White Sox starting pitcher Garrett Crochet throws against the Atlanta Braves during the first inning in Chicago, Tuesday, April 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Nam Y. Huh/AP Photos
The last thing White Sox manager Pedro Grifol needs is to have his team get buried this soon.
After their 9-0 loss to the Braves on Monday at Guaranteed Rate Field dropped them to 0-4, Grifol’s disappointment was apparent. They had already been shut out twice.
“I really don’t have much for you guys,” he said. “These are ones, you’ve just got to flush them and get ready to play tomorrow.”
Get ready and hand the ball to left-hander Garrett Crochet, who did what he could to get the Sox their first win, a 3-2 decision against the Braves, Tuesday. Following his six innings of superb one-run ball against the Tigers in Opening Day, Crochet (1-1) allowed one run in seven innings, then watched pinch-hitter Paul DeJong homer against left-hander A.J. Minter leading off the bottom of the seventh.
Crochet (1.38 ERA) struck out eight, walked one and allowed three hits, including Marcell Ozuna’s solo homer with one out in the seventh. Ozuna homered again against Michael Kopech in the ninth, cutting the lead to 3-2 after Andrew Vaughn’s bloop RBI single in the eighth had given the Sox a 3-1 lead.
Crochet’s 16 strikeouts are a Sox record for a pitcher’s first two games of his career.
“The team is going to share and relish this one,” Crochet said.
The Sox led 1-0 on Gavin Sheets’ bloop single scoring Andrew Benintendi, who led off the sixth against Reynaldo Lopez (six innings, one run), advanced from second to third on Luis Robert Jr.’s flyout.
John Brebbia (two walks) and Kopech (one) filled the bases with one out in the eighth but Kopech induced an inning double play, third baseman Yoan Moncada to first, to end the inning.
Kopech pitched around a homer, walk and single in the ninth to earn his first save.
Grifol wore out the flush word last season. Three one-run losses to the Tigers, one of their division counterparts, got a new season with low expectations — from the outside, not Grifol — were not flush-worthy, but 0-3 doesn’t lie. And then on Monday, the Sox — picked to finish last in the division — got walloped by one of baseball’s elite teams.
The Sox skipped the fifth-starter slot assignment in favor of Crochet, presumably waiting till Wednesday to add Nick Nastrini to the 26-man roster for his major league debut. Snow could put Nastrini’s debut off.
The Sox then pack for their first road trip, an AL Central tour of four games against the Royals and three against the Guardians. The hope is to avoid the 7-21 start in Grifol’s first season a year ago that set the stage for a 61-101 finish.
Was discouragement setting in before the game?
“No, not really,” veteran catcher Martin Maldonado said. “We’re all sad that we’re not winning ballgames but other than that, we have to go out and try to win every game.
“We played really good games the first three games and yesterday we were a hit away from scoring first. Yesterday was a bad game, but we’ve been playing really good baseball. Stay positive and believe in what we’re trying to accomplish. Keep playing the game the right way.”
A quiet Sox clubhouse after Monday’s loss and Grifol’s demeanor — not that anyone would expect upbeat — said it all.
“Yeah, the first three, dropping them by one run in very competitive games … “ said Monday’s starting pitcher Chris Flexen, who allowed four runs and couldn’t complete five innings. “This one kind of got away from us a little bit today. That mentality has to be the same: compete every single day and focus on winning ballgmes.”
A task that, if the first five ballgames are any indication, will be fraught with challenges.