A new (yes, new!) low reached on the season
By James Fegan
The White Sox had done many awful things this season going into their Thursday night matchup with the Indians, but they had not lost by a double-digit margin, they had yet to fall 30 games under .500 and they had not used a picture of a dazed and morose John Danks gawking into nothing with a wad of gum sitting lazily on his lip like an unlit cigarette as the front page image for their website.
But in their 14-3 loss to Cleveland Thursday night, they achieved the hat trick!
Memories of Danks posting a sub-4.00 ERA for the month of August were quickly swatted into the stratosphere, as he gave up his 27th and 28th home runs of the season before his team even came to bat. In fact, with a solo shot allowed to Nick Swisher and a three-run bomb yielded to Ryan Raburn, Danks had allowed more runs than the White Sox offense averages per game in the first inning.
Things did not get better.
Danks allowed a run in each of the three additional innings he was able to drag his flat fastball through, with no thanks at all to two doubles being handed to Yan Gomes when Alejandro De Aza showed a repeated inability to track fly balls hit directly over his head. Nor was he helped by a Marcus Semien fielding error extending the second inning. At least Semien clocked a leadoff double in the third inning and scored on a De Aza bloop to earn his run back. That and Paul Konerko‘s 11th home run of the season–a line drive U.S. Cellular Special into the first row in left field–allowed Danks to leave with just a 7-2 deficit.
Things did not get better.
In fact, they spiraled into parody, since Charlie Leesman stepped in as a long reliever, faced just seven batters, walked four of them, allowed a home run to another, sat through a 17-minute rain delay, allowed two base-hits and retired nobody to launch his ERA up by nearly six whole runs in one outing and aided the Sox in stretching through 45 minutes of the fifth inning without recording an out.
And after 14 runs over five innings, the Indians rested. After all, with 12 wins in 14 games against the White Sox this season and an 88-47 run advantage, it could already be argued that they have already overindulged.
Notes:
-Rookie catcher Miguel Gonzalez got his first major league hit in the seventh after replacing Josh Phegley
–Conor Gillaspie pitched in at first base at the start of the sixth inning. He committed another error.
–Dylan Axelrod stepped in and pitched five innings of scoreless relief.
–Avisail Garcia lined a pair of singles and showed some excellent range in right, so apparently his spirit isn’t broken yet. He also looked pretty inept cutting through 89 mph fastballs against Vinnie Pestano, so there’s plenty of White Sox on him.
–Dayan Viciedo hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning that momentarily looked exciting. Then he committed a humiliating error in the top of the ninth.
Team Record: 58-88
Follow James Fegan on Twitter @JRFegan