White Sox 2, Nationals 0: Garrett Crochet fought the battle and grabbed the victory
The South Siders get their second straight shutout and series win
The offense was scarce, but the pitching was dominant, helping the White Sox win their second straight series. Hit king Tommy Pham and young stud Korey Lee drove in enough runs to secure the W, and Chicago is now 7-3 over its last 10 games.
Garrett Crochet earned his third consecutive win despite struggling with his command today. He walked three batters, a significant change from his previous two starts, with no free passes. Although he had a rough, 26-pitch first inning, Crochet became more efficient as the game progressed, ultimately not allowing any runs on three hits while striking out six over five innings. The southpaw has made great strides as a starter but needs to work on pitching deeper into games, as he has only pitched more than five innings in three out of his 10 starts.
Today, Chicago only had two tallies, but it was enough to get the job done. In the bottom of the third, Zach Remillard led off with a walk. After Braden Shewmake hit into a force out, Pham doubled Remillard home, giving the Sox a 1-0 lead.
Lee tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when he drove home Andrew Benintendi, who had smacked a two-bagger to left field in the prior at-bat. The backstop has been fantastic both behind and at the plate in 2024, slashing .309/.341/.494 with a .835 OPS after a challenging run in 2023. With Edgar Quero burning up Double-A, the Sox may actually find themselves with depth at the catching position in the future, something they haven’t had in a very long time.
Here’s a special defensive shout-out to Remillard, who made this exceptional grab in the second to strand Riley Adams, who had doubled.
The bullpen was terrific again, blanking the Washington Nationals for two games in a row. Jared Shuster pitched two pristine innings with one K, and Jordan Leasure tossed one inning also with one strikeout. Fans can rag on Rick Hahn as much as we want, but those 2023 trade deadline deals are working out pretty darn well with Leasure and Lee, plus at least three players burning it up pretty well in the minors.
Michael Kopech got the ninth and made us all a little sick to our stomachs, as Wild Thing was all over the place. While the former starter seems to have embraced his newly-minted closer role, he has yet to harness command of his pitches. The righthander ultimately earned his fifth save of the season, but not before he put the tying and go-ahead runs on via the free pass. It makes the end of the game more exciting, I suppose? Someone remind MK he doesn’t need to put runners on in the ninth to secure a save.
Thursday is an off-day for the South Siders, who will be in the Big Apple for a weekend series against the AL-best New York Yankees.
Futility Watch
White Sox 2024 Record 14-30, third-worst 44-game start in White Sox history (1 1⁄2 games behind the 1948 White Sox) and tied for the 77th-worst start in MLB history
White Sox 2024 Run Differential -87, tied for the 47th-worst 44-game start in MLB history
White Sox 2024 Season Record Pace 52-110 (.318)
Race to the Worst “Modern” 162-Game Record (2003 Tigers, 43-119) 9 games behind
Race to the Worst “Modern” Record in a 162-Game Season (1962 Mets, 40-120) 11 games behind
Race to the Most White Sox Losses (1970, 106) 4 games ahead
Race to the Worst White Sox Record (1932, 52-109-1*) 1⁄2 games ahead
Race to the Worst American League Record (1916 A’s, 38-124*) 14 games behind
*record adjusted to a 162-game season