White Sox: Mike Pelfrey Struggles in 7-4 Loss to Oakland

Mike Pelfrey failed to last four innings in a 7-4 loss to Oakland. The White Sox got home runs from Matt Davidson and Todd Frazier.

The Chicago White Sox dropped two of three to the Oakland Athletics with a 7-4 loss on Wednesday. Mike Pelfrey lasted just 3.1 innings while allowing four runs on five hits. The right hander was lifted for Gregory Infante after throwing 99 pitches. Again, the White Sox had to rely on the bullpen to get them through the game. That has been a trend this season and a trend that needs to change.

Pelfrey has been especially bad in this area. In 15 appearances this season, he has only pitched six innings twice and five innings four times. This means when he pitches, expect the bullpen to get a lot of work. If he can’t pitch at least six innings, then one has to wonder why this team continues to have him start.

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The bright spots in this game were the home runs by Matt Davidson and Todd Frazier. Davidson got out of a slump to hit his 18th home run of the season in the fifth. Frazier followed that up with his 16th in the ninth. However, the damage was already done and the Sox were unable to recover from their early struggles.

The loss on Wednesday drops them to 10 games below .500 at 37-47. That is easily last place in the division and eight games behind the Cleveland Indians. That’s probably where everyone expected this team to be.

Next: Top White Sox Storylines from 1st Half of Season

For the most part, the White Sox haven’t gotten consistently good production from their starting pitching. There’s a lot of depth in the farm system. But until prospects are ready, this team with continue to struggle.