Sox Machine

A scuffling Chicago White Sox team fought back from a 4-1 deficit to tie the game, only to watch St. Louis Cardinals catcher Leo Bernal hit a solo home run off Grant Taylor. After yet another gut punch delivered in the eighth inning, the White Sox were staring at their fifth straight loss. Then, in a season full of surprises, a truly shocking moment was delivered by Randal Grichuk.

The White Sox announced the resignation of Director of Amateur Scouting Mike Shirley today, stating that he is no longer in the organization. No other details have been shared by either party, which is a stark departure from the last two times the White Sox changed scouting directors.

Down four with the bases loaded in the six inning, Miguel Vargas briefly looked like he had produced The Swing that might unclog the White Sox offense. Luis Gastelum left an 0-1 sweeper above the knees on the outer half of the plate, and Vargas put good wood on it, launching to left center field. Statcast says it left the bat at 104.3 mph and traveled some 397 feet, and would have left 12 of 30 MLB parks, including Rate Field.

A few days ago in the August Month in a Box, we talked about the White Sox's month-to-month decreases in run differential, and whether they signaled a team that's adept at managing a schedule's degrees of difficulty, or a team that's gradually running out of juice. Being held to five runs over a three-game sweep at home by the Pittsburgh Pirates, a series during which the White Sox never held a lead at any point, makes it easier to indulge the pessimistic perspective.

The White Sox were not only swept at home by the Pittsburgh Pirates team that was slightly below .500 entering the series, but the Sox never led at any point. They scored just five runs over three games, and all of them came after the Pirates made more convincing first moves. That's not the note they want to go on as they head out on a six-game road trip, starting with three in St. Louis and followed by three in Cleveland.

After four consecutive failures to complete five innings, the White Sox pushed back Luis Castillo's latest bid to right the ship. Had he remained on schedule, he would've been tasked with starting against the Pirates tonight, but the White Sox have TBDs as far as the probable pitchers page extends, with Will Venable only committing to Hagen Smith starting tonight in hopes of avoiding a sweep at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Over the course of the seventh and eighth innings, the White Sox posted a total of eight baserunners. They scored a total of two runs, as both rallies ended in double plays hit to third base. With the bases loaded in the seventh, Jared Triolo gloved a hot shot by Miguel Vargas and turned a 5-4-3 double play to preserve a 4-1 Pittsburgh lead.

The Colorado Rockies immediately made a run at the 2024 White Sox's single-season record for losses last year, but came up two short with a 43-119 finish. There are no such challengers this time around; in fact, there may be no 100-loss teams in Major League Baseball if the Rockies and Angels can outperform their season-long pace by one win the rest of the way. But the Washington Nationals chipped away part of that White Sox team's notoriety on Tuesday.

If winning in the minors teaches players how to win in the majors, then the Winston-Salem Dash passed their first test on Tuesday with a come-from-behind, 10-inning 9-8 victory over the Bowling Green Hot Rods at Truist Ballpark. The stakes of South Atlantic League playoff baseball won't be confused for the MLB equivalent, but Javier Mogollón faced a High-A simulation when he came to the plate with two outs in the ninth inning.

In his last start against the Astros, Sean Burke needed 31 pitches, but he was able to pitch around a pair of leadoff walks and somehow last long enough to throw 5 ⅔ scoreless innings. Tonight, the Pirates offered Burke no quarter. Burke threw 37 pitches in the first, but they were delivered over the course of 10 batters who piled on five runs before the White Sox could grab bats for themselves. If Burke ever had a chance, it was three pitches into his night.