Jonathan Cannon, who has been a standout since his return to the White Sox active roster, had delivered a series of impressive performances in his last three appearances. A scoreless three-inning save against Boston, followed by back-to-back quality starts against Seattle and Houston, showcased his prowess. This run of success gave Cannon a 0.48 ERA in June, with just one earned run allowed in 18.2 innings. That kind of production set high expectations for his performance Sunday against Detroit.
Instead, Cannon allowed eight runs in one inning of work.
On 42 pitches, Detroit Tigers hitters teed off on Cannon with seven hits, including two home runs hit by Colt Keith and Akil Baddoo in the first inning. Matt Vierling started the game with a leadoff triple and Wenceel Perez added double, giving the Tigers four extra-base hits off Cannon. Only five runs were considered earned as Paul DeJong was charged with a throwing error when Mark Canha reached. Canha would later score on Gio Urshela’s ground out.
Looking at Statcast, Cannon’s velocity was below his season’s average. Out of the 23 swings Detroit took, Cannon only generated four whiffs. Add in that only five pitches were called strikes without a swing, and Detroit was zeroed in on Cannon. Cannon’s pitches too often found themselves over the heart of the zone.
In the second, Cannon allowed three-straight singles before manager Pedro Grifol had seen enough and pulled the rookie for reliever Jared Shuster to face Riley Greene. Three pitches later, Shuster lost the lefty vs. lefty battle as Greene hit an opposite-field home run to give Detroit an insurmountable 9-0 lead. The Sox season-high for runs scored is nine, so that's close to literally insurmountable.
The White Sox offense mainly was quiet against Tigers starter Reese Olson until the seventh inning. Eloy Jiménez returned to the lineup Sunday after recovering from a hamstring injury. Or so the White Sox thought.
Jiménez led off the seventh inning with a single to left field, and on the broadcast replay, it was pretty clear that he’s still suffering lingering issues with his lower half. Gavin Sheets put Jiménez to the test when he doubled to right field. With Jiménez wincing, standing at third base, TV cameras caught Grifol motioning from the White Sox dugout, pointing at his legs as a way to ask his designated hitter if he was OK. Staying in the game, Jiménez would score when Nicky Lopez laced a single to center to make it 9-2.
That Lopez single would be it for White Sox run production. Only Jiménez, Sheets, and Lopez recorded a hit against Detroit pitching, and no Sox batter drew a walk. Cannon had to be just as good as he was against Houston to give the White Sox a chance for a series win. Instead, Cannon and the White Sox bullpen got bombarded.
Game Notes
- Chad Kuhl deserves a cap tip for pitching the last 4.1 innings as he allowed 6 H, 2 ER, BB, 7 K in a rare 99-pitch relief appearance.
- Andrew Benintendi went 0-for-4 as his season batting average drops to .201, and his OPS is .540
- Colt Keith had a day: 4-for-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI, and 3 R
