The White Sox are falling apart
The Chicago White Sox had appeared to turn a bit of a corner when they swept the Houston Astros just a week ago. The White Sox gave up just four runs total in the series and moved to a somewhat respectable 28-30 on the year. Certainly not a good record, but it was a positive to see a few wins stacked together against a first-place team.
But since that sweep, all of that goodwill has been thrown out the window. Chicago promptly got swept in Tampa Bay by the Rays, and now the White Sox have lost the first three games of a four-game home-and-home set against the red-hot Pittsburgh Pirates.
Rick Osentoski/USA TODAY Sports
The first game against the Pirates in Pittsburgh was an embarrassing 11-0 defeat. The Pirates jumped on talented rookie Carlos Rodon for five runs in the first inning and never looked back as Francisco Liriano made mincemeat of the White Sox lineup. Liriano tossed eight scoreless innings and gave up just two hits while striking out 12.
The next night, Chicago’s anemic lineup couldn’t muster up any offense against Charlie Morton, who didn’t give up a run in seven innings and moved to 5-0 on the season. The White Sox managed just four hits on the night.
The two teams shifted to U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago on Wednesday night, but the White Sox didn’t have much more luck, although at least they got on the scoreboard. The Pirates scored three runs in the first inning and didn’t score any runs the rest of the night, but it proved to be enough as Chicago only mustered up two sixth-inning runs off Jeff Locke.
The White Sox are now 28-36, which is the third-worst record in the AL and 10 games back of the Kansas City Royals in the AL Central. Chicago’s -68 run differential is the worst in the AL and third-worst in baseball.
The White Sox have scored the second-fewest runs in the majors and have the second-worst OPS. The pitching, outside of ace Chris Sale, hasn’t been much better, as Chicago is 25th in ERA.
It’s basically all bad right now for the White Sox, and one has to wonder just how much time manager Robin Ventura (who was ejected on Wednesday) has left. If things don’t turn around soon, Ventura may find himself out of a job.
