The bats have vanished at the worst possible moment.
Chicago squandered scoring opportunities in consecutive innings, went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and fell to the Pirates, 4-2, on Wednesday night. Pittsburgh takes the series, but at least the Guardians did us a favor by losing to Baltimore, so the AL Central gap holds at two.
It didn’t look good out of the gate when Davis Martin labored through a 16-pitch first inning, walking the first two batters he faced. Pitching coach Zach Bove visited the mound after the second free pass, and whatever he said appeared to work. Martin regrouped to retire Bryan Reynolds on a fly ball before inducing an inning-ending double play from Nick Gonzales.
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The Sox teased Martin with a shot at a lead after Benintendi ripped a one-out double in the first. Naturally, he never left second base.
Martin received a generous offering from the baseball luck gods in the second. Oneil Cruz led off with a single, but Esmerlyn Valdez followed with a .960 xBA liner directly to Sam Antonacci at second. Antonacci doubled Cruz off first, quickly erasing the threat.
Chicago pieced together another two-out chance in the bottom half. Braden Montgomery worked a walk, and Tristan Peters stayed hot and dumped a curve into right. Enter old pal Brandon Eisert, who promptly fanned Teel and left both runners stranded.
Martin settled in from there, retiring the Pirates in order on nine pitches in the third. Brandon Lowe opened the fourth with a single and advanced to second on Reynolds’ fly out, but Martin stranded him by retiring the next two hitters.
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The Pirates finally cracked Martin in the fifth when Valdez launched a leadoff solo homer. Jacob Gonzalez added a two-out single, but Martin held it down and completed five innings.
Martin’s final line — one run on four hits and two walks with one strikeout — gave the White Sox every opportunity to win. That generally requires scoring, however, and Chicago’s bats had no answers for Eisert or anyone else Pittsburgh sent to the mound.
Sean Newcomb replaced Martin in the sixth and escaped immediate trouble with some help from another double play. He surrendered a leadoff single and another one-out knock before getting Cruz to ground into an inning-ending twin killing.
The White Sox put two aboard with two outs in the bottom half after a pitch hit Munetaka Murakami and Randal Grichuk singled. Murakami’s plate appearance at least ended his run of eight consecutive at-bats with a K. Colson Montgomery, however, followed with a punchout to extinguish another threat.
Colson, buddy, the strike zone is the big box in the middle.
Newcomb’s luck ran out in the seventh. He walked Valdez before a swinging bunt, and another single produced Pittsburgh’s second run. After a stolen base, Konnor Griffin drove in two more with a single, stretching the Pirates’ advantage to 4-0.
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Chris Murphy entered and stopped the bleeding by striking out Lowe and retiring Reynolds on a grounder, but it was too late as the damage had been done.
The Good Guys finally scratched out a run in the bottom of the seventh. Braden walked, Chase Meidroth won a 10-pitch battle with an infield single and Teel drew a six-pitch walk to pack the sacks with one out.
Antonacci then hit a 103 mph grounder to first baseman Spencer Horwitz. Pitcher Camilo Doval failed to cover first, allowing Antonacci to reach and Braden to score while keeping the bases loaded. The mental mistake cracked the door open, but Miguel Vargas promptly slammed it shut by hitting into an inning-ending double play.
Tempers flared between innings when Antonacci seemed to stick out an elbow sliding into second. Lowe barked, benches and bullpens spilled out, but nothing came of it. Credit to Antonacci: With the bats offering no spark, the kid tried to create one himself.
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The White Sox showed another glimpse of life in the eighth when Mune led off with a solo homer, cutting the deficit to 4-2. Grichuk followed with a single, and Braden doubled after Colson struck out, putting two runners in scoring position.
Peters followed by wearing one to load the bases for Meidroth, who smoked a 100.2 mph liner ( .800 xBA). Unfortunately for the White Sox, it went directly to the third baseman, who stepped on the bag for an unassisted double play. Of course.
Trevor Richards pitched two scoreless innings to keep Chicago within striking distance, but the Sox went quietly in the ninth.
Martin gutted out five solid innings and gave his team a chance. The bullpen kept the game manageable outside Newcomb’s meltdown. Even some of the White Sox’s contact deserved a better fate. None of that matters much, though, when an offense repeatedly fails to deliver with runners on.
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The South Siders will have one more chance to salvage a game from Pittsburgh tomorrow night. Same time, same place — and, one would hope, a few more clutch hits.
MVP
Davis Martin: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, K, L
Runners-Up
Munetaka Murakami: 1-for-3, R, RBI, HR, 2 K
Trevor Richards: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
Chris Murphy: 2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, K
Sam Antonacci: 1-for-5, RBI, K
Braden Montgomery: 1-for-2, R, 2 BB, 2B
Cold Cat
Sean Newcomb: 1 1/3 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB
Runners-Up
Colson Montgomery: 0-for-4, 3 K
Miguel Vargas: 0-for-3, 2 K
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