In the last game before the trade deadline, the White Sox blew a lead in the eighth inning while getting pantsed by Bobby Witt Jr., leaving the starter to settle for a no-decision despite deserving better.
In the first game after the trade deadline, the White Sox blew a lead in the eighth inning while getting pantsed by Bobby Witt Jr., leaving the starter to settle for a no-decision despite deserving better.
There were some differences. Jonathan Cannon pitched seven strong innings, Witt did the damage with soft contact and hard running, and a nervous Fraser Elllard took the loss in his MLB debut, but the vibe remains the same, and the losing streak continues to seep into unprecedented territory. The White Sox have now lost 16 straight, and have more blown saves (28) than wins (27).
Ellard, who hopes to be the new Tanner Banks after the old one was sent to Philadelphia in the last hour of trade activity, walked Maikel Garcia on five pitches (ball four should've been strike two, except Mark Wegner called strike one ball four, so it evened out). Garcia advanced to second on a wild pitch, and then distracted Ellard into an undeniable pitch clock violation on a 2-2 pitch, and Garrett Hampson lofted the full-count offering to right for a productive flyout. Ellard then walked Freddy Fermin, bringing an unfortunate inaugural outing to a close.
His tab suffered afterward. Justin Anderson came in to face Witt and gave up a bloop single to second that tied the game at 2. You'd think Witt couldn't do much damage running behind a catcher, but Witt proved otherwise. When Vinnie Pasquantino lined a single to left, Witt went from first to third, and then eventually home when Lopez threw to second. He indeed nailed Pasquantino at second for the second out, but Witt scored to make it a 4-2 game, and that run decided the night.
The Sox tried to rally in the eighth, as singles by Lopez and Luis Robert Jr. put runners on second and third with one out, but while Andrew Vaughn's grounder narrowed the lead to one, Andrew Benintendi struck out. One-time Kannapolis Intimidator Sam Long then survived a deep flyout to center for the save.
That left Cannon with the no-decision, even though he allowed just one hit and three walks over seven innings. He only struck out two and generated just six whiffs, but he also allowed just four hard-hit balls and induced a lot of useless contact. Six of his outs were popouts, and only one of those at-bats lasted longer than four pitches.
His lone blemish was a solo shot to Classy Michael Massey, which stung even more since Cannon retired the first two batters of the inning and got ahead of Massey 0-2 before leaving a full-count sinker neither high nor low.
The White Sox were able to do more damage against Michael Wacha this time. They took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Lopez led off with a triple, then scored on a wild pitch. Two batters later, Vaughn, sensing a chance to win the White Sox home run title now that Paul DeJong is on the Royals, belted a solo shot in the fourth inning to make it a 2-1 game.
Bullet points:
*Miguel Vargas, batting second and DHing in his White Sox debut, went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
*Robert was caught stealing for the first time all year, but rebounded to steal his 15th base later in the game.
