Orioles 9, White Sox 3: Bullpen struggles mightily

The White Sox (52-81) kept it close against the Orioles (83-49) for most of the game, but the Orioles dominated down the stretch for another convincing victory.

Starting pitchers Jesse Scholtens and Dean Kremer got off to fantastic starts, as nobody reached base safely through two innings. However, with one out in the top of the third, Lenyn Sosa broke up the double-perfect game.

That was Sosa’s fifth home run of the season, and it gave the White Sox a 1-0 lead.

Six Pack of Stats

FanGraphs

Pressure Play

When Anthony Santander cleared the bases with a double in the seventh, that play had a 4.66 LI.

Pressure Cooker

Reliever Aaron Bummer, who did not have a day worth remembering, had a 2.21 LI to lead everyone.

Top Play

The three-run double by Santander boosted Baltimore’s win probability from 61.6% to 94.3% (32.7% WPA).

Top Performer

Reliever Danny Coulombe had the highest WPA (26.7%), and he was followed closely by Santander (24.6%).

Hardest Hit

Luis Robert Jr. lined out in the first inning with a blast that left the bat at 108.1 mph.

Weakest Contact

Lenyn Sosa’s ill-advised sacrifice bunt in the seventh had an exit velocity of 22.7 mph.

Luckiest Hit

Ryan Mountcastle’s single in the fourth inning registered a .240 xBA.

Toughest Out

When Robert lined out in the first, the 382-footer had a .850 xBA.

Longest Hit

Sosa hit the only home run by either team, and that blast in the third inning traveled 397 feet.

Magic Number: 0

The difference between the 2022 White Sox’s loss total and the 2023 White Sox’s loss total is zero. It is August 29, and even last year was disappointing. That says just about all we need to know about this season.

Meanwhile, Scholtens remained perfect until Adley Rutschman led off the fourth with a single. Rutschman later advanced to third on a two-out single by Ryan Mountcastle, resulting in Baltimore’s first scoring threat of the game. However, Scholtens got Ryan O’Hearn to ground out, so the 1-0 lead was intact.

However, the Orioles went back to business in the fifth, and they finally broke through against Scholtens. Austin Hays led off with a single, and after Cedric Mullins popped out, Ramon Urias and Adam Frazier hit back-to-back singles to tie the game.

After allowing a one-out single in the sixth, Tanner Banks replaced Scholtens on the mound. Scholtens finished with one run allowed on six hits in 5 ¹⁄₃ innings. Scholtens only had one strikeout, but he did not issue any walks.

Interestingly, through six innings, the White Sox had four hits, and they were all from either Sosa or Luis Robert Jr., who had two each. That changed in the seventh when Yoán Moncada and Andrew Vaughn hit back-to-back singles to open the inning. The White Sox appeared to be setting themselves up to do serious damage. However, Oscar Colás made an unsuccessful bunt attempt, as he popped out in foul territory. Then, Sosa bunted as well, and although his bunt advanced the runners 90 feet, that was not the outcome the White Sox would have wanted. Judging from Pedro Grifol’s reaction, it appears that Sosa made the decision to lay down the bunt. Regardless, after the bunt, the White Sox had a pair in scoring position with two outs, and Korey Lee grounded out to end the threat.

With two outs and nobody on base in the bottom of the seventh, the Orioles put a rally together against reliever Aaron Bummer. Ryan McKenna singled, Rutschman walked, and Gunnar Henderson walked to load the bases. Then, Anthony Santander cleared the bases with a double into the right-field corner. Just like that, the Orioles had a commanding lead.

In the eighth, reliever Bryan Shaw fared no better than Bummer in the eighth frame, as he allowed five runs. The game was completely out of hand after Baltimore’s parade of six hits in the inning.

In the ninth, Eloy Jiménez, Moncada, Vaughn, and Sosa all singled against Orioles reliever Shintaro Fujinami. However, Cedric Mullins made a nice catch on a duck snort by Korey Lee, and he doubled Sosa off first to end the game.

The White Sox will try to avoid getting swept tomorrow afternoon. The first pitch is scheduled to take place at 12:05 p.m. Central, and as usual, NBC Sports Chicago and WMVP 1000 AM will cover the game. The probable pitchers are Dylan Cease (4.81 ERA, 4.19 xERA, 3.78 FIP, 2.9 fWAR) and Kyle Gibson (4.89 ERA, 4.51 xERA, 3.85 FIP, 2.8 fWAR).