The day I realized my White Sox fandom had changed

(Photo by Jason Bauman)

Is it unusual that I can pinpoint the exact day when my White Sox fandom changed? We're coming up on the two-year anniversary of that moment.

The date was April 30, 2023. Ironically, I was in attendance that day at a game the Sox won. 

It was a Sunday afternoon. It was the final game of a four-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Sox were 7-21. (Sound familiar?) They entered the afternoon on a 10-game losing streak.

The weather was cloudy and cool, about 45 degrees, and it rained intermittently throughout the game. My girlfriend did not want to go to the game that day -- the combination of the poor play on the field and the miserable weather put her in a dour mood. She had no problem reminding me throughout the game just how poor the conditions were.

But surprisingly enough, the Sox were ahead 4-2 after seven innings. They were in good position to break their long losing streak. Alas, this was a bullpen that featured Joe Kelly, Reynaldo Lopez, Aaron Bummer and Kendall Graveman. 

Some combination of that group lit the game on fire, and by the top of the ninth, the Sox were trailing 9-5. Amid all the traffic on the bases and all the pitching changes, the pace of the game slowed to a crawl. The weather was getting worse, and my girlfriend's complaints were growing louder.

Finally, I realized that she was right: The whole thing sucked. We weren't having a good time. She didn't want to be there. I no longer wanted to be there. I said, "Let's go," and we left.

We listened to the bottom of the ninth inning in the car on a rainy drive home, and naturally, the Sox staged a seven-run rally and won, 12-9, on a walk-off home run by Andrew Vaughn.

And I didn't care. I didn't care that I had missed the comeback. I didn't care that the Sox had won. My girlfriend must have asked me 10 times on the hour-long drive home if I was mad at her for complaining about the weather. 

Each time, I answered "no," and I wasn't lying. I legitimately wasn't mad. It had been my decision to leave early, and she had not objected.

In a different time and place in my life, I might have been mad at her. Or I might have insisted that we stay until the end of the game. I've been around long enough to know that you never know what you're going to see.

But I had reached a point where I didn't care about the outcome of the game, and I no longer cared about the outcome of the Sox season. I realized that day that I disliked most of the players on the team anyway. I had no real connection to any of them. I realized that it no longer made sense to invest my money and emotions in a baseball team that was dysfunctional, didn't care about its fans and played poorly most of the time.

Strangely, not giving a damn about a dramatic, come-from-behind victory made me aware of just how indifferent I had become to the whole enterprise.

Sure, I continued to attend games for the rest of the 2023 season, although I did so halfheartedly. After all, I had bought a 20-game ticket plan. You couldn't resell the tickets on the secondary market. The team was so bad that tickets weren't worth the digital bandwidth they were printed on. It was a sunk cost, and the only way to recoup any value was to go to the games.

But I dropped my ticket plan after the conclusion of the 2023 season, and I haven't returned to Rate Field since, not even once. I had been a season ticket holder for 19 seasons, and it was not a decision I took lightly. It's a sad state of affairs, and I just happened to be reflecting on it today for whatever reason.

Hopefully, one day, there will be a reason to invest money and emotions into the Sox again. However, that day is not today.

White Sox opener strategy works ... sort of

Give White Sox manager Will Venable credit for trying something new. 

The Athletics have a left-handed-dominant top of the batting order, and the Sox have nothing but right-handers in their starting rotation. 

It's a matchup made in hell, so Venable used a left-handed reliever to pitch the first inning of all three games in Sacramento this weekend, and then he went to his regularly scheduled right-handed starter in the second inning.

Even though the Sox lost two of three games, it mostly worked. Tyler Gilbert pitched a scoreless first inning Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Brandon Eisert allowed one run in the first inning Sunday. 

The right-handers who followed them pitched well. On Sunday, Davis Martin tossed six shutout innings. Jonathan Cannon got his first win of the season Saturday when he allowed three runs over 7.2 innings. Sean Burke on Friday allowed three earned runs over 5.1 innings, which wasn't great, but it was an improvement over his previous outings.

Here's a look back at the weekend that was:

Friday, April 25

Athletics 6, White Sox 5: The Sox took a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the sixth, but Burke got in trouble. With two on and two outs, Jacob Wilson singled to center, and Luis Robert Jr. booted the ball, allowing both runners to score and tie the game at 3.

The A's tacked on two in the seventh and one in the eighth to take a 6-3 into the ninth. The Sox rallied against closer Mason Miller. Lenyn Sosa singled and scored on a two-run homer by Brooks Baldwin. Miguel Vargas lined out to center, and Edgar Quero just missed tying the game on a fly ball to right that was caught at the wall.

Four good ABs in a row, and then Robert Jr. struck out on three pitches, the last of which was nowhere near a strike. It was a tough game for Robert Jr. overall: 1 for 4 with three strikeouts and the crucial error that flipped the game in the Athletics' favor.

Saturday, April 26 

White Sox 10, Athletics 3: Robert Jr. redeemed himself with a solo home run in the top of the first that started a four-run rally. Quero walked, and then there were three straight RBI doubles by Sosa, Michael A. Taylor and Baldwin.

The Sox added two more in the second inning and jumped out to an early 6-0. Cannon (1-3) made it work from there with his best outing of the season. He struck out five and walked two, while allowing six hits over his 7.2 innings.

Taylor finished 3 for 5 with three doubles. Quero and Vargas also had two-hit games.

Sunday, April 27

Athletics 3, White Sox 2 (10 inn.): The Sox had 14 men reach base in this game -- nine hits, four walks and a hit batsman. You would think that would be a recipe for more than two runs, but you'd be wrong.

Joshua Palacios hit a solo home run to start the game, but the Sox didn't score again until the top of the 10th when Robert Jr. plated the ghost runner with an RBI single to put the South Siders ahead 2-1.

Quero then singled, advancing Robert Jr. to third with only one out. It looked like the Sox might break the game open. Alas, Andrew Vaughn grounded into a double play to drop his average down to .157 and kill the inning.

That proved really costly because the Sox needed another run. Jordan Leasure (0-2) gave up a homer to Luis Urias in the bottom of the 10th with the ghost runner aboard, and that provided the winning margin for the Athletics.

The Sox stranded 10 runners, went 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position and hit into two double plays. Woof.

The 10-game road trip is over. The Sox went 3-7 and are now 7-21 for the season. They start a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night at Rate Field.

Rain-shortened wins count just the same

Raise your hand if you expected Brandon Eisert to record the first White Sox save of the season.

Rain-shortened games can be strange like that, but with the way the Sox have been struggling, they'll be happy with Thursday's 3-0, seven-inning victory over the Minnesota Twins.

At long last, that ridiculous 14-game losing streak at Minneapolis is over, and at long last, Shane Smith (1-1) has his well-earned first career victory. 

The rookie right-hander has a 2.30 ERA through his first five starts, and he's pitched well enough to win any or all of them. Alas, run support and bullpen support have been hard to come by with this team.

But Smith is finally on the board in his career after tossing five shutout innings. He struck out seven, walked only one and scattered four hits.

Jordan Leasure allowed the first two Minnesota batters to reach in the sixth, but he worked his way out of the jam. The aforementioned Eisert gave up one hit but nothing more in the seventh before the umpires called for the tarp.

The Sox got solo home runs from Lenyn Sosa, his second of the season, and Miguel Vargas, his first. The other RBI came on a bases-loaded walk by Joshua Palacios.

The Sox are 2-5 on the road trip and 6-19 on the season. Next up, three games in Sacramento against the Athletics.

White Sox continue to play dead in Minnesota

The White Sox have lost 14 consecutive games at Minnesota, with their last win there coming April 10, 2023.

The latest loss came Wednesday night, a 6-3 defeat against the Twins at Target Field.

Let's not kid ourselves: This has nothing to do with the Twins, who are a bad team themselves. This is just pure incompetence on the part of the Sox.

Even with wins the past two games, Minnesota is just 9-15 on the season. The Twins are 4-1 against the Sox, which means they are 5-14 against everyone else. They will be the fourth-place club in the American League Central Division, and the only thing preventing them from finishing last is the miserable Sox being in the same division. 

This is a continuation of a trend from 2024. The Twins finished in fourth place with a record of 82-80. They were 12-1 against the Sox, which means they were 70-79 against everyone else.

Through the first two games of this series, we've seen struggling Minnesota players suddenly right the ship.

Bailey Ober had a 6.16 ERA entering his Tuesday start. Then he threw six innings of one-run ball and picked up a victory.

Relief pitcher Griffin Jax had a 11.25 ERA before the Sox showed up. He's appeared in both games of this series, retiring all six batters he has faced, four of them by strikeout. 

Then there's Trevor Larnach, who carried a .194/.298/.250 slash line, with just one home run, into Tuesday's game. That .250 slugging percentage is on the way up now because Larnach has homered in each of the first two games of this series, including a solo shot off Jordan Leasure (0-1) in the sixth inning Wednesday that put the Twins ahead to stay.

I could carry on, but you get the idea. The Sox are 5-19, and there is no bottom here. Those people who told you it "can't possibly be worse than last year," don't believe them.

Nothing has changed here.

Luis Robert Jr., Andrew Vaughn continue to fail White Sox

The top of the fifth inning of Tuesday night's game against the Minnesota Twins summed up White Sox baseball for me this season.

The Sox were trailing 2-1, but they had a promising start to the inning. Singles by Nick Maton and Andrew Benintendi put runners on first and third with nobody out against struggling Minnesota starter Bailey Ober, who entered this game with a 6.16 ERA.

The table was set for the No. 3 and No. 4 batters in the Sox lineup, Luis Robert Jr. and Andrew Vaughn.

Well, you can guess what happened, and none of it was good. Robert had a chance to do damage on two middle-middle changeups from Ober, but he fouled both of them off. Having gotten away with a couple of mistakes, Ober then came up with a quality pitch, acing Robert with a fastball on the corner for a called strike three.

Vaughn jumped ahead in the count 2-0, but you wouldn't know he was at an advantage based upon the pitch he swung at -- a breaking ball down and on the outside corner. It was a pitch that was designed to get Vaughn to roll over, and he obliged, bouncing into a 6-4-3 double play. 

Inning over. No runs.

Why swing at that pitch when you are ahead in the count? Who knows?

A potential big inning was derailed, and the Sox went on to lose 4-2.

Robert is now hitting .151 with a .527 OPS. Vaughn is batting .145 with a .461 OPS. These are the guys the Sox are counting on to be the big run producers in the middle of the lineup.

No wonder they are 5-18. It's time to move on from both players. Hopefully, that will happen sometime in 2025.

White Sox drop 3 out of 4 in Boston

It isn't even May, but the White Sox have already suffered through an eight-game losing streak and a six-game losing streak this season.

But at least they won't go 0-81 on the road this season, right? The Sox are now 1-9 away from home after dropping three out of four to the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. 

Here's a look back at the wraparound series from Easter weekend:

Friday, April 18

Red Sox 10, White Sox 3: What was your favorite memory of the Martin Perez era? It probably wasn't this game, as Perez gave up four runs in the first three innings before departing after 52 pitches with a left forearm injury.

Perez (1-1) has since been placed on the 60-day injured list, so we won't be seeing him in a Sox uniform again soon, if ever.

Boston's Trevor Story went 3 for 4 with two 3-run homers in this game, including one in the first inning off Perez and another off Tyler Gilbert in the seventh inning.

The Sox were limited to six hits, with Andrew Benintendi's third home run of the season being one of the few offensive highlights. Edgar Quero doubled during ninth inning garbage time for his first major league hit. 

Saturday, April 19

Red Sox 4, White Sox 3 (10 innings): The Sox were in rough shape after six innings in this one, trailing 3-0 against Boston ace Garrett Crochet, who fanned seven and allowed only four hits.

But the Red Sox went to the bullpen in the seventh inning, and Chicago capitalized with a three-run rally to tie the game. Chase Meidroth singled to make it 3-1, and Luis Robert Jr.'s second homer of the season -- a two-run shot -- evened the score.

But as I always say when the Sox tie a game late on the road, "Ehh, they'll just get walked off anyway." They did, indeed, get walked off. Triston Casas singled off Mike Vasil (0-1) with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th to win the game for Boston. 

It was a three-hit game for Meidroth and a two-hit game for Quero, but those are the last hits we'll be seeing from Meidroth for at least a couple of weeks. He's now on the 10-day injured list with right thumb inflammation.

Sunday, April 20

White Sox 8, Red Sox 4: The Sox were 0-79 in 2024 when trailing after six innings. But this game ensures they will not put together a similar dubious record in that department this season. Chicago scored three in the seventh, two in the eighth and one in the ninth to erase a 4-2 deficit and snap a six-game losing streak.

Quero delivered the biggest hit, a two-run single that capped the three-run inning in the seventh and put the Sox ahead to stay. Former Sox pitcher Liam Hendriks took the mound in relief for Boston in the eighth, but Andrew Vaughn hit his third home run of the season -- a two-run blast -- to extend the Chicago lead. Matt Thaiss also had a two-run homer for the Sox, and he added an RBI in the ninth on a bases-loaded HBP.

That made a winner out of lefty Brandon Eisert (1-0) who got five outs in the middle of the game in relief of starter Sean Burke.

Monday, April 21

Red Sox 4, White Sox 2: The one day of winning was fun while it lasted, as Chicago's bats went silent again in the series finale.

Boston starter Walker Buehler struck out nine over seven innings of one-run ball. The Sox were limited to five hits and went 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

Benintendi's fourth homer of the season in the eighth inning -- off Boston lefty Aroldis Chapman -- was one of the few good at-bats of the game for Chicago. Benintendi had two of the team's five hits.

Sox starter Jonathan Cannon (0-3) struggled early, giving four runs in the first three innings. To his credit, at least he pitched six innings, saving the bullpen for the next series. 

The Sox are now 5-17 and will head to Minnesota for a three-game series that starts Tuesday night.

Happy Easter from The Baseball Kid

 

White Sox swept by Athletics

Entering Thursday's play, the Sacramento Athletics ranked 14th out of 15 American League teams in pitching.

However, that did not stop them from shutting out the White Sox, 8-0, to complete a three-game sweep Thursday afternoon at Rate Field.

As a matter of fact, A's pitching only gave up four runs the whole series. Three of those runs came in the first inning of the first game Tuesday, on a 3-run homer by Andrew Vaughn.

In the following 26 innings, the Sox managed just a solo home run by Brooks Baldwin.

It's probably not a good sign for the South Siders to get outscored 23-4 at home in a three-game set against a team that is expected to finish near the bottom of the American League West. 

On Thursday, the Sox had only four hits off A's starter JP Sears and three relievers. 

Check out the batting averages for the 2-3-4 hitters in Chicago's lineup on Thursday. Luis Robert Jr. went 0 for 3 with a walk and is now down to .136. Vaughn managed a bloop single in this game, raising his average to a robust .138. Miguel Vargas was also 1 for 4, and he's hitting just .149.

Those three guys are supposed to produce runs for the Sox. They aren't getting it done.

Edgar Quero, a top Sox catching prospect, made his MLB debut in this game. He went 0 for 3 with an HBP, a flyout to right field, a lineout to the pitcher and a strikeout.

The Sox are 4-14. Next up, a four-game series against the Boston Red Sox that starts Friday night at Fenway Park.

Mike Clevinger DFA'd; Edgar Quero coming soon

The White Sox on Wednesday announced that pitcher Mike Clevinger has been designated for assignment.

Steven Wilson had his contract selected from Triple-A Charlotte. He takes Clevinger's place in the Sox bullpen.

Clevinger is a classic case of the Sox holding onto a player much too long -- about two years too long in this case. The right-hander joined the Sox on a one-year deal in 2023 and was arguably their best starting pitcher that year. He posted a 3.2 WAR season and went 9-9 with a 3.77 ERA on a 101-loss team.

The Sox should have been happy with that and not pushed their luck. Instead, in the spring of 2024, Clevinger remained unsigned into April -- perhaps due to his injury history and off-field issues. Of course, the Sox just couldn't quit him and signed him to another one-year deal.

It was a disaster. 

Clevinger went 0-3 in just four starts. He was sidelined by elbow inflammation, and then eventually had disc replacement surgery on his neck that ended his season.

The signs were there to move on, but the Sox brought Clevinger back again in 2025 -- this time believing his stuff would "play up" in the bullpen. 

Wrong.

Clevinger has appeared in eight games this season, going 0-2 with a 7.94 ERA in 5.2 innings. He's walked eight guys and struck out only three. 

Even setting aside the off-field issues, it's clear Clevinger cannot pitch at this level any longer. The only thing he can get over the plate is a 92 mph fastball, and opposing batters have been hitting lasers all over the field.

The Sox have finally cut the cord. Is it a permanent parting of ways? We can only hope.

Quero gets call from Charlotte

The White Sox are promoting 22-year-old catcher Edgar Quero from Triple-A Charlotte, according to reports. A corresponding roster move is expected Thursday.

Quero is batting .333/.444/.412 over 15 games with the Knights this season. Earlier this week, he was on our list of players who could potentially be summoned from Triple-A.

The Sox (4-13) lost again Wednesday night, 3-1 to the Sacramento Athletics. Once again, a lack of offense was the problem. Certainly, it's not going to harm anything to give a chance to a young player who has a history of getting on base.

Right now, watching the Sox offense could put you to sleep. Anyone who can provide a spark would be welcome.

Sean Burke's April: It's not going well

The White Sox raised some eyebrows at the beginning of the 2024 season when they named Garrett Crochet their Opening Day starter.

Prior to that, Crochet had never started a game in the big leagues. Turns out, making Crochet a starter was a rare good decision in a historically terrible season. Crochet made the All-Star team and established himself as a clear top-of-the-rotation arm. 

He pitched so well that he got himself traded to the Boston Red Sox for four prospects, and Boston has since given him a lucrative six-year, $170 million contract extension.

Fast-forward to 2025, and the Sox once again raised some eyebrows when they announced Sean Burke would be their Opening Day starter. 

Burke made three strong September starts last season, winning two of them, but it was still curious that the Sox decided to trust a pitcher with only 19 major league innings under his belt with a high-profile start.

That said, the Sox lacked options, and perhaps they earned the benefit of the doubt after their bold decision on Crochet last season came up aces.

Initially, Burke rewarded the Sox for their faith. He fired six scoreless innings on Opening Day and picked up the win. But man, in the three starts since then, it has been rough. Here are Burke's most recent pitching lines:

April 2 vs. Minnesota: 4.1 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 K, 0 BBs

April 9 at Cleveland: 3 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 Ks, 4 BBs 

Tuesday vs. Sacramento: 3.1 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 Ks, 2 BBs

Fourteen earned runs in 10.2 innings over three starts isn't going to cut it. Burke is now 1-3 with a 7.56 ERA after taking the loss in Tuesday's 12-3 defeat to the Athletics.

Three batters into the game, Tyler Soderstrom hit a 3-run homer to put Sacramento up 3-0. The Sox got that back in the bottom of the first when Andrew Vaughn answered with his second home run of the season, a 3-run shot that tied the score.

But Burke continued to struggle, giving up a run in the second and another run in the third, before he failed to make it through the fourth inning. The Athletics pounded lumps on the Sox bullpen, and this was never much of a game.

My initial thought is to send Burke back to Triple-A Charlotte to work out his problems. Unfortunately, the Sox are lacking in starting pitching options with Drew Thorpe, Ky Bush and Mason Adams all done for the season with elbow injuries.

Thorpe was projected to be part of the major league rotation this season, but he's not available. Bush and Adams were supposed to be the top two guys in the Charlotte rotation this season. Coming into the year, I figured we would see both in Chicago at some point. Because of injury, we will not.

So what other options are there in Charlotte? None, frankly. Jairo Iriarte has walked nine batters in nine innings, and he's got an 8.00 ERA. Nick Nastrini has a 6.17 ERA, and he has nothing that can get left-handed batters out. I think his future is in the bullpen. Justin Dunn (7.11) is a 29-year-old journeyman who hasn't distinguished himself.

Those are the top three in the Charlotte rotation. Pitching struggles are the reason the Knights are 6-10. Despite Burke's issues, there may be no other choice than to let him work his problems out in the Chicago rotation.

The Sox are 4-12.

Triple-A Charlotte: Is there anyone else for the White Sox to call up?

Chase Meidroth got called up from Triple-A Charlotte last Thursday, and his first three games as a member of the White Sox went well.

In 10 plate appearances against the Boston Red Sox, Meidroth went 3 for 7 with three singles, three walks and three runs scored. He played both second base and shortstop, and while I think he's better served at second base, Meidroth played mistake-free defense at both positions over the weekend.

It was a positive first impression, and that leads to this question: Is there anyone else in Charlotte who can help the White Sox now? Here are some notable names and how they are faring:

Edgar Quero, C: Quero has perhaps the most impressive stats of any of the Knights regulars. He's batting .326/.448/.418. That's 15 for 46 with 14 strikeouts and 11 walks. The only downside is Quero has only one double, one homer and four RBIs. Thirteen of his 15 hits are singles. There hasn't been much slugging in his game, but he's been getting on base. One thing we can't tell from the statistics is how Quero is doing defensively, and that's always a thing with catchers. It's the most important defensive position on the field, and it's more than offense that dictates when a catcher gets his chance.

Kyle Teel, C: Speaking of catchers, Teel is perhaps the most promising position player prospect in Chicago's system. He was the key player acquired in the deal where the White Sox sent ace lefty Garrett Crochet to Boston over the offseason. Teel's first three games of 2025 could not have gone any better. He started 6 for 12 with two homers and nine RBIs. But since then, he's fallen on hard times. He's in the midst of a 4-for-40 skid. He hasn't had a home run or an RBI since those first three games. His current slash line? .192/.323/.385. It's nothing to worry about this early in the season, but Teel is not a candidate for Chicago at this time because he's struggling. I believe in calling guys up when they are swinging the bat well.

Tim Elko, 1B: If there's one guy who probably should get a shot now, it's the 26-year-old Elko, who has hit at every level and has little to prove in the minor leagues. He's batting .365/.435/.448 with a homer, two doubles and seven RBIs through 12 games. Elko hasn't displayed much home run power yet this season, but we know it's in there. He had 28 homers in 2023 and 18 last season. The Sox are in need of a power bat in their lineup. They recently endured an 0-6 road trip during which they did not hit a single home run. The concern with Elko is always his high strikeout rate. He has 16 Ks in 46 plate appearances this season. But we are reaching a point where the Sox should find out whether Elko has anything to offer. 

Colson Montgomery, SS: Remember when Montgomery was considered Plan A at shortstop for the Sox this season? That idea went down in flames when Montgomery had a back injury and an unproductive spring training. The woes have continued through this opening stretch of the regular season. Montgomery is just 6 for 49, and he's already struck out a whopping 26 times. His batting line is .122/.204/.245. Apparently, Montgomery was 2 for 4 with his second home run of the season on Sunday, so I guess that's something. However, there's no indication that we'll see Montgomery anytime soon. In fact, he's struggled so mightily that I wonder why the front office was so bullish on him coming into the year.

Corey Julks, OF: The Sox are decimated by outfield injuries, with Mike Tauchman, Andrew Benintendi and Austin Slater on the IL. So, I was looking to see if there was anyone playing well in Charlotte who can stand at a corner outfield spot. The only guy I see is the erstwhile Julks, who appeared in 66 games with the Sox last season and batted only .214. But hey, he's batting .370/.452/.519 in 10 games with the Knights this year! Yes, he's a classic Quad-A player, but I wanted to put five guys on this list, so there you have it.

White Sox take 2 of 3 from Red Sox

The Boston broadcasting booth might have given the White Sox some bulletin board material before the start of this weekend's three-game series at Rate Field.

During a Thursday game between the Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays, play-by-play man Dave O'Brien stated, "The White Sox invent ways to lose games." Color commentator Will Middlebrooks added, "The trip to Chicago could be coming at a perfect time." 

Now we all get to laugh and point at Boston because the White Sox surprised most observers by taking two out of three games. Here's a look back at the weekend that was:

Friday, April 11

White Sox 11, Red Sox 1: We're used to Chicago prospects coming up and looking terrible in their major league debuts, so it was refreshing to see Chase Meidroth make a positive first impression.

The rookie middle infielder went 1 for 1 with a single, three walks and two runs scored. It's pretty cool to make four plate appearances in your first game and come out with a 1.000 on-base percentage. Meidroth became the first White Sox player to walk three times in his MLB debut since Ray Morehart on Aug. 9, 1924. 

They should give free admission to anyone who saw Morehart play, but I digress.

Boston committed five errors in this game, leading to six unearned runs for the White Sox. Michael A. Taylor went 3 for 5 with three runs scored, and Lenyn Sosa had two hits and two RBIs to lead the South Siders' offense.

The 12-hit attack made life easy for starting pitcher Davis Martin (1-1), who worked six-plus innings and allowed just one run to pick up the victory. The right-hander struck out six and walked one.

Saturday, April 12

White Sox 3, Red Sox 2: Boston starting pitcher Richard Fitts was sailing along with a 2-0 lead through five innings, but the White Sox caught a break when Fitts departed in the sixth after experiencing pain in his pitching shoulder.

Reliever Zack Kelly walked Miguel Vargas, and one out later, Luis Robert Jr. connected for his first home run of the season to tie the score at 2.

It remained even until the bottom of the ninth, when Robert Jr. worked a leadoff walk against Boston closer Aroldis Chapman. Robert Jr. eventually stole second and scored the winning run on a pinch-hit single by Brooks Baldwin.

Four Sox relievers combined to work 4.1 innings of scoreless ball. Most of the credit goes to Mike Vasil, who pitched two innings, and Jordan Leasure who got five outs across the eighth and ninth innings. Tyler Gilbert (1-0) was awarded the victory after he recorded the final out in the top of the ninth.

Sunday, April 13

Red Sox 3, White Sox 1: Former Chicago lefty Garrett Crochet got his revenge, taking a no-hitter and a 2-0 lead into the eighth inning in the series finale.

In an interesting twist, Meidroth singled with one out in the eighth to break up the no-no. Most fans will recall that Meidroth was one of four players the White Sox acquired from Boston in the Crochet trade this past winter.

Meidroth eventually scored when Matt Thaiss singled off reliever Garrett Whitlock to slash the Boston lead to 2-1. In fact, the White Sox had runners on second and third with only one out, but they could not tie or take the lead. Pinch hitter Joshua Palacios struck out, and Vargas flew out to left to end the threat.

Trevor Story homered in the top of the ninth to restore the Red Sox lead to two runs, and Chapman got three outs in the bottom of the inning to pick up the save. Crochet struck out 11 and allowed only one hit and one walk in 7.1 innings pitched.

It was a tough-luck loss for Shane Smith (0-1), who allowed two runs over six strong innings. Smith's ERA is a respectable 2.04 through his first three MLB starts. Unfortunately, run support has mostly eluded him to this point in the season.

The White Sox are now 4-11. They'll take Monday off before hosting a three-game series against the Sacramento Athletics. I'm not sure we're supposed to call the A's that, but hey, they play their home games in Sacramento, so there's that.