What new? No hitting and bad defense lead to 2-0 loss, A’s sweep

Jarrod Parker, as many pitchers have done this season, dominated White Sox hitters (Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports).

Chris Sale did all he could do to allow the White Sox to avoid a sweep to the A’s, but the ace lefty saw his scoreless innings streak snapped at 28 2/3 innings, and with it, any chance for a White Sox winner today.  That’s because the White Sox offense continues to be beyond anemic.

The White Sox mustered a paltry three hits against Jarrod Parker and a couple Oakland relievers.  Although he had been throwing better lately, Parker came into the game with an ERA barely below five at 4.90, yet the Sox made him look like Cy Young.  The A’s shutout marked the third time this week that the Sox were held scoreless, a week that the Sox only scored nine runs and were winless.

At this time last week, the Sox had battled to make it back to .500 after sweeping the Marlins.  With the lowly Cubs, A’s and a bad Mariners coming up on the schedule, lots of Sox followers saw bright days ahead.  Instead, Sox fans were treated to impatient, un-clutch hitting and continued poor defense that has resulted in a six game losing streak.

The poor defense today came from Jordan Danks, who was just called up to replace DeWayne Wise, who went on the DL with a hamstring injury.  Jed Lowrie singled to center field with Coco Crisp in motion from first base.  Crisp was able to get to third easily, but Danks bobbled the ball in the outfield, allowing Crisp to score all the way from first base.  But then again, when you don’t score on offense, it doesn’t really matter.

Where the White Sox go from here is anybody’s guess.  Dominic Brown of the Phillies has more RBI this week than the White Sox (11-9).  Let that sink in.

The current roster is a byproduct of a bad farm system and bad contracts.  If there is any silver lining to the current situation, it’s that their pitching for the most part has been pretty solid.   If their play this year doesn’t convince the higher-ups that a rebuild is necessarily, maybe nothing will.

Up Next: The White Sox continue their trip out west in Seattle at 9:10 tomorrow evening with John Danks opposing Joe Saunders.