If the White Sox weren't sufficiently humiliated from the way Tuesday's game got away from them, they should've gotten their fill of embarrassment by the way this one started.
The White Sox fell behind 2-0 on a trio of plays not made by Yoán Moncada. Only the first one was truly unacceptable -- with a runner on first, he waited back on a chopper by Amed Rosario, took his time to line up his throw, and ended up getting the ball to first a step late, which made Lance Lynn deal with runners on first and second with nobody out.
He then could've turned a fantastic 5-3 double play with the bases loaded to end the frame without a run scored, but his off-balance throw to first after stepping on third gave José Abreu an in-between hop he couldn't handle. The error gave Josh Naylor an extra 90 feet to occupy third base, which mattered when Moncada's sliding attempt on Andres Gimenez's grounder only blocked the ball for an infield single.
The White Sox only trailed 2-0 at that point, but as Triston McKenzie posted easy zeroes, it felt larger. And that was eventually reaffirmed when the Guardians extended their lead to 6-0 after the top of the fourth, including a three-run third that started with Andrew Vaughn dropping a shallow Naylor fly to left after Moncada cleared the area late.
The White Sox looked completely out of it, when Lynn reacting with disgust and wandering around the infield grass instead of backing up third base or home.
It was a minor miracle the Sox weren't shut out. Moncada of all people ensured that, answering Steven Kwan's leadoff homer in the top of the fourth with one of his own in the bottom of that inning. The Sox added a second run in the seventh on a Gavin Sheets RBI single, but at that point, but it didn't matter.
McKenzie, who struck out 14 White Sox without a walk his last time out, came up one short of tying that career high tonight. He fanned a baker's dozen while only throwing 100 pitches over eight innings, because the Sox couldn't work a single walk.
Elvis Andrus and Andrew Vaughn both struck out three times apiece, although Andrus contributed a couple of fine defensive plays to distinguish himself in one regard.
Bullet points:
*The White Sox now trail by six games, and it's seven with the tiebreaker. Their tragic number is down to eight.
*Lynn at least went six innings to spare the bullpen, and three of his six runs allowed were unearned thanks to the two errors. It probably should've only been two.
