White Sox allow an astronomical number of runs, suffer consequences
By James Fegan
Jun 28, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Brian Omogrosso (48) walks off the field after being relieved in the first game of a baseball doubleheader against the Cleveland Indians at US Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
Casper Wells pitched the ninth inning. What does that say?
What presumptions immediately come to mind when something like this happens. What level of absurdity must the game break into where just having the fifth outfielder throw an inning seems like a reasonable, even efficient proposition?
Because whatever standard there is for when bringing an outfielder in, the White Sox met and then some. After ending the first inning with a 5-0 lead, the Sox were hammered in a 19-10 debacle at the hands of the Cleveland Indians, or mostly just Jason Kipnis, who reached base six times. They have to play another game after this, too.
Hector Santiago opened up the night by recording his first four outs via strikeout, but a two-out gork shot double down the line by Mike Aviles signaled his demise. Four-straight hits followed and by the end of the second inning, the five-run advantage was gone.
After the bases were loaded again in the third inning, Santiago gave way to Brian Omogrosso, who induced an inning-ending double play, before embarking on one of the worst relief outings of all-time. He allowed nine runs and 11 baserunners over 2.1 innings and saw the end of any illusion of the game as a competitive enterprise. The way he missed the strike zone by so little, so consistently, with his fastball, was truly a marvel.
A three-run blast off the bat of Tyler Flowers brought the game all the way within five runs at 14-9 and brought a slight note of hope to Hawk Harrelson’s voice. And it was then that the Sox were buried by another wave of doubles. Eight of the Indians 21 hits went for two bases, they reached base 30 times and covered up their starter Trevor Bauer being a complete trainwreck who didn’t make it out of the first inning nor got three outs in his first trip through the batting order.
For a team desperately trying to shop its godawful hitters, this game was actually a bit of a boon. Alejandro De Aza walked three times in addition to a single, Jeff Keppinger homered and also reached base four times (as he should have, since he was the DH) and Dunn homered and reached base three times. Take these people, please, other baseball teams.
Casper Wells hit 93 mph in the ninth inning, struck out Asdrubal Cabrera with a change-up, gave the umpire a long, angry stare after a close call for ball four and beat out every other thing that happened in terms of enjoyment level by a mile. Addison Reed is now expendable.
Team Record: 32-44
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