Twins 6, White Sox 3: Losing ugly
Eight straight losses at Target Field for Chicago; South Siders on pace for just 20 wins in 2024
Whew, friends. This season has been UGLY. Honestly, my brain is a bit overloaded with abysmal baseball, and I’m running out of different ways to say, “Man, this team stinks!” Yet, here we are again — another evening of lousy play.
And man, this team stinks.
It didn’t take long for things to go south tonight. After a quick first inning, Garrett Crochet couldn’t buy an out in the bottom of the second. After a walk to Carlos Santana and a double by Austin Martin, Christian Vázquez singled home Santana for the contest’s first run. The southpaw struck out Kyle Farmer for the first out, and then Willi Castro launched a three-run dinger to left field to put the Minnesota Twins up, 4-0.
In the top of the third, the South Siders answered the call with two solo shots by Kevin Pillar and Korey Lee, making it 4-2. I need to take a moment here to plead, “Please, please, Pedro. PLAY LEE!” Use Martín Maldonado as a coach, fine, but Lee needs to be the everyday catcher.
The Good Guys tacked on another tally in the top of the fifth via some entertaining baseball. With Braden Shewmake on second and Lee on first, Shewmake stole third. Then, the White Sox put on the double steal with a full count on Danny Mendick. As Mendick struck out, Lee stole second, and Shewmake stole home. OK, it’s 4-3. Not bad.
Crochet settled in after that rough second, and things were fairly quiet until the bottom fell out in the fifth. Pedro pulled the lefty for Deivi García after Manuel Margot led off with a double. García couldn’t stop the bleeding, allowing Margot to score on a single by Max Kepler, who also eventually came around to cross the plate on a wild pitch.
And that was the ballgame, 6-3, Minnesota. Crochet takes the loss and is now 1-4 on the season with a 6.37 ERA, and the squad falls to 3-21 — another day, another L.
Futility Watch
White Sox 2024 Record 3-21, worst 24-game start in White Sox history (beating out 1948, at 4-19-1), tied with three teams for second-worst in MLB history
White Sox 2024 Run Differential -82, tied for seventh-worst 24-game start in MLB history
White Sox 2024 Season Record Pace 20-142 (.125)
Race to the Worst-Ever White Sox Record (1932, 52-109-1*) 32 1⁄2 games ahead
Race to the Most-Ever White Sox Losses (1970, 106) 36 games ahead
Race to the Worst-Ever American League Record (1916 A’s, 38-124*) 18 games ahead
Race to the Worst-Ever MLB Record (1899 Spiders, 21-141*) 1 game ahead
*record adjusted to a 162-game season