MILWAUKEE -- The White Sox are desperate to end this MLB season-high losing streak. In the top of the eighth inning, it descended decidedly into "forcing it."
Riding the momentum of a game-saving robbery of a potential three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh, Dominic Fletcher drew the first of two four-pitch walks to lead off the eighth, representing the tying run in a 4-3 game. By the time Tommy Pham's free pass pushed him to second, Fletcher's adrenaline had given way to left shoulder soreness. Zach Remillard pinch-ran for Fletcher, but his attempt to push aside the bad memories of Saturday's multitude of mistakes only added to them, and he was thrown out easily trying to advance to third on a ball that only got a few feet away from William Contreras at the plate.
As the nature of the 2024 Sox season would have it, Nicky Lopez was initially tasked with a bunt, but would launch an automatic double to deep right-center two pitches later. Not only would it have scored Remillard easily from second, but it likely would have plated Pham from first for the go-ahead run. Instead, Pham found himself hoping for an offline throw from Christian Yelich on Corey Julks' one-out high fly to medium left. With the ball beating him easily, Pham took the inside lane to the plate, braced for contact, and took issue with Contreras pounding his chest and delivering some sort of choice words after successfully absorbing it to end the last credible Sox threat of a miserable weekend in Wisconsin.
The issues that Pham took with the whole series of events, were numerous.
Pham's personal issues with Contreras caused a fair amount of the Sox coaching staff to leaving the dugout to corral them, and amusingly sent John Brebbia on a one-man pilgrimage from the bullpen--before allowing a bloop two-run single to Gary Sánchez in the bottom half that salted away the result.
But Pham's criticism of Eddie Rodríguez's send from third base is more representative of the team's larger plight, where the league's worst offense sends players and coaches barreling into questionable decisions out of desperation. Gavin Sheets, one of the team's best hitters all year long, was left waiting in the on-deck circle.
"Very few outs at home plate are made like that," Grifol countered. "If you put it all together over the course of a season, it's got to be a really good throw and it was. It was right on line. I don't have a problem with that at all. Tommy can run. He's a good baserunner. It just happened that it was a good throw and he got thrown out by quite a bit. Throw's offline a little bit and we're having a different conversation. We're kicking ourselves in the ass for not going, right?"
"I think it’s a frustration thing with the team and it’s unfortunate it went that way," said Paul DeJong, who homered in the third and drove a sacrifice fly in the first. "I thought it was a pretty good chance for us to score a run, put the pressure on them to make a play. Yelich came through with a nice throw, questionable distance but I like the gamble there in that situation. I don’t doubt Tommy’s instincts or Eddie, they just made a play on us. It was a big moment for them in the game, they got a little emotional and Tommy took it personally."
In a twisted way that's not really set up for anyone to appreciate, it's remarkable this game was competitive enough to be marred by traditional White Sox miscues in the finish, given how the cards were stacked against them.
Rookie Nick Nastrini and his 9.74 ERA versus former All-Star Freddy Peralta was not the most promising starter matchup of this weekend. And discussion of Benintendi and Andrew Vaughn's injuries during the pregame manager session with media prompted the realization that the first five spots in the opening day batting order are all unavailable, and the guy who batted seventh entered Sunday with a career-high 14-game hitting streak with the Angels.
After Grifol had to turn to recently recalled Justin Anderson as the bridge to Jordan Leasure and Michael Kopech on Saturday, the latter two were unavailable. But Tanner Banks' seven outs of scoreless baseball and Anderson being rescued by Fletcher's outfield heroics sent the Sox to the eighth only down 4-3.
With some of the 'taking all the way' postures Brewers hitters took in the box against Nastrini, it's safe to say wildness was a oft-repeated observation on the right-hander in the pre-series hitters meeting. Largely, he lived up to the billing, spiking fastballs and sliders and handing out a free pass per inning between walks and hit batters.
"He's going to have to really mix in that fastball," Grifol said. "It's tough to pitch in this league just on secondary pitches.
Willy Adames comically overdid the Brewers approach by walking a third of the way to first before realizing a low 3-0 fastball had been called a strike, chasing a slider spotted just below it, and staring at a full count plate-splitter. But that also doubled as Nastrini's only punchout in four innings of work.
Even your favorite starter throws some sliders down the pipe over the course of the day, but when it is preceded by bouncers or fastballs to the backstop, they find a more prepared hitter waiting for them. Jake Bauers drilled a full count cookie into the corner for a two-out RBI double, and two batters later Jackson Chourio blasted the first pitch he saw into the left field seats, transforming two outs and bases empty into a second inning four-spot.
"That one pitch to Chourio, I wish I had that one back," said Nastrini, who said he was struggling to grip the ball frequently in the opening innings. "My fastball command came along a lot better the last two innings and I was able to execute my off-speed when I really wanted to."
That short circuit accounted for all the runs, and three of the four hits Nastrini would allow. But a four-run blip is a lot for a team that scores less than three runs per game to account for. The White Sox did their level best to revitalize Midwestern manufacturing in the first, as DeJong's sacrifice fly to right capped off a run of three-straight softer singles from Lopez, Julks and Gavin Sheets. Even if Korey Lee's walk and Oscar Colás' backwards K didn't add to the first inning two-spot, Brewers starter Freddy Peralta threw 43 pitches in the opening frame.
He would throw 54 pitches over the next four innings, with only DeJong's solo shot adding to his damage total. That would still represent the high-end of possible outcomes for an injury-ravaged Sox offense facing a former All-Star starter.
But the Sox playing just well enough to still break hearts is growing old.
Bullet points:
*The Sox held a lead of two runs or more in every game of this series. The last time they were swept in three-straight series was in the immediate wake of the José Quintana trade in 2017.
*Pham had two singles on Friday night and drew a walk in the eighth, but overall is 2-for-25 over his last six games with nine strikeouts, adding to the frustration.
