The White Sox offense has a way of providing unintentional solace.
Garrett Crochet had his first unsalvageable start of his big league career, as he gave up three homers over three-plus innings, including a pair of three-run shots by Alec Bohm ... and yet the extent of his struggles don't really register when even a solo shot would've provided an insurmountable margin.
His counterpart, Spencer Turnbull, carried a no-hitter in the seventh inning en route to the White Sox's seventh shutout of the season. The Sox have been blanked at least once in each of their first seven series this season, and now they're blazing their own historic trail, because not even the 1907 Brooklyn Superbas were shut out seven times in the first 19 games.
If you're only concerned about Crochet, his start probably would've been a loss with even better luck, but he was a handful of feet from a much better night. Both of Bohm's homers came with two outs, both were on pitches that were technically out of the strike zone, and both barely left the yard.
In the first, Bohm redirected a 97 mph fastball up and away out to right field. Statcast says it would've only been a homer in two of 30 parks, but Citizens Bank Park was one of them, and it gave the Phillies a 3-0 lead.
With two down in the third, Crochet tried a full-count slider below the zone, but it crossed over the heart of the plate, even if slightly below the knees, and Bohm golfed it out to left center. It, too, barely left the yard, but Statcast said it would've been a homer in 21 of 30 parks, and it probably would've been a two-run double if it didn't clear a fence.
Whit Merrifield then added insult to injury with a solo shot on another two-strike slider that wasn't buried enough to start the fourth, and that ended Crochet's night. Crochet's ERA jumped to 5.61 on the season as he's given up 12 runs over his last 7⅔ innings.
Credit for Chris Flexen making the rest of the game digestible. He gave the White Sox four scoreless innings out of the bullpen while just allowing a single, and Tim Hill kept the ball on the ground during a scoreless ninth.
As for the White Sox offense, Turnbull made a run at his second no-hitter until Gavin Sheets' soft line-drive single to right broke up the bid. Nicky Lopez added an infield single in the eighth, and those two base hits and three walks represented the entire White Sox offense. It doesn't figure to get any easier the rest of the weekend, as they'll face Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola the next two days.
Bullet points:
*The White Sox offense did not not register an exit velocity of 100 mph.
*Baseball-Reference.com says three teams had been shut out six times over 19 games, but the White Sox stand alone for the time being. If they can muster a run tomorrow, those 1907 Superbas, as well as the 1987 Royals, will return as running mates with seven shutouts in 20 games.
*The 2004 Montreal Expos -- the last year they were the Montreal Expos -- scored 34 runs through their first 19 games, so these White Sox still aren't off to the least productive start this century, even though they remain stuck at 38 runs.
