MILWAUKEE — The White Sox are desperate to end their MLB season-high losing streak. At the start of the eighth inning, he decided to “force it”.
Riding the momentum of a game-saving steal of a potential three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh, Dominic Fletcher earned the first of two four-pitch walks to start the eighth, accounting for 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 pain in his left shoulder. Zach Remillard ran for Fletcher, but his attempt to put aside the bad memories of Saturday’s multitude of errors only added to them, and he was easily thrown out while trying to advance to third on a fly ball. only moved a few meters away from William. Contreras on the plate.
As was the nature of the 2024 Sox season, Nicky Lopez was initially charged with a bunt, but would launch an automatic double to deep right center two pitches later. Not only would that have easily scored Remillard from second place, but it likely would have tackled Pham from first place for the nod. Instead, Pham found himself hoping for an off-the-line throw from Christian Yelich on the high fly with a takedown from Corey Julks to left middle. As the ball hit him easily, Pham took the inside lane to home plate, braced himself for contact and took issue with Contreras punching his chest and uttering some sort of choice words after absorbing him with success to end the Sox’s last credible threat of a miserable weekend. in Wisconsin.
The issues Pham addressed with the entire series of events were numerous.
Pham’s personal issues with Contreras caused much of the Sox coaching staff to leave the dugout to round them up, and amusingly sent John Brebbia on a solo pilgrimage from the bullpen – before ‘allowing a two-run single to Gary Sánchez in the bottom half that salted the result.
But Pham’s criticism of sending Eddie Rodríguez from third base is more representative of the team’s broader plight, where the league’s worst offense sends players and coaches rushing into questionable decisions out of desperation . Waiting in the on-deck circle was Gavin Sheets, one of the team’s best hitters all year long.
“Very few outs at the plate are done that way,” Grifol replied. “If you put all that together over the course of a season, it has to be a really good throw and it was. It was directly online. This poses no problem for me. Tommy can run. He’s a good baserunner. Turns out it was a good throw and he got thrown out by a lot. Throw is a little offline and we’re having a different conversation. We blame ourselves for not going, right? »
“I think it’s a matter of frustration with the team and it’s unfortunate that it happened this way,” said Paul DeJong, who homered in the third and a sacrifice fly in the first. “I thought it was a pretty good opportunity for us to get a point, to put pressure on them to play. Yelich made a nice throw, questionable distance but I like the gamble in this situation. I don’t doubt Tommy or Eddie’s instincts, they just played on us. It was a big moment for them in the match, they got a little emotional and Tommy took it personally.
In a twisted way that’s not really accessible to anyone, it’s remarkable that this game was competitive enough to be marred by traditional White Sox mistakes in the finale, given how the cards were stacked against them .
Rookie Nick Nastrini and his 9.74 ERA against former All-Star Freddy Peralta wasn’t the most promising starting matchup this weekend. And the discussion of injuries to Benintendi and Andrew Vaughn during the pre-match media session made it clear that not all of the top five spots in the opening day batting order are available, and that the guy who batted seventh entered Sunday with a career-high 14 games. sequence with the Angels.
After Grifol had to turn to recently recalled Justin Anderson as a bridge to Jordan Leasure and Michael Kopech on Saturday, the latter two were unavailable. But Tanner Banks’ seven out scoreless baseball and Anderson saved by Fletcher’s infield exploits sent the Sox to the eighth just 4-3.
With some of the “going all the way” postures that Brewers hitters took in the box against Nastrini, it’s safe to say that wildness was an oft-repeated observation from the right-hander during the pre-series hitters’ meeting . For the most part, he lived up to expectations, throwing down fastballs and sliders and doling out one free pass per inning between walks and batters.
“He’s going to have to really mix that fastball up,” Grifol said. “It’s tough pitching in this league only on secondary fields.
Willy Adames comically exaggerated the Brewers’ approach by going a third of the way to first before realizing that a low 3-0 fastball had been called a strike, chasing down a spotted slider just underneath and looking a complete plate separator. But it also doubled as Nastrini’s only punch in four rounds of work.
Even your favorite starter throws sliders down the pipe during the day, but when he’s preceded by bouncers or fastballs to the backstop, he finds a better-prepared hitter waiting for him. Jake Bauers drilled a full cookie into the corner for a two-out RBI double, and two batters later, Jackson Chourio threw the first pitch he saw into the left field seats, turning two outs and empty bases into a second round with four places.
“That pitch to Chourio, I wish I had gotten that one back,” said Nastrini, who said he often struggled to grip the ball in the first innings. “My command of the fastball has improved a lot over the last two innings and I was able to execute my off-speed when I really wanted to.”
That short homer accounted for all the runs, and three of the four hits Nastrini would allow. But a four-point failure is a lot for a team that scores less than three points per game. The White Sox did their best to revitalize the Midwest’s production in the first, as DeJong’s sacrifice fly to right capped a run of three straight sweeter singles from Lopez, Julks and Gavin Sheets. Although Korey Lee’s walk and Oscar Colás’ back K didn’t add to the two runs in the first inning, Brewers starter Freddy Peralta threw 43 pitches in the first period.
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 who play just well enough to break hearts are getting old.
Bullet points:
*The Sox held a lead by two points or more in each 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 Friday night and drew a walk in the eighth, but overall he’s 2-for-25 over his last six games with nine strikeouts, adding to the frustration.
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