First homestand going poorly for White Sox

The view from my seat on Opening Day at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Steve Stone normally is a good TV analyst, but I was scratching my head Sunday when he was talking about Monday's pitching matchup between the White Sox's Carlos Rodon and the Rays' Blake Snell.

Stone said something to the effect of Rodon and Snell being the type of left-handers who "could win a Cy Young in any year."

Uhhh, no, not quite.

Snell went 21-5 with a 1.89 ERA in 2018 and actually did win the Cy Young Award. Rodon's career record is 27-30 with a 3.95 ERA -- respectable given the horrible Sox teams he has played on -- but let's not kid ourselves here: Snell is a cut above Rodon, and he showed it Monday in a 5-1 Tampa Bay victory.

Snell went six innings, allowing one run on six hits. He struck out 11 and walked nobody. Jose Rondon's solo home run was all the Sox could muster offensively.

Meanwhile, Rodon gave up two runs in the first inning and two more in the second inning. By the end of the fifth inning, he was gone, having allowed 13 base runners (eight hits, five walks) through 4.2 innings. He did strike out nine. If not for that, Tampa could have scored more runs -- the Rays stranded 14 for the game.

The loss drops the Sox to 3-6 on the season and 1-3 on the opening homestand. They won the home opener Friday (with me in attendance) as Yoan Moncada's four RBIs lifted them to a 10-8 victory over the Seattle Mariners. The Sox overcame a poor start by Reynaldo Lopez.

However, they could not overcome a poor start by Lucas Giolito on Saturday, as the Mariners rolled to a 9-2 win. Nor could the Sox overcome a poor start by Ivan Nova on Sunday, as Seattle took the series with a 12-5 victory.

The Sox have been outscored 34-18 so far on the homestand. This is not good run prevention. Seattle was 9-2 entering Monday's play, so the Mariners have been hot. The Rays also are hot. They are 8-3 after beating the Sox on Monday.

The South Siders have two more games against Tampa, before going on the road to New York to face the Yankees.

This is shaping up to be an ugly week. When I walked out of Guaranteed Rate Field on Friday, the Sox were a respectable 3-3. Unfortunately, with the way they are playing, and with the quality of the opposition, they are in jeopardy of losing touch with .500 this week. The losing record likely will be permanent for the rest of the 2019 season.