“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.