Tim Elko's home run lifts White Sox to series win over Marlins

First baseman Tim Elko got his long-awaited call-up to the White Sox on Saturday. He went 1 for 6 in the last two games of the weekend series against the Miami Marlins, but it was a big one -- a 3-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning Sunday that put the Sox ahead to stay in a series-clinching win.

Elko's presence also seemed to wake up incumbent first baseman Andrew Vaughn. For the three-game series, Vaughn went an ordinary 3 for 12, but it was a big three -- two solo home runs and an RBI single.

One thing the Sox need to do better is create roster competition. There are a handful of guys -- and Vaughn is one -- who haven't had their spot on the team challenged in years.

Everyone should have a little bit of fear that they might lose their job. It's what prevents you from coasting, from going through the motions. Watching the Sox the past several years, you always had the feeling that certain guys thought they were above reproach.

Let's hope that feeling starts to dissipate. Here's a look at the games from the weekend:

Friday, May 9

White Sox 6, Marlins 2: The Sox scored three runs in the seventh to snap a 2-2 tie. Josh Rojas singled, advanced to third on a double by Lenyn Sosa and scored on a sacrifice fly by Brooks Baldwin.

Sosa also advanced on the sac fly, and he scored on a bunt single by Jacob Amaya. Later in the inning, Matt Thaiss worked a bases-loaded walk to cap the decisive rally that put the Sox ahead 5-2. They tacked on a run in the eighth when Rojas scored on a wild pitch.

Bryse Wilson had a good five-inning start for the Sox, allowing only one run on three hits. He did not figure in the decision, however.

Saturday, May 10

Marlins 3, White Sox 1: Vaughn's home run in the first inning turned out to be the only Sox run of the game, as the South Siders wasted six shutout innings from starting pitcher Shane Smith.  

Smith fanned seven, did not walk a batter and allowed only four hits, but he once again suffered from lack of run support, and the Sox bullpen could not hold the slim 1-0 lead it inherited. 

The Marlins tied the game in the seventh and added two runs in the eighth.

Back to Smith, he has started eight games for the Sox and allowed only 10 earned runs. That's excellent starting pitching, but the Sox are only 1-7 in his starts. The South Siders have scored only 15 runs in those eight games. 

Sunday, May 11

White Sox 4, Marlins 2: Vaughn's RBI single in the first inning gave the Sox an early lead, but the Marlins tied it at 1 in the fourth.

That set the stage for Elko in the sixth. After singles by Thaiss and Joshua Palacios, the rookie hit a pitch from Sandy Alcantara 381 feet into the left-field seats to put the Sox ahead, 4-1.

That made a winner out of Mike Vasil (2-1), who tossed three innings of one-run relief in place of starter Sean Burke, who struggled through four innings with five walks.

Tyler Gilbert worked a scoreless eighth, and Cam Booser got three outs in the ninth for his first save of the season. That's only the second save the Sox have as a team.

The Sox are 12-29. They are a normal bad team at home, with a 10-11 record at Rate Field. However, they are 3-17 on the road. They'll seek to improve that this week, as they open a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night.

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.

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.