Blue Jays 5, White Sox 2: Where oh where did the offense go?

With this punchless, 5-2 loss in Toronto, the White Sox extended their losing streak to five games and dropped their overall record to 7-16. The bats are silent, and the team can’t seem to get any momentum going. They’re just FLAT. They got three hits tonight. THREE. It’s puzzling, frustrating, and not at all fun to watch. At some point, you are who you are, right? It is possible this IS the team we’re stuck with all season long.

Things looked good briefly in the top of the third, as the White Sox kicked off the scoring after a two-out walk by Luis Robert Jr., a single by Andrew Benintendi, and a double by Andrew Vaughn, scoring both Robert and Benintendi.

Then, Robert made a catch in center field tailor-made for the highlight reel when he robbed Matt Chapman of a home run in the bottom of the fourth. Can you say “Superman?” Look at that hang time!

And that was it for exciting Pale Hose highlights. Goodnight, everyone. Oh, wait. Excuse me. There were another 6 1⁄2 innings of ball left. Sorry, I almost fell asleep.

It didn’t take long for the tables to turn against the Sox. Lance Lynn, who had surrendered eight earned runs in the first inning over his previous four starts, started out strong and broke with tradition by setting the Blue Jays down in order in the bottom of the first. However, despite putting up zeros through the third, he got into trouble with two outs in the bottom of the fourth after a two-out walk of Alejandro Kirk, Brandon Belt’s single, and Whit Merrifield’s double, scoring Kirk.

The next batter, Cavan Biggio, with a 13 OPS+ as he stepped to the plate, belted a three-run homer to right field. Lynn’s final line over five innings was four earned runs on five hits, three walks, and four strikeouts in five innings. His season ERA actually moved down to 7.52.

The Sox bullpen also continued to struggle. Gregory Santos replaced Lynn in the sixth and got into a bit of trouble after loading the bases, but he did manage to pitch out of it. Keynan Middleton came on for the seventh, and unfortunately, it wasn’t a good outing for him. He had been throwing pretty well out of the pen so far this season but couldn’t get it done tonight, lasting only a third of an inning. He gave up one run on two hits and one walk. Jake Diekman came out to finish the inning and surprisingly limited the damage to the lone run. He returned for the eighth and went scoreless there as well. So hey, I guess we call this The Jake Diekman Game.

I can provide you with a bit of good news and something to be hopeful about in an update regarding Tim Anderson.

The South Siders are back at it tomorrow against the Toronto Blue Jays. [Redacted] will be on the mound with a start time of 6:07 p.m. CST. It’s an Indianapolis Field Office game, as Joe Resis will have your recap and Chrystal O’Keefe takes the Six Pack.