now, though, Venable has to see what’s pretty much obvious to the rest of the baseball world and make Dominguez his thirteenth choice to pitch on any given day. Anything else, and he’s asking for trouble, which is about the only thing Dominguez can deliver on these days. And the White Sox front office may want to think long and hard on whom they want to draft next week. Because I’m down on shortstop Colson Montgomery, big time. Last night, he added two more strikeouts (both called, both hittable, both times Montgomery completely fooled), giving him 111 in 307 at-bats. That comes out to a whiff rate of nearly 34 percent, folks. On top of that, Montgomery has started to get shaky in the field. Last night, he misplayed a two-out groundball deep in the hole hit by Guardians’ catcher Austin Hedges in that fateful seventh inning. A clean pick and Montgomery has a good shot to nail Hedges at first. Why? Because Austin Hedges doesn’t run, he lumbers. Did. Not. Happen. I keep saying the Sox can’t expect to make the postseason unless both Montgomery and Miguel Vargas hit north of .250. Last night, Vargas had two hits, including a three-run homerun, to pull his average up to .248. Montgomery? He went 0-for-4, lowering his average to .218. The Sox will also be hard-pressed to play October baseball with their manager making highly questionable moves, like he did in the tenth last night. With ghost runner Chase Meidroth at second base, Venable elected to go with two righty pinch hitters to face lefty reliever Erik Sabrowski, only Randal Grichuk and Junior Perez both struck out, looking, no less. Ick. Grichuk was hitting for Tristan Peters, who knows how to bunt. Why not let Peters try to move Meidroth to third and then pinch hit Grichuk? Odds are the Guardians would’ve walked Grichuk to set up a lefty-lefty matchup between Sabrowski and Sam Antonacci, who flied out to the warning track to end the inning. That could’ve been a sacrifice fly. But what do I know?

Losing Ugly

Starter Martin Davis walked five and gave up six hits in a paltry 3.1 innings of work last night in Cleveland; Sox pitchers walked nine Guardians on the none, none worse than Grant Taylor’s four-pitch free pass to Rhys Hoskins, forget the righty-righty matchup; Sox relievers frittered away a 5-2 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth; three Sox runners were thrown out on the bases; Taylor yielded a one-out, two-run walk-off homer to Bryan Rocchio. What’s left to say? Other than good teams learn from mistakes, no matter how bad?

No Dice

Noah Schultz had a no-hitter going into the bottom of the fifth. Maybe he would’ve survived if the White Sox had their A-team behind him instead of Luisangel Acuna and Drew Romo trying to pass for Colson Montgomery and Kyle Teel, and maybe if the bullpen had brought it’s A-game instead of letting three inherited runners score. But none of that happened. Orioles 6 Sox 1. The lefthanded Schultz walked four batters, three of them lefties, in 4.1 innings. Not good. Same goes for needing 87 pitches to record thirteen outs. The seven strikeouts were OK+, the 5.86 ERA not so much. Schultz turns 23 next month. Randy Johnson, the pitcher he’s often compared to, wasn’t even in the major leagues until age 24, so I guess in that regard our Johnson is further along. The real Johnson didn‘t have his first above-.500 season until age 26. Three more years of what I saw yesterday? I’d rather things speed up a little. Or a lot. Or David Sandlin gets another look. Or all of the above.

On a Roll

White Sox rookie first baseman Jacob Gonzalez is on a roll. Last night, he collected two doubles among his three hits to go with three RBIs in a Sox 9-3 beatdown of the host Orioles. Gonzalez missed a fourth hit by a foot or so when his flyball in the ninth inning just failed to clear the wall. That’s seventeen RBIs for the 24-year old infielder in 73 at-bats, in case you’re counting. Pitching-wise, Erick Fedde kept putting baserunners on while (kind of) minimizing the damage, with three runs on five hits and three walks in five innings of work. Thank you, rookie reliever Tyler Schweitzer. It would be nice, though, if Noah Schultz stepped up today in his first start off the IL.

Déjà vu All Over Again

Not too long ago, the Orioles completed a rebuild to die for. Talent up and down the lineup, talent ready to make the jump from the minors. But after postseason appearances in 2023-24, things have gone downhill fast, sort of like the 2020-21 White Sox. Bad baseball from the home team was on full display last night in the 10-2 drubbing administered by Vibes Venable and company. The score was actually tied at two going into the eighth inning. That’s when things began to fall apart for the home team. It wasn’t the Orioles’ fault entirely. I mean, nobody in the league has figured out how to avoid hitting Sam Antonacci, who led off the inning with his seventeenth hit-by-pitch. After that, it was only a matter of time. One out, to be precise. After Miguel Vargas struck out, O’s manager Craig Abernaz did something that, analytics-wise, maybe made sense—he kept in lefthanded reliever Grant Wolfram to face lefty-swinging Colson Montgomery. Either Abernaz didn’t have the stats in front of him or, more likely, didn’t bother to check them to see that Montgomery is hitting 37 points higher against lefties than righties. Which helps explain Montgomery’s run-scoring double. After that, the Orioles slowly imploded, giving up six run over the final two innings. But the hitting star of the night may have been another rookie, Jacob Gonzalez, who had two hits to go with three RBIs. That gives the 24-year old infielder nine in his last four games and fourteen in 68 at-bats. More, please. Meanwhile, Chris Getz may want to consider keeping Gonzalez around once Munetaka Murakami comes off the IL. At least, I would.

Pitching, Please

You’d think four runs against a team like the Royals would be enough to secure a sweep, but you’d be wrong. Starter Anthony Kay couldn’t make it through the fourth inning in a 5-4 loss. Oh, and White Sox hitters twice gave Kay a lead to work with. Which leads us to the odd decision by GM Chris Getz to send David Sandlin down after pitching six innings of one-run ball on Friday. What, we have too much pitching? Just look at Kay, whose ERA stands at a hefty 4.50, to know that’s not the case. Oh, Noah Schultz is supposed to be close to coming off the IL. So? There’s no saying Schultz can pitch injury-free, or, if he can, that he’ll be effective. One columnist yesterday beat the drum for Tarik Skubal. Talk about silly. The Sox a team playing with house money; nobody expected them to do anything better than not lose 100 games. It would be shortsighted verging on criminal if Getz shipped off good young players for two or three months of Skubal. With Scott Boras for his agent, Skubal wouldn’t be anything more than an expensive rental on the South Side. See what Schultz and Sandlin can do in the rotation.

History Not Repeating

The game after scoring 22 runs in Boston, the 1970 White Sox managed nineteen fewer in a 4-3 loss to the Senators. A day after scoring 22 runs against the Royals, the 2026 White Sox were held to two runs, and they still won in a walk-off, 2-1. Rookie Jacob Gonzalez did the honors with an opposite field single past a drawn-in shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. Grant Taylor got the win, pitching a scoreless eighth and ninth innings. Taylor pretty much threw gas, striking out four of the six Royals he faced. More, please. I have to wonder what’s going to happen to Gonzalez once Munetaka Murakami comes off the IL. After enduring an 0-for-25 streak, the 24-year old infielder has been on a 6-for-12 tear, with six RBIs. Gonzalez makes an attractive trade candidate. I just don’t want to see him shipped off for a rental pitcher. And, yes, I’m talking the likes of Tarik Skubal.

I Remember the Last Time

I remember the last time the White Sox scored 22 runs prior to last night’s 22-1 romp over the Royals. I was dressed in a white tuxedo jacket on my way to Medinah Temple for high school graduation. Walt Williams and Luis Aparicio both had five hits. Bill Melton homered. Chicago 22 Boston 13. I think my mom made her potato salad for the party. Last night, the Sox had 22 runs on 23 hits. In other words, just about everything that could go right, did, the only possible exception being Braden Montgomery going 0-for-5, though he did score two runs. Oh, and just about everything went wrong for the Royals. Flashbacks of Mike Sweeney and Billy Butler lead me to say, Boo-hoo. Miguel Vargas had three hits, which puts him to within four points of the magic .250 BA mark. Sam Antonacci had three hits, which puts him within six points of the magic .300 mark. Chase Meidroth woke up to chip in with four hits while Tristan Peters added six RBIs. David Sandlin was called up for a spot start. The rookie responded with six innings of one-run ball. Sandlin looked almost as sharp as he did in his MLB debut against the Twins. Way to make an impression, young man.

Stop Me if You’ve Heard This One: Two Old Guys…

First thing I do at The Rate is head for the public service desk. So, that’s what I did Wednesday, almost bumping into an elderly gentleman, at least older than me, as we both reached for the same item. And what would that be, you ask? Why, a pre-printed scorecard, of course, with enough to go around. “Old guys’ corner,” I joked, looking up. “Yes, you have to be over 60 or 70 for one of these,” he replied. “Unfortunately, right both times, “ I said as we each went our own way.

Waiting on a Friend

Clare and I made it to the ballpark 20 minutes before starting time yesterday afternoon, only we needn’t have bothered. We had a two-hour, 40-minute rain delay ahead of us. So, we walked around the Rate and did what all people do at the mall—we shopped. But we couldn’t find a Munetaka Murakami tee-shirt to fit Leo. After we ran out of souvenir stands and team stores to visit, we did the other thing you do at the mall—we ate. Then, we walked some more before settling into not-too-wet seats to wait for the game to start. Another White Sox game with an opener, another loss. Chris Murphy opened by retiring the first four batters he faced, at which point manager Vibes Venable thought it was time to bring in Erick Fedde, who proceeded to do what he does best, which is to put runners on base and try to get out of it. It was a game of If’s: If Colson Montgomery hadn’t committed an error setting up two Guardians’ runs in the seventh; if Steven Kwan hadn’t gotten a great jump on Randal Grichuk’s line drive with the tying run sure to score; if Joe Rock didn’t give back the run the Sox scored in the seventh (and if he hadn’t walked three batters to go with a single); if Chase Meidroth had played within himself. Meidroth stranded two runners in scoring position in both the seventh and tenth innings. Guardians 4 Sox 3. I hate watching the Sox lose, but at least it was tolerable this time because of the company. My daughter knows her baseball, and she’s got some strong beliefs about parenting, as in not bringing babies to the ballpark. It was just the two of us. The Sox were down to their final out in the bottom of the ninth, when Braden Montgomery homered; Grichuk followed on the next pitch for back-to-back jacks. And Clare screamed like a kid. She also screamed at Rock, but we won’t get into that. My daughter had such a good time she decided we all had to come back in a couple of weeks, only this time we bring Leo along for his first-ever Sox game.

Winning Retro

Last night, the White Sox managed a mere three hits over the 7.2 innings they faced Guardians’ starter Parker Messick—a fourth-inning double by Randal Grichuk followed by an RBI single from Colson Montgomery one out later and a solo shot off the bat of Miguel Vargas in the sixth inning. But it was enough for a 2-1 win at a rocking Rate Field. For a second straight game, Sean Burke pitched like he had a clue, going 6.1 innings, the only run surrendered a gopher ball to Kahlil Watson in the fifth inning. Then, whether by choice or circumstance, manager Vibes Venable called on reliever Sean Newcomb. Guess what? Newcomb pitched the final 2.1 innings for the save. The 33-year old lefty faced nine batters, retiring eight while giving up a walk. Wow, this means Newcomb had to face a whole bunch of righties, just like in the old days. No situational matchups here. Holy Hoyt Wilhelm! Venerable Bob Locker!

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.

Different Memories

Paul Sullivan wrote a column in the Trib today about the White Sox going to New York in mid-June of 2000 and sweeping a four-game series from the Yankees. You’d think I’d remember something like that, but I don’t. My mid-June memory dates to 2008, when I took Clare to a softball-skills’ evaluation camp. The weather was perfect, sunny and cool, the sky blue and my daughter’s face a darkening shade of red as the day progressed. It seems the coach didn’t think much of her hitting ability. We suspected that from the way he acted with her then. The report he mailed didn’t exactly come as a surprise. Sullivan’s point was that a team can surprise from time to time. Young ballplayers, too, especially when they go on to set homerun-hitting records in college.

Up Next

When your leadoff hitter in an inning homers and the guy five batters later homers in the same inning, you know things are going good. When those batters are Sam Antonacci and Chase Meidroth, respectively, it’s cause for celebration. That’s what happened yesterday when a Dodgers’ 1-0 lead vanished in the bottom of the sixth as the Sox scored six runs on three homers, with Colson Montgomery sandwiched between Antonacci and Meidroth. The bullpen tried but failed to give the game back, for a final score of Sox 6 Dodgers 4. Dodgers’ fans, enjoy your ride back to the airport. If this keeps up, I’m going to have to start calling manager Vibes Venable by his given name; I can live with that. Hey, if Venable can get one or more of his young starters—Sean Burke, Noah Schultz, Hagen Smith, who gave up four homeruns in his latest Triple-A start—to step up, I’ll be more than happy to refer to myself as “New Mickey.” Up next, the Yankees on the road. No Aaron Judge or Giancarlo Stanton, though. It’s only fair they should have injuries if we do, too.

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.