First baseman Andrew Vaughn and the Sox offense couldn’t do much damage against the Reds pitching staff. AP Photo/Melissa Tamez
Melissa Tamez/AP Photos
After outfielder Kevin Pillar was picked off at first base, some of the announced attendance of 22,598 fans chanted, “Sell the team.” It was yet another poor outing for the White Sox in Saturday’s 5-0 loss to the Reds.
The Sox’ 2-12 record ties the 1968 team for the worst start in team history through 14 games. They have won just one game at home and have been shut out five times. Three of their best hitters are battling injuries — third baseman Yoan Moncada, designated hitter Eloy Jimenez and center fielder Luis Robert Jr. — and they are last in the majors in total runs scored (30).
Garrett Crochet, arguably the team’s best pitcher, had his first subpar outing of the season on Saturday. Crochet said he wanted to go five innings, but his pitch count got too high (92 pitches). He battled after giving up five runs in the second inning, giving the Sox 4 2/3 innings and a career-high 10 strikeouts, but the offense struggled to get on base.
“The injuries are tough,” Crochet said. “We’re all thinking of those guys and can’t wait until we get them back. That’s baseball. Everybody goes through that at some point or another. We’ve gone through it every year since I’ve been here, but that’s the name of the game. And for us right now … just a tough skid.”
Crochet said his command was off in the first two innings and that he felt he was searching for something which led to him not being competitive in the zone.
Facing left-hander Nick Lodolo — who was making his season debut — the Sox struck out 10 times, getting one hit and one walk.
“Those are the guys you have to beat if you want to do anything,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “He was good, don’t get me wrong. It’s a tough angle and it’s a good slider and a good fastball. He was pounding the strike zone, just couldn’t get anything going.”
Sox hitters couldn’t do much damage to Lodolo as he took a no-hitter into the sixth inning. The Sox have gotten one run and six hits so far against the Reds.The offense makes deficits difficult to come back from no matter how well the pitching performs.
The Sox struck out 15 times on Saturday and had a couple of hits taken away by the Reds’ stellar outfield defense.
“He threw the ball well,” infielder Gavin Sheets said of Lodolo. “Every at-bat he showed us something different. Credit to him; he threw the ball well today. They made really good defensive plays unfortunately.”
There likely aren’t any reinforcements coming from Triple-A Charlotte, either, so this will likely be the group of hitters for the foreseeable future.
But that’s the predicament the Sox find themselves in. They have to survive without three of their best hitters, and outside of Sheets and Pillar, nobody had a strong day at the plate Saturday. They’ll need their hitters to heat up soon.
“Pillar got a hit by pitch, a walk, a base hit; he had good at-bats all day long,” Grifol said. “Other than that, we couldn’t muster anything.”
Grifol said the team can’t wallow in this loss, as they have a game every day until Thursday. An already poor start can nosedive if they don’t find an answer for their offensive woes.
“You’ve got to flush these things,” Grifol said. “There’s nothing you can do other than get a nice rest and get back after it tomorrow, try to save the series and get ready for Kansas City.”