White Sox swept in 5-3 loss

Forgive the brevity and lack of ballgame emotion here, but while the Chicago White Sox lost 5-3 on Sunday, capping a sweep at the hands of the Atlanta Braves, word was trickling out about a bigger and more personal loss to us as White Sox faithful: the death of lifelong fan, and writer for this site, Rob Warmowski (IceColdFalstaff).

I’m writing now, and will be publishing something in the morning, specifically on Rob, a guy I’ve admired for a decade yet had only scratched the surface of. But as the losses for the 2019 White Sox pile up (indeed, we’re back over a 90-defeat pace for the season), a personal one like this sticks, and hurts — even for someone like me, who was only beginning to get to know him well as a member of our South Side Hit Pen staff.

So, this was another game in Atlanta where the White Sox got off somewhat quickly on offense, this time falling behind in the first but rallying right back in the second to tie courtesy of ... WHAT! ... a Lucas Giolito two-run single:

(Benetti: “Did you see his jaw drop when he realized that ball was gonna fall?”)

But the highlights were few from there. Giolito pitched OK, victimized by two, two-run homers by Freddie Freeman. And with the White Sox held to just five hits — and in what is becoming a troubling trend, just one extra-base hit (Tim Anderson, double, part of a 2-for-3 day that also included an egregious caught stealing at third base) — our ace did not have four runs’ worth of margin of error.

It was an encouraging sign that the White Sox walked five times in the game, and that all three RBIs came with two outs (José Abreu later singled in a run to complete the White Sox scoring). But there’s just not a lot more to say, and truly, the news about Rob tonight just makes it an all-around, utterly terrible day.

The White Sox continue their cultural insensitivity tour by shipping up to Cleveland for four games. (That last crack’s for you, @Whitesoxski.)