Sean Burke pitches well, but White Sox offense is for the birds as they fall to Orioles, 2-1
No, the South Siders couldn’t figure out ... Zach Eflin
With the two worst teams in the American League facing off, it’s no surprise it was close, or that the edge went to Birds who sit on wires and not Sox who get flung over them.
Neither team got two runners on in an inning until the sixth, and the only runner in scoring position came in the Baltimore first when Jackson Holiday got hit by as pitch and stole second. Will Venable’s strategy of using Jared Shuster as an opener worked, and after he tossed an inning and a batter Sean Burke followed up strong through the fifth.
Then came the sixth, and Edgar Quero sure wishes he could have both halves of that inning back. The rookie, who’s been solid so far, led off the top half with a single, followed by one by Lenyn Sosa. But when Josh Rojas let a low pitch go by on a bunt attempt, Quero got caught cheating off of second base:
Rojas flew out and Chase Meidroth grounded to short, and that was that (Meidroth’s 15-game on-base streak ended after an 0-for-4 day).
Then in the bottom half Adley Rutschman led off with a single and went to third on a Gunnar Henderson double. Meidroth made an excellent stop on a Ryan Mountcastle shot to hold Rutschman, but couldn’t get up to throw, so the bases were loaded with no outs. The Orioles scored one on a sac fly, and then, with two outs and runners on first and third, did some running:
Presumably the bench called for a throw-through, but the return throw (weak, and wide left from Sosa) never had a chance to catch Mountcastle. That put the Orioles up, 2-0, which would be all the scoring they got, or needed. (It may have been a costly run for the O’s, though, because Mountcastle left the game with hamstring soreness.)
The White Sox got two on with one out in the seventh on a Miguel Vargas walk and Andrew Benintendi single, but Luis Robert Jr. struck out for the third time in the game, and Joshua Palacios got K’ed on a dubious call. At least Chicago saw a lot of pitches and got Zach Eflin out of the game after seven innings of four-hit, one-walk, six strikeout ball.
The Sox went down 1-2-3 in the eighth, which led to a ninth inning against Felix Bautista, who’s had a lousy year so far but is still being trusted to close for some reason.
Mike Tauchman laced a one-out double, and Vargas struck out Then Benintendi hit what looked to be the final out of the game, but the was misplayed by Cooper Hummel (only in because Mountcastle was hurt) appearing in a first game for the Orioles he’d just as soon forget:
Up came Robert, who laced a very loud foul before accepting a walk. But Palacios struck out, legitimately this time, to end the game.
The Sox are now 18-39 and 2 1⁄2 games behind the Orioles for 14th in the AL. The two teams are scheduled to do battle at 3:05 p.m. Central tomorrow, Davis Martin vs. Dean Kremer.
Futility Watch
White Sox 2025 Record: 18-39, tied for the second-worst start in White Sox history and tied for the 66th-worst start in baseball history. A 18-39 record projects to 51-111 over a full season. A year ago, the record-breaking White Sox were 15-42.
All-Time White Sox Record (1901-2025, 19,263 games) 9,612-9,651 (.4990). It’s been 101 games since the White Sox had an all-time winning record.
Record Since the New Pope Was Revealed as a White Sox Fan 8-11
- Race to the Worst “Modern” 162-Game Record (2024 White Sox, 41-121)
- Race to the Worst “Modern” Record in a 162-Game Season (1962 Mets, 40-120-1, finished three percentage points worse than the 2024 White Sox)
- Race to the Most White Sox Losses (2024, 121)
- Race to the Worst White Sox Record (2024, 41-121)
10 games better, in all cases
Race to the Worst Post-1899 Record (1916 A’s, 38-124 adjusted to 162 games) 13 games better