It was OK for the White Sox that Drew Thorpe's debut resembled that of Nick Nastrini, but the comparisons needed to end there.
Alas, Thorpe fell behind Arizona 3-0 after 12 pitches -- and it might've been 4-0 had Joc Pederson not been cut down trying to stretch his two-run double into a two-run triple, because Christian Walker followed with a homer that turned out to be a solo shot. He briefly stabilized, only to fall apart in a six-run fourth that turned a rubber match into an out-and-out rout.
Thorpe couldn't get to his changeup nearly as often as he wanted to. He started eight of 21 batters with a ball, which doesn't sound that bad until realizing he'd go on to issue five walks, and three on four pitches.
He didn't afford himself much of a margin for error, and when the fourth inning started with a pair of singles -- the second on a perfect bunt -- it all went south very quickly. He issued one of those four-pitch walks to Corbin Carroll to load the bases, and while a sacrifice fly could've helped him get some footing, it was instead the last out he recorded. Martín Maldonado reloaded the bases on catcher interference to spell the end of Thorpe's afternoon, and Chad Kuhl couldn't stop the bleeding. He immediately gave up a two-run double to Walker, a sac fly to Jake McCarthy, and then a wild pitch that bounced off Maldonado's foot to make it a 9-1 game.
Adding insult to injury, Kuhl then pulled another sweeper that not only brought home the 10th Arizona run, but bounced so wildly that McCarthy was able to advance from first to third.
Comparing the lines from the second start, and Thorpe's sophomore start only beat Nastrini's in terms of efficiency.
- Thorpe: 3.1 IP, 6 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 5 BB, 0 K, 1 HR, 32 of 60 pitches for strikes
- Nastrini: 3 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 5 BB, 3 K, 46 of 86 pitches for strikes
On the other side, Jordan Montgomery had a start he sorely needed. He followed Ryne Nelson's lead in the series opener by using the opportunity of facing the worst team in baseball to improve his stats. He allowed just one unearned run over five innings, although the mistakes that led to the unearned run were his. His throwing error turned a Danny Mendick infield single into a double, and then Mendick stole third without a throw, allowing him to score on an Andrew Vaughn groundout.
The White Sox were able to close the run differential somewhat with a two-out flurry. Joe Mantiply started the trouble by walking Maldonado with two outs, and he got what he deserved. Tommy Pham lined a ground-rule double to left, Andrew Vaughn shot a two-run single through the right side, and after he took second on defensive indifference, Oscar Colás scored him with a lefty-lefty opposite-field single. That made it necessary for Paul Sewald to close out the game, but because the series is over, the White Sox won't reap any benefits from it.
Bullet points:
*The White Sox actually outhit the Diamondbacks 11-9, but they were outwalked 8-3, and out extra-base-hit 4-1.
*Colás replaced Luis Robert Jr., who struck out all three times up before Pedro Grifol decided to give him the rest of the day off.
*Pham and Vaughn had more than half of the White Sox's hits, collecting three apiece.
