Entering tonight, Drew Thorpe was one of the few Chicago White Sox players on a good streak. Since allowing eight runs (seven earned) against the Arizona Diamondbacks on June 16, Thorpe was on a streak of five consecutive quality starts. Against Seattle, Thorpe was hoping to make it six straight quality starts and hoping for more run support than he and his fellow pitching colleagues have received from the White Sox hitters.
Unfortunately, the game got sideways quickly for Thorpe. After allowing a double and two walks with a pickoff throwing error, Thorpe had the bases loaded with two outs. Despite the rockiness, Thorpe had a chance to get out of the first inning unscathed. Instead, Seattle’s Jason Vosler jumped on a first-pitch fastball, hitting a line drive single to right field, scoring two runs. That’s when the bottom fell out for Thorpe.
A double allowed to Mitch Garver made it 3-0, and then hilarity ensued. Josh Rojas, Dylan Moore, and Victor Robles went back-to-back-to-back, launching home runs off Thorpe. Suddenly, Seattle was up 8-0 in the first inning and the first time they scored that many runs on the road in an opening frame since Mike Cameron smacked four home runs against the White Sox.
Manager Pedro Grifol pulled Thorpe after Robles home run and called for Jared Shuster, who allowed six runs in his only inning of work against Texas earlier in the week. On 39 pitches, Thorpe went 0.2 IP 6 H 8 ER 2 BB 1 K. His season ERA was 3.03 entering the night, and it’s now 4.81 after Seattle’s thrashing.
Jorge Polanco joined the Seattle homer party, belting a two-run shot in the fourth inning, making it a 10-0 deficit. It's too bad that Major League Baseball hasn't adopted NCAA Baseball's mercy rule yet, as it would have saved everyone a couple of innings of nothingness and would have started the fireworks show earlier. Despite seven hits and three walks, the White Sox were shut out again as they went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. I figured that the first-inning dismantle of Thorpe was enough pain for one game recap in the worst season of all time.
Game Notes
- Tommy Pham went 3-for-4 with a double
- Brooks Baldwin hit his first career double
- Hard to believe: Eloy Jimenez grounded into two double plays
- Harder to believe: Sammy Peralta pitched 4.1 scoreless innings
