Reds 3, White Sox 1: Offense fails again

... but Michael Soroka pitched like an ace

As we creep closer to Opening Day, these spring training games get a tad bit more meaningful. Yoán Moncada was a late scratch at third base, and I had a minor panic attack that he was injured again until I saw Daryl’s tweet.

It looks like just your run-of-the-mill sickness. We’re sending some get-well-soon vibes to Yoyo.

The White Sox also announced a few roster moves right before game time.

OK, on to the action. Today’s game had some potential excitement, so we’ll start with the good news.

Michael Soroka was outstanding again. Unfortunately, I did not have access to the radio broadcast due to blackout restrictions — please deal with this already, MLB — so I can’t provide you with specific details about how his pitch selection and movement looked. Still, I’m assuming it must have been pretty darn good because he struck out five of the 14 batters he faced in four innings of work. He also lowered his ERA to 1.38 and hasn’t surrendered an earned run in his last two outings.

If this is the Soroka we get in the 2024 regular season, fans might forget about Chris Getz shipping Dylan Cease off to the West Coast. Soroka was one of the five players who came over to Chicago in the Aaron Bummer trade, and while the righty was throwing strikes for the Sox today, Bummer was doing this for the Atlanta Braves:

Maybe it wasn’t the bad White Sox defense after all, Aaron.

Speaking of poor defense, a throwing error by Martín Maldonado was responsible for an unearned run in the top of the fourth. Soroka walked Elly De La Cruz, who went to third when Maldonado tried to throw him out at second. De La Cruz scored on a ground out by Christian Encarnación-Strand.

Solid pitching was the overall theme today for the most part. In the fifth, Jake Cousins pitched a shutout inning in relief of Soroka. Cousins, who grew up in St. Charles, Ill., continued to make his case for a bullpen slot. He struck out two batters this afternoon, bringing his total in his six innings this spring to 10. The South Siders signed the righthander to a minor league contract last December. He previously pitched from 2021-23 with the Milwaukee Brewers. Michael Kopech also pitched an inning, with one walk and one strikeout. And Touki Toussaint had two good innings to finish the game, with two walks and two punchouts.

The only pen arm that struggled today was Chad Kuhl. He came on for the seventh and gave up solo shots to Encarnacion-Strand and Luke Maile and a walk to Bubba Thompson. Pedro Grifol lifted Kuhl after two outs and let Yoelvín Silven get the final out to close out the inning.

And then we have the offense. Despite 10 hits on the day, it was ugly. Overall, the club went 1-for-12 with RISP. Their only run — unearned, mind you — came in the fourth when Luis Robert Jr. reached first on a fielding error, and Andrew Vaughn drove him in with a double to left. They had a prime opportunity to do damage in the sixth but completely booted it with the bases loaded and nobody out, leaving everyone stranded.

The team gets right back at it tomorrow against the Kansas City Royals at 3:05 p.m. CST. Garrett Crochet will get a final tuneup before his big Opening Day debut next week. Check back here at South Side Sox for all your coverage.