Andrew Benintendi homers twice, but sloppy White Sox drop finale with Cubs as second-half surge slows
Andrew Benintendi saved the White Sox from back-to-back days scoring a single run.
But not even two homers from the Sox’ left fielder could restart the team’s second-half surge, which slowed dramatically with consecutive losses to the Crosstown-rival Cubs, the second a 5-4 defeat Sunday at Rate Field.
After scoring 61 runs and winning six times in their first seven games out of the All-Star break – including a 12-5 thumping of the Cubs on Friday – the bats quieted, doing little in between Benintendi’s first-inning solo shot and his three-run blast in the eighth inning.
It was a nice day for the veteran, who stands as one of the few remaining vestiges of the last time the franchise was in contention mode, his club-record free-agent deal inked prior to a 2023 season that started with postseason aspirations before it fell apart and ended with 101 losses.
“Today was the first day in a while I squared up a few balls and hit the ball hard,” Benintendi said, evaluating his individual play of late. “I’m just trying to build on that.”
Should center fielder Luis Robert Jr., who returned to the lineup Sunday after missing the previous two games, be traded before Thursday’s deadline, the team’s brief moment of contention will seem even further away.
Sunday was a reminder, though, that the organization’s current rebuild isn’t exactly nearing the finish line, with the Sox playing sloppily throughout.
Second baseman Lenyn Sosa was fooled when Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner intentionally let an infield fly drop and took off for third base, thrown out for an inning-ending double play.
Later in the game, the Sox botched a rundown that started when catcher Edgar Quero caught a runner off first base. Cubs left fielder Ian Happ tried to score from second on the play and was caught in his own rundown between third and home, eventually awarded the plate when he crashed into an obstructing Colson Montgomery on the way back to third base.
That was one of two errors charged to Montgomery on Sunday and one of three Sox errors.
“It’s a big play. It’s a big run,” manager Will Venable said after his Sox’ 24th one-run loss. “Those mistakes hurt you, and it hurt us today.”
Much like Venable’s predecessor, Pedro Grifol, was brought in as part of an effort to clean up fundamental mistakes, part of Venable’s role in the Sox’ latest rebuild is to lead a staff capable of minimizing days like Sunday.
“Those are things that we’re always working on. We’re always trying to figure out how to coach those things better,” Venable said. “The infield-fly rule, that’s something that we’ve been proactive about and talking about, and we still didn’t get it right.
“We have to look ourselves in the mirror and figure out a better way to coach that. Certainly, we’re going to readjust, and as we continue to make mistakes, it’s on us to figure out how to get it right.”
Thankfully for Venable, his team is faring better than Grifol’s did last year, at 38-68 rather than the 27-79 mark the 2024 edition posted through 106 games.
But 30 games under .500 is still no picnic, and they’re on pace for a third straight 100-loss season.
Going 1-5 against the Cubs this year was another reminder.
“We all care about this game a lot. We know the fan bases care about it a lot,” starting pitcher Sean Burke said. “It’s a sense of pride being able to beat them. It’s frustrating not being able to get it done this year.
“But luckily, we see them next year. And the year after that. We’ll have to keep playing better and keep improving as a team so when we see them again, we are able to play a lot better and go out there and win those series.”