The White Sox have been handily outplayed by the Pittsburgh Pirates through the first two games of this week’s series. There’s no question about that. During Tuesday night’s disaster, the team found themselves trailing 5-0 before even getting a chance at the plate thanks to Sean Burke’s latest rough start. On Wednesday, it was the offense that struggled to get anything going despite a solid outing from Davis Martin. The Pirates went with a bullpen game, and among the arms that took the hill was former White Sox reliever Brandon Eisert.
Eisert, now 28, was claimed on waivers by the White Sox prior to the 2025 season, and he became a mainstay in the White Sox bullpen. Over 72 outings in 2025, the left-hander posted a 4.39 ERA. The additions of Sean Newcomb and Bryan Hudson prevented Eisert from making the Opening Day roster, but he was promoted to the team in short order. Eisert posted a 5.93 ERA in 25 games for the White Sox this season before being included in the pre-draft trade that send IF Jacob Gonzalez to the Pirates and allowed the team to draft Landon Thome.
Wednesday night was Eisert’s tenth appearance as a member of the Pirates after bouncing between Pittsburgh and Triple-A Indianapolis, and he seemed to have a vendetta against his old team. Eisert faced seven White Sox hitters over 2.1 innings, retiring all of them and striking out five of the seven. Despite not throwing particularly hard, Eisert looked nasty and the White Sox lineup had no answers for him. The Pirates used him for the optimal part of the order it seemed as well. Of the seven hitters he faced, five of them were left-handed, and it was too early in the game for Will Venable to consider going to his bench.
Solid work by Brandon Eisert tonight. Breezy 2.1 IP. Strikes out a career-high five.
— Jason Mackey (@JMackey_PGH) September 10, 2026
Brandon Eisert highlighted a night of missed opportunities for White Sox
Eisert’s dominance highlighted a game that left a sour taste in the mouth of White Sox fans. Davis Martin battled through five innings without his best stuff and the offense couldn’t muster support around him. The White Sox stranded the bases loaded with one out in both the seventh and eighth innings, and ultimately squandered several opportunities. Both the Astros and Guardians lost Wednesday night, so the White Sox were given a prime opportunity to gain ground in both the AL Central and the race for the first round bye, and instead, it was yet another missed chance.
All hope is certainly not lost. The White Sox still hold a two-game lead in the AL Central with 17 games to play. Next week’s series in Cleveland is certain to be massive and could decide the division. But time and time again, the White Sox have had opportunities to help themselves out and have failed to do so. They’ll have another opportunity Thursday night in the finale against the Pirates. The Guardians are off, so a win will gain them half a game in the division.
Hopefully, the White Sox start to feel some of the urgency that the fans do and start playing like their season is on the line, because it very much is.
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