Give the White Sox this: They wasted no time spoiling the no-hit and shutout bids they entertained for far too long the previous two nights. Robbie Grossman singled off Aaron Nola with one out in the first inning, and Eloy Jiménez followed with a 421-foot blast to left center for a quick 2-0 lead.
Knock the White Sox for this: everything that followed.
Whether Nick Nastrini's command regressed from its best possible showing in his debut, or whether he was unnerved by a crowd literally four times the size, he had a hard time throwing strikes, even when he got ahead 0-2.
He was backed by a defense that, Braden Shewmake aside, hemorrhaged extra bases.
Meanwhile, the White Sox offense only mustered two other hits and two walks over the remaining eight innings, and Nola only had to throw 86 pitches to get through eight before Rob Thomson gave the ball to Yunior Marte for low-leverage work.
The end result was a three-game sweep in which they were outscored by an Eagles-Bears margin, 24-7.
Nastrini lost the lead four batters into the game. He could blame himself for the two walks to start his afternoon, and also for Bryce Harper's single up the middle. He couldn't blame himself for Trea Turner pantsing Lenyn Sosa. With runners on the corners, Harper took off for second on what turned out to be strike three on JT Realmuto. Harper then retreated to first with Sosa in pursuit, and even though Sosa spent the entire time watching Turner, he still wasn't prepared to throw it when Turner took off for home. He flung the ball wide of Martín Maldonado, and not only did the run score, but Harper ended up taking second, and scoring on Brandon Marsh's two-out single for a 3-2 Philadelphia lead.
An extra 90 feet was a recurring theme over the innings that followed. The Phillies stole four bases, and twice the trailing runner advanced on hopeless Andrew Benintendi throws home.
That didn't help Nastrini and Co., all of whom needed support. Nastrini ended up allowing six hits and five walks over three-plus innings, including three free passes to Kyle Schwarber. On the four plate appearances where Nastrini got ahead 0-2, the Phillies reached three times, and those at-bats required 15 extra pitches.
It wasn't much easier for the pitchers that followed. Tanner Banks allowed both inherited runners to score, including one on an Alec Bohm RBI double on which Robbie Grossman fell down. Deivi García allowed a solo shot to Schwarber, Jordan Leasure got dinged for a couple of hits for his first run allowed in the majors. Only Michael Kopech emerged unscathed, striking out two during a perfect ninth because he needed the work.
Meanwhile, the White Sox offense was limited to four hits, one from each of the top four spots in the order. Gavin Sheets is the only regular hitting over .200. The rest of the lineup:
- Nicky Lopez, .176
- Robbie Grossman, .175
- Eloy Jiménez, .167
- Gavin Sheets, .255
- Andrew Benintendi, .158
- Kevin Pillar, .167
- Lenyn Sosa, .132
- Braden Shewmake, .143
- Martín Maldonado, .053.
Those bottom five spots went a combined 0-for-16 with a walk, and 0-for-5 in the only two scoring opportunities beyond the first inning. In the second, Pillar walked, stole second and reached third when Realmuto's throw bounced into center. Shewmake failed to bunt him home before popping out -- and the bunt was a curious call itself, seeing as how it would've only tied the game at 3 in the top of the second inning -- and Maldonado grounded out on the first pitch.
Two innings later, Sheets led off with a double, but Benintendi popped up a surprise bunt, Pillar struck out, and Sosa grounded out.
Bullet points:
*Shewmake made a spectacular over-the-shoulder catch toward the left-field line. It's amazing how well he tracked it despite running with his neck hinged like an open Pez dispenser.
*The announced attendance was 43,614. The attendance for Nastrini's debut in Chicago against the Royals was 10,569.
