Tag: Chicago White Sox

A’s Drop Series To White Sox In Shocker 4-3

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Oakland A’s Brent Rooker slugged a two run home run in the top of the fifth inning against the Chicago White Sox in a losing cause at Guarantee Rate Field in Chicago on Sun Sep 15, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

In a series that the Oakland A’s (65-85) should have won, the complete opposite took place on Sunday in game three of their series. The 4-3 loss to Chicago White Sox (35-115) was a bit of a shocker after winning game one in a shutout 2-0.

The A’s barely lost Saturday’s coming back to tie twice so a better effort was expected in Sunday’s game. The A’s hit a couple of home runs, one from Brent Rooker and a second from Shea Langeliers but it was not enough to win the game losing 4-3. JP Sears had a rough start giving up three runs in the first inning.

Game recap: Saturday the White Sox had taken a 3-0 lead after three innings. In Sunday’s game Chicago took a 3-0 lead in the first inning and this was not the way Oakland wanted to start the game. They were behind the eight ball from the get-go.

JP Sears gave up a walk, an infield single and with two runners on base a Gavin Sheets home run for the 3-0 tally. The A’s had tied the game twice in Saturday’s contest so while it was not ideal, it was early in the game.

Neither team scored in the following three innings but in the fifth inning Oakland was up on the scoreboard only trailing by a single run. Brent Rooker knocked a 407 foot bomb out of the park with Lawrence Butler on base cutting the Chicago lead to 3-2. The A’s were within striking distance.

The White Sox did not let their foot off the pedal hitting their second home run of the game in the sixth inning pushing their lead back out to 4-2. Bryan Ramos hit a solo home run making it a little more difficult for Oakland but still within reach.

The hits were not coming for either team in the seventh and eighth innings and it all came down to the ninth inning for the A’s. Tyler Nevin lined out, Max Schuemann struck out and it was up to Shea Langeliers to keep this game going. He connected for a solo home run and Oakland was within a run of another tie. It all came to an end when Nick Allen flied out and that was the ball game 4-3.

It was an awful disappointment for the A’s in more than one way. They had so many ties in this series only to lose games. Lawrence Butler’s hit streak came to an end in this game. He did have an RBI but no hits. So often loses come at the hand of teams that are struggling; they have nothing to lose and the A’s experienced this in the series.

Game notes: Sunday afternoon the A’s took on the White Sox in game three of their series and dropped a heartbreaker 4-3 after Oakland lost Saturday’s game after tying up the game twice, the second tie in the top of the ninth.

A’s pitcher Hogan Harris threw a pitch that was right in Chicago’s Andrew Benintendi’s wheelhouse. The result was a 366 foot home run and a Chicago walk-off 7-6 on Saturday. Oakland starter JP Sears went six innings, allowed seven hits, four earned runs, and struck out four strike outs. The Sox starter Sean Burke pitched five innings allowing five hits and two earned runs.

Oakland will remain in Chicago taking on the Cubs in a three game series that will begin Monday. The Cubs are coming off losing a series to the Colorado Rockies who are also really struggling. The Cubs are a good ball club, in second place in the National League Central. The probable pitcher for the Oakland A’s will be Joey Estes with a 7-7 win/loss record and a 4.36 ERA. Shota Imanaga will take the mound for the Cubs with a 13-3 win/loss record and a 3.03 ERA. First pitch for this game is scheduled for 4:40 PM.

A’s Fall To White Sox After Tying Up the Game – Benintendi homers For Walk-Off 7-6

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Chicago White Sox Andrew Benintendi slugged a walk off home run against the Oakland A’s as catcher Shea Langeliers looks on in the bottom of the ninth inning at Guarantee Rate Field in Chicago on Sat Sep 14, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

The Oakland Athletics (65-84) fought hard in their second game with the Chicago White Sox (34-115). Twice they fought back from three run deficits, the first in the sixth inning and the second in the ninth. It all came crashing down in the bottom of the ninth inning when Andrew Benintendi homered to right and Chicago had the walk-off 7-6 on Saturday.

Game recap: Neither team would score in the opening inning but it was the White Sox who got up on the board first in the second inning. Oakland pitcher J.T. Ginn gave up three hits in the first inning but kept the White Sox off the board.

He did not get off so easy in the second inning giving up four hits and two runs for a 2-0 Chicago lead. The White Sox extended their lead in the third inning when Ginn gave up a solo home run off the bat of Gavin Sheets.

Ginn would get out of the inning but not before he allowed two more hits. Through three innings he had allowed ten hits. The White Sox have struggled with letting teams back in games but the A’s were starting to dig a bit of a hole which all started on the mound.

Ginn started to pull it together in the fourth with a one, two, three inning and the Oakland offense had some damage control to attend to. This season the A’s have come from behind on many occasions but they were struggling offensively in this game with only 5 hits through four innings.

Brent Rooker hit another milestone in the fifth inning connecting for his 24th consecutive hit. With two outs in the fifth inning, Oakland had Rooker on second and JJ Bleday at first base. Shea Langeliers struck out and the A’s had come away empty.

Oakland’s Kyle Muller relieved Ginn in the fifth inning and he would go three up and three down. The sixth inning was also solid for Muller with another three up three down inning.

Oakland threatened again in the sixth inning but as in the fifth inning there were two outs. The A’s had runners on second and third. Jacob Wilson was hit by a pitch which loaded the bases. Leadoff hitter Lawrence Butler was next up at the plate.

Chicago pitcher Chad Kuhl walked Butler and Soderstrom scored from third and the A’s were on the board 3-1. Brent Rooker singled Max Schuemann and Jacob WiIson home and this game was tied 3-3. Oakland still had runners at the corners but a JJ Bleday ground ball ended a huge sixth inning for the Athletics. Now there would be a tie to break.

In the seventh inning, it was the White Sox breaking the tie. Andrew Benintendi singled Nicky Lopez home for one run and then Gavin Sheets sacrificed driving Luis Robert Jr. home taking a 5-3 lead. Chicago would tack one more run on in the eighth inning when Zach DeLoach scored off a Nicky Lopez single and the White Sox had another three run lead 6-3.

Oakland rallied in the top of the ninth inning. With Lawrence Butler on second and Brent Rooker on first with no outs, the A’s were threatening. JJ Bleday walked and the Athletics had the bases loaded again with Shea Langeliers at the plate.

Langeliers delivered driving both Butler and Rooker home and the score was 6-5 in favor of the White Sox. With runners on first and second Seth Brown would be looking for his first hit of the game.

Brown also delivered loading the bases still with no outs. Zach Gelof singled JJ Bleday home to tie up this game at six. Shea Langeliers attempted to reach home plate but was thrown out which was reviewed and confirmed.

The White Sox would look for the walk off in the bottom of the inning. Both of these teams were fighting for the win and it would be the White Sox that would finish on top. Andrew Benintendi knocked the ball out of the park for the walk-off and the 7-6 win.

It was a terrible disappointment for Oakland after coming back twice in this game to tie up the score. The A’s will play in the rubber match looking to take the series. Lawrence Butler continued his hitting streak as well as his stolen bases. This guys does it all. Brent Rooker had three hits in this game as did Zach Gelof. The A’s finished the game with 11 hits.

Game notes: Saturday evening the A’s took on the White Sox in game two of their three game series after beating them last night in a shut out 2-0. Oakland was looking for a win in game two but the Sox broke a 6-6 deadlock in the bottom of the ninth to come away with a one run win 7-6 at Guarantee Rate Field. A’s starter JT Ginn went four innings. allowed ten hits, three runs and struck out three earned runs. The Sox starter Chris Flexen pitched five innings allowing six hits, walked two hitters and struck out eight.

JP Sears will take the mound for the Athletics Sunday. This will be his 30th start this season. He has a 11-10 win/loss record and a 4.18 ERA. Sean Burke will start for the White Sox. First pitch is scheduled for 11:10 AM.

A’s rookie Basso throws five plus innings of shutout ball against White Sox in 2-0 win; Sox lose 115th game of season now 5 short of 62 Mets loss record

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Oakland A’s catcher Shea Langliers (left) congratulates closer Mason Miller (right) after defeating the Chicago White Sox at Guarantee Rate Field in Chicago on Fri Sep 13, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

Friday night, the Oakland A’s (65-83) took on the Chicago White Sox (33-115) in the first of a three game series winning in a shutout 2-0. This was Brady Basso’s first big league win going 5 1/3 innings without allowing a run to cross home plate.

There were no home runs in this game for the A’s but they did have nine hits. Oakland has now bettered their record from last season by 15 games which is huge and the season is not even over. Lawrence Butler continued his hit streak with at least 21 hits in his last 21 games.

Game recap: There was not a whole lot going on through the first three innings of this game. Oakland would finally get up on the board in the fourth inning when Zach Gelof doubled Daz Cameron home for the early 1-0 lead in this pitcher’s dual.

The A’s got a second run in the fifth inning to take a 2-0 lead. Brent Rooker singled driving Tyler Nevin across home plate. These two runs would be the only runs in the entire game for both team.

The A’s starter Brady Basso pitched the 2-0 shutout for his first big league career win. He went 5 1/3 innings allowing five hits and no runs. He walked one runner and had two strikeouts. He handed the White Sox their 16th consecutive home loss and their 18th shut out of the season.

He was relieved by Michel Otanez who was solid going 1 2/3 innings with no hits, no runs and three strikeouts. Tyler Ferguson relieved Otanez for one inning with the same result. No hits, runs or walks.

Closing out this game it was “Miller Time” with Mason Miller taking the mound and he did not disappoint. He allowed one hit, no runs, no walks and two strikeouts and that was the ball game with the A’s taking game one of this series 2-0. This was Mason Miller’s 25th save of the season.

Losing pitcher for the White Sox Garrett Crochet only went four innings allowing three hits, one run with four strikeouts. The White Sox sent four relief pitchers throughout the final five innings of this game.

The A’s finished this game with nine hits. Lawrence Butler continued his streak with his 21st straight game connecting for at least a hit. JJ Bleday had a couple of hits with 41 doubles this season so far. Brent Rooker had a hit in this game as well as Daz Cameron, Seth Brown, Zach Gelof (with two hits), and Tyler Nevin. The A’s offense had been so very good in the second half of the season.

Game notes: Friday evening the A’s traveled to Chicago taking on the White Sox in a three game series. The White Sox are struggling more than any other team in baseball residing in last place in major league baseball. The Sox need to lose five more games to tie the worst season loss record at 120 games held by the 1962 New York Mets. A’s starter Basso went 5.1 innings, allowed five hits, no runs and two strikeouts. The White Sox starter Garrett Crochet pitched four innings, allowed three hits, allowed an earned run and struck out four hitters.

Saturday the A’s will be looking to take game two in this series. They will be looking for some of those long balls although they got the job done Friday night without them. Probables for Oakland will be J.T. Ginn on the mound who lost his last outing. He has a 0-1 win/loss record and a 4.58 ERA. The White Sox will start Chris Flexen who has struggled and has a 2-14 win/loss record and a 5.28 ERA. The A’s could very well take advantage of Flexen and send a few balls out of the park. First pitch for this game is scheduled for 4:10 PM PT.

A’s Uable to Sweep Series With Astros But Win Series; Oakland Losing Game Three 6-3

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Oakland A’s starter Mitch Spence delivers to the Houston Astros line up in the bottom of the first inning at Minute Maid Field in Houston on Thu Sep 12, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

Thursday afternoon the A’s took on the Astros looking for a sweep in game three of their series. Oakland tied the game in the eighth inning when Daz Cameron singled Jacob Wilson home and Brent Rooker followed that run up with a 420 feet home run for the 2-2 tally.

In the bottom of the eighth, Houston took it to A’s pitchers T. J. McFarland and Grant Holman scoring four runs and taking the game 6-3. Between the two pitchers they allowed five hits and the four runs. Oakland had two home runs in this game from Rooker and Tyler Nevin.

Game recap: Houston took the lead again in the second inning, again a 2-0 lead in a replay of game two. That 2-0 score persisted through the next four innings. Oakland would finally get up on the scoreboard in the seventh inning when Daz Cameron singled Jacob Wilson home and the score was 2-1 in favor of the Astros.

Oakland pitcher Mitch Spence went seven innings in this game allowing seven hits but only two runs. He had no walks and 2 strikeouts. T.J. McFarland relieved him in the eighth inning lasting 1/3 of an inning. He gave up two hits and two runs. Grant Holman got Oakland out of the inning but not before he allowed three hits and two more runs.

This game was all tied in the eighth inning courtesy of a Brent Rooker solo home run. This was his 36th long ball of the season.

With this game level, the A’s had a great opportunity to do some damage in the ninth inning. Houston foiled those plans with a wild bottom of the eighth inning. They beat up relief pitchers T.J. McFarland and Grant Holman to the tune of five combined hits and four runs taking a 6-2 lead.

It was too much of a lead for the A’s to overcome. Tyler Nevin did hit a home run in the top of the ninth inning but it was too little too late. Jacob Wilson struck out, Daz Cameron grounded out, Armando Alvarez struck out and that was the ball game. A 6-3 win for Houston.

Winning the series against the first place Houston Astros was of course a very good thing but it was the sweep that the A’s had their eyes on especially since they had tied up the game in the eighth inning.

Game notes: Thursday afternoon the A’s took on the Houston Astros and couldn’t complete the sweep after winning games one and two. A’s starter Mitch Spence pitched seven innings, allowing seven hits, gave up two earned runs and struck out two batters. A’s relievers TJ McFarland and Grant Holman each gave up two runs. The Astros starter Framber Valdez pitched 6.1 innings, allowing five hits, one earned run and struck out six hitters. After Valdez left the Astros used three relievers that kept A’s hitting off balance.

Oakland will now travel up to Chicago for a three-game series with the White Sox that will get underway Friday with first pitch scheduled for 4:40 PM PT. The White Sox are not to be taken lightly although they do reside in the MLB basement with a 33-114 record.

At this time of the year our bottom dwellers have nothing to do but play spoiler. The A’s have moved from fifth place in the American League West to the fourth spot 3 1/2 games ahead of the Angels. In Friday’s game, Oakland will send Brady Basso to the mound with a 0-0, 1.93 ERA record. Garrett Crochet will start for the White Sox with a 6-11 win/loss record and a 3.83 ERA.

Oakland A’s podcast with Barbara Mason: A’s open 9 game road trip starting in Houston Tuesday

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Oakland rightfielder Lawrence Butler (4) chases down a Detroit Tigers Spencer Torkelson fly ball to the wall in the top of the fifth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Sun Sep 8, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Barbara:

#1 The Detroit Tigers Trey Sweeny had four hits including a home run and Tigers pitcher Ty Madden struck out seven hitters as the Tigers landslided the A’s 9-1 at the Oakland Coliseum.

#2 Madden and reliever Beau Brieske combined on a no hitter into the fifth inning. Brieske pitched the first inning and Madden put in five innings of work giving up five hits, one earned run and struck out seven.

#3 Sweeny saw the ball well Sunday with four hits and a walk as the lead off hitter. The Tigers had themselves a rally in the eighth inning with six runs.

#4 The A’s Lawrence Butler broke up the no hitter in the fifth inning with a hit and now has an 18 game hitting streak. Butler has been raking.

#5 The open a nine game road trip to Houston, and to Chicago to face the White Sox for three and the Cubs for three. The A’s will open a three game series in Houston. A’s starter RHP Osvaldo Bido (5-3, 3.41) for the Astros Spencer Arrighetti (7-12, 4.82) at Minute Maid Field on Tuesday at 5:10pm PT.

Barbara does the Oakland A’s podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco Giants game wrap: Giants waste superb outing and fail to sweep White Sox, who score four in the ninth, 6-2 loss

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San Francisco Giants Mark Canha swings for a base hit in the bottom of the fourth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Wed Aug 21, 2024 (AP News photo)

Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024

Oracle Park

San Francisco, California

Chicago White Sox 6 (31-97)

San Francisco Giants 2 (65-64)

Win: Fraser Ellard (1-1)

Loss: Erik Miller (3-4)

Time: 2:10

Attendance: 28,375

By Stephen Ruderman

Not only did the Giants fail to complete the sweep of the historically-bad White Sox, but they wasted another great outing by Logan Webb and imploded in the top of the ninth inning, as the South Siders scored four runs en route to a 6-2 win on Wednesday afternoon.

The Giants have been able to take advantage of playing not just the worst team in Baseball, but an historically-bad Chicago White Sox’ team that could end up having the worst season in Baseball History.

The Giants have won three-straight, including the first two of this series. Today, Logan Webb was making what seems like a rare start after a Giants’ win, as they had a chance to sweep and get back to their season-high three games over .500.

However, Webb would immediately run into trouble right out of the gate. Nicky Lopez led off the game with a triple, and he scored two batters later on a base-hit by Andrew Benintendi.

Left-hander Garrett Crochet made the start for Chicago. Crochet started off his afternoon with a scoreless bottom of the first inning and a one, two, three bottom of the second. Webb settled down with a scoreless top of the second and a one, two, three top of the third.

Casey Schmitt led off the bottom of the third with a double for the Giants’ first hit of the game. However, this being the Giants, Crochet set down the next three in order to escape the inning unscathed.

The White Sox would make the Giants pay for their wasted opportunity. Luis Robert Jr., who you could say “robbed” Curt Casali of an RBI base-hit with a sliding catch that he really didn’t need to make in the bottom of the third, led off the top of the fourth with a double.

Benintendi flew out to right field to move Robert over to third base, and Andrew Vaughn got Robert in on a sacrifice fly to left to make it 2-0. Talk about manufacturing a run.

Gavin Sheets then singled to extend the inning. Now usually wouldn’t go on about an inning like this since the White Sox did not extend their lead, but Korey Lee hit a ground ball right to third that Matt Chapman ran to his right to field right on the line, and Chapman made a perfect jump throw to first to end the inning.

Matt Chapman has shined at the hot corner all season, and his defense and leadership have been a huge boost for this team. He may be getting up in age, but he has certainly earned an extension.

Chapman’s great play was a shot in the arm for the Giants in the bottom of the fourth. Mark Canha led off the inning with a ground-rule double, and Heliot Ramos also doubled, which moved Canha to third—I know, make that make sense.

Chapman, who now had the chance to get the big hit after his great play at third, struck out swinging. Jerar Encarnacion got Canha in on a ground out to second to put the Giants on the board.

Still, the Giants were lacking that big RBI hit. However, they would get it when Thairo Estrada stepped up and singled the other way to right to tie the game.

From there, Webb was in complete command. He threw four more scoreless innings and retired 12 of the final 13 men he faced to cap off another incredible outing.

Webb went eight innings, giving up just two runs and five hits. He did not walk anybody, and he struck out six. Unfortunately, it was still the same story for Webb on the offensive side, as the Giants’ offense was only able to provide him with two runs of support.

For the White Sox, Crochet was done after just four innings. Chad Kuhl pitched a one, two, three inning in the bottom of the fifth, and a scoreless bottom of the sixth. Justin Anderson and Fraser Ellard then pitched 1-2-3 innings in the seventh and eighth.

One complaint I had over the first two games of this series was that even though the Giants won both games, they were much closer than they should have been against a team like the White Sox. Unfortunately, Wednesday was the same story, and the Giants would pay for it big time in the ninth.

Erik Miller came in, as the game was still tied 2-2 in the top of the ninth. Miller got off to a good start, as he got Nicky Lopez to fly out to begin the inning. However, Robert walked and stole second. Benintendi also walked, and then Vaughn reached on an infield hit to load the bases.

Miller had his back against the wall, as the White Sox had the bases loaded with one out. Miller bounced back to strike out Sheets, and then Bob Melvin went to Spencer Bivens.

Korey Lee came up to the plate for the White Sox. Bivens quickly got ahead in the count 0-2, and was a strike away from getting out of it and sending the game to the bottom of the ninth still tied.

However, Lee took a pair of balls—pun or no pun intended—to even the count. Then he lined a sinker up the middle for a base-hit that scored a pair to give the Pale Hose a 4-2 lead. Lee had advanced to second on an error by center-fielder Grant McCray, and Lenyn Sosa singled to left to knock in a pair and make it 6-2.

It was a disastrous and embarrassing inning for the Giants. To add insult to injury, White Sox Interim Manager Grady Sizemore summoned former Giant John Brebbia, who was also one of the biggest characters on the Giants the last three years, for the bottom of the ninth.

Ramos led off the bottom of the ninth with his second double of the game. The Giants were now in a great position to bounce back and…..who am I kidding, Brebbia set down the next three, and the White Sox won 6-2.

Fraser Ellard got the win, and Erik Miller took the loss.

The Giants won the first two games against this awful White Sox’ team, but they made them both too close for comfort. Then Wednesday, they couldn’t even complete the easiest sweep of the season, and they lost in such an embarrassing way.

The Giants fall to 65-64, and on top of losing to the White Sox, they now have to begin a stretch in which 27 of their next 30 games will be against teams over .500.

The Giants flew to Seattle Wednesday afternoon, as they will embark on a six-game, two-city road trip. They will get a day off Thursday in the beautiful city of Seattle, and then they will start a three-game series in Seattle Friday, which will run through Sunday. That will be followed up with three in Milwaukee against the Brewers next Monday through Wednesday.

The pitching matchup for Friday’s series opener at T-Mobile Park has still yet to be announced. The only thing for certain is that yours truly will be there, and with the fact that it will be cold and rainy like Northern California in the winter, that makes me very happy. Not to worry, they have a roof up there. Just give us one sunny day.

First pitch on Friday will be at 7:10 p.m.

National League Wild Card Standings:

*1. Diamondbacks 72-56 +4.0

*2. Padres 72-56 +4.0

  1. Braves 67-59 —

Mets 66-61 1.5

GIANTS 65-64 3.5

Cardinals 62-64 5.0

*Reds 62-65 5.5

*Cubs 62-65 5.5

*Tiebreakers taken into account.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Sox rally for 4 runs in ninth to defeat Giants 6-2

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Chicago White Sox Luis Robert Jr connects for a base hit in the top of the sixth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Wed Aug 21, 2024 (AP News photo)

On SF Giants podcast with Michael Duca:

#1 The Chicago White Sox Korey Lee hit a two run RBI single that broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the ninth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Wednesday afternoon that was part of a four run rally that helped defeat the San Francisco Giants 6-2. The win snaps the Sox four game losing streak.

#2 Giants reliever Erik Miller now 3-4 surrendered two walks to the Sox Luis Robert Jr and Andrew Benintendi with two out in the ninth inning with Lee at the plate he singled off Spencer Bivens to knock in the two runs. The Sox Lenyn Sosa hit a two run single for another two runs and the Sox came away with a four run win. How much trouble did you see Miller and Bivens having trying to work out of that jam?

#3 The Sox Robert and Gavin Sheets had two hits a piece and contributed in the game with two RBIs. As the White Sox who have lost won their third game in nine tries.

#4 Michael, how important is it that Chris Casalli is starting for the injured Patrick Bailey as catcher. Bailey is out on the 10 day IL with the oblique strain.

#5 The Giants open up a three game series with the Seattle Mariners starting Friday night a 7:10pm PT first pitch at T Mobile. Neither club has announced a starter as of Wednesday night.

Michael Duca does the Giants podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

ChiSox Sizemore Knows His Sample Size Is Limited

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Chicago White Sox manager Grady Sizemore photo

By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO—Making out the lineup isn’t a mundane act for Chicago White Sox interim manager Grady Sizemore.

“It’s something that I enjoy,” Sizemore said. “But again, there’s nothing set in stone. I’m just trying to get guys comfortable, playing in their spots. We’re evaluating it every day on where we want guys. I just want the best matchups.”

The best matchups on Tuesday night at Oracle Park weren’t very favorable for Sizemore. The woeful Sox were limited to three hits by Robbie Ray, a pitcher who didn’t survive the first inning in his last start against the Braves. On Tuesday, he was reborn, or more accurately, given a dream matchup against one of the worst teams baseball has ever seen.

The White Sox fell to 30-97, an unforgivable 67 games below .500, and they dropped their 14th consecutive series in losing the first two games against the Giants. A 14-game losing streak, and 21-game skid after that drew national headlines. And if Sizemore’s club falls behind, they fold their tents early and get ready for the next game. On Tuesday, the game was played in a brisk two hours, twenty minutes, and Chicago fell to 0-74 when they trail after seven innings.

To say Sizemore has his work lumped upon his clubhouse desk so high he can’t see out the door would be fair. But none of this is fair. Pedro Grifol was shown the door on August 8, and GM Chris Getz tabbed Sizemore to get the team through the final 45 games with grace, dignity and a whole bunch of humility.

Of course, those needs pointed Getz to rock-solid, super-steady Sizemore.

“We knew this season was gonna have its struggles based on the roster that we had,” Getz said on the occasion of Grifol’s dismissal. “When you make a change, you want to be very certain that it’s going to be effective.”

So what does effective mean in this very unusual case? It means that Sizemore, who has just one year of coaching experience as a minor league instructor for the Indians in 2023 must win at least 11 of the final 36 games to keep his club out of the record books as the worst team ever by losing percentage in the 20th and 21st centuries, a period of 125 years. It’s a weighty assignment that will draw a bunch of unwanted attention on a city and a fan base that at this point just wants to be left alone.

The 42-year old Sizemore doesn’t particularly like attention. So he is the right guy for the job. When asked if he would like this interim job to morph into a managers’ job somewhere else in 2025, a possibility if not a likelihood, he characteristically didn’t bite.

“Right now, I just focus on what I can do for these guys now,” he said after the 4-1 loss. “I don’t think past tomorrow.”

Sizemore’s words have never been terribly entertaining, but his tale of the tape is.

He’s originally from Seattle, and he graduated from high school in nearby Everett, Washington, where he played football, baseball and basketball while compiling a stellar 3.85 GPA. He’s bi-racial; his father Grady II is black, and his mother, Donna, is white.

From the managerial pedestal, his background sets Sizemore apart. African-American managers are often older not unlike Dusty Baker and Ron Washington, and have far more coaching experience and grooming, again like Baker and Washington. Yeah, black managers have been chosen to lead a bunch of reclamation projects, but not one this dire.

But here he is, and really isn’t trying to make light of any of it.

“I’m never going to waste my time worrying about stuff,” he said in an interview and article granted to ESPN in 2006. “I am going to enjoy my time on the planet, and that’s it.

“I don’t judge people. I just accept them for who they are.”

GAME NOTES: Tuesday’s game was a matchup of starting pitchers who both have had Tommy John surgery, and missed a large chunk of playing time, which today, is an occurrence that’s becoming more and more frequent.

“It’s great seeing (the Giants’) Robbie Ray, another TJ guy, pitch,” Chicago’s Davis Martin said after the game.

Martin said he felt great afterwards, departing in the fifth inning after throwing 82 pitches, which was a mandated max by Sizemore and his staff.

Ray completely turned things around by pitching into the seventh inning, after he didn’t survive the first inning against the Braves in his previous start, a 13-2 loss that was the low point of last week’s four-game slide for the Giants.

Ray strikes out nine over six strong innings, Giants make it three-straight with 4-1 win over White Sox

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San Francisco Giants starter Robbie Ray struck out nine Chicago White Sox at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Tue Aug 20, 2024 (AP News photo)

Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024

Oracle Park

San Francisco, California

Chicago White Sox 1 (30-97)

San Francisco Giants 4 (65-63)

Win: Robbie Ray (3-2)

Loss: Davis Martin (0-2)

Save: Ryan Walker (2)

Time: 2:20

Attendance: 28,766

By Stephen Ruderman

The Giants have taken advantage of their easy schedule to get back on track, as Robbie Ray struck out nine over six strong innings, and the Giants beat the White Sox 4-1 to win their third-straight on Monday night at Oracle Park in San Francisco.

The Giants beat the White Sox 5-3 Tuesday night after the White Sox got the tying run to second base with two outs in the top of the ninth. It was a game that was much closer than it should have been against the historically-bad White Sox, but at least the Giants were able to get the win.

Tuesday night, the Giants looked to make it three-straight with Robbie Ray on the mound on this Tuesday night at Oracle Park. Ray started the night off with a one, two, three top of the first inning. White Sox’ starter Davis Martin also started his night with a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the first.

Ray threw another one, two, three inning in the top of the second, and then the Giants got something going against Martin in the bottom of the second. Matt Chapman and Mike Yastrzemski singled to put runners at the corners with one out.

Monday night, the Giants finally got the timely RBI hits with runners in scoring position in a four-run bottom of the fifth. They weren’t able to do that in the bottom of the second Tuesday night, but Thaiuro Estrada was able to beat out the back end of a potential 5-4-3 double play, and Chapman scored to give the Giants a 1-0 lead.

The White Sox had Dominic Fletcher at first with two outs for Lenyn Sosa, who hit a double that bounced off the wall in left-center field. Fletcher was waived in, and he was initially called out at the plate. However, the White Sox challenged the call, which was overturned, and the game was tied.

The Giants loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the third for Heliot Ramos, who walked to put the Giants back ahead. They had the bases loaded with nobody out and a chance to extend their lead, but being the Giants, they were unable to add on.

Both teams went down 1-2-3 in the fourth, and Ray pitched another scoreless inning in the top of the fifth.

Curt Casali led off the bottom of the fifth with a base-hit, and after Tyler Fitzgerald struck out, Martin was done. White Sox Interim Manager Grady Sizemore brought in Fraser Ellard, who immediately walked LaMonte Wade.

That put runners at first and second with one out for Ramos. Ramos knocked in a run with a bases-loaded walk his last time up in the third. Here in the fifth, he lined a base-hit up the middle that scored Casali to make it 3-1. It was the first RBI hit with a runner in scoring position for the Giants Tuesday night.

The Giants were unable to further extend their lead in the bottom of the fifth, but Ray responded with a one, two, three shutdown inning in the top of the sixth. The Giants then wasted an opportunity against Touki Toussaint in the bottom of the sixth.

Ray gave up a one-out base-hit to Gavin Sheets with one out in the top of the seventh. Ray then struck out Korey Lee, but Bob Melvin pulled him for Sean Hjelle, who got Miguel Vargas to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.

Ray was good Tuesday night, and much more consistent than Kyle Harrison was Monday night. Ray gave up just a run and three hits, while striking out nine over six and two thirds innings.

It seems like the Giants’ starters have been posting a lot of high strikeout totals in starts recently. That’s because they have, as the Giants are fifth in all of Baseball in strikeouts this season with 1,123.

Toussaint was back out for the South Siders in the bottom of the seventh. Ramos walked to start the inning and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Mark Canha then walked, too, but Matt Chapman grounded into a double play.

The good news was that Ramos was still 90 feet away at third. Mike Yastrzemski got Ramos in with a ground-rule double that got stuck underneath the side wall down the right field line, and that made it 4-1.

Submariner Tyler Rogers pitched a scoreless top of the eighth, which would have been a one, two, three inning had Dominic Fletcher not reached on catcher’s interference to start the inning. Gus Varland then threw a one, two, three bottom of the eighth for the White Sox.

Ryan Walker didn’t pitch two innings last night, and in fact, he didn’t pitch it all last night, which meant he was free to pitch tonight. Walker indeed came in for the top of the ninth, and he struck out the side in a one, two, three inning to close it out.

Robbie Ray got the win; Davis Martin got the loss; and Ryan Walker picked up his second save.

A win is a win, but it would have been nice had the Giants done better than going 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position tonight. I am going to keep harping on that, because the Giants getting their act together and getting consistent key RBI hits with runners in scoring position is the only way they will be able to make a run at the Playoffs in September.

The Giants improve to 65-63, but they remain three and a half games back of the Braves for the third wild card. The Braves beat the Phillies 3-1 in Atlanta.

Wednesday, the Giants can get the sweep; win their fourth-straight; and get back to their season-high three games over .500 on a Wednesday getaway game. Giants’ ace Logan Webb (11-8, 3.17 ERA) will make what seems to be a rare start after a win, and he will be opposed by left-hander Garrett Crochet (6-9, 3.61 ERA). First pitch will be at 12:45 p.m.

National League Wild Card Standings:

  1. Padres 72-55 +4.0
  2. Diamondbacks 71-56 +3.0
  3. Braves 67-58 —

Mets 65-61 2.5

GIANTS 65-63 3.5

Giants News and Notes:

Patrick Bailey was placed on the Injured List prior to Tuesday night’s game due to a right oblique strain. Catcher Jakson Reetz was called back up.

The St. Louis Cardinals released former Giant shortstop Brandon Crawford. Crawford, 37, was unable to get a major league deal from the Giants, but he got one from the Cardinals and signed during Spring Training. In just 28 games, Crawford hit .169, going 12-for-71 with one home run and just four RBIs.

With the Giants’ connection to their former players, especially those from the world championship teams of 2010, 2012 and 2014, you can’t help but wonder if a potential reunion could be in the works.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Bailey on ten day IL with Oblique Strain; Casali in as starting catcher

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San Francisco Giants Chris Casali swings for an RBI single against the Chicago White Sox in front of Sox catcher Corey Lee at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Tue Aug 20, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the SF Giants podcast with Morris:

#1 Morris he’s known as dependable Matt as Matt Chapman took Chicago White Sox pitching deep in the bottom of the sixth inning to help pace the Giants in a 5-3 win on Monday night here at Oracle Park.

#2 For Chapman it was his 20th home run and he’s raking some of the home runs that he’s had this season had been key in either winning games or sparking the offense.

#3 The Giants got some good pitching from starter Kyle Harrison who allowed one run and five hits and walked two hitters.

#4 Harrison on Monday pitched in the fifth straight game where the Giants have limited their opponents to three or fewer runs.

#5 The White Sox and Giants in game two of this three game series at Oracle Park and the Sox will start RHP Davis Martin (0-1, ERA 3.00) and for the Giants LHP Robbie Ray (2-2, ERA 6.00) first pitch 6:45pm tonight.

Morris Phillips is a podcast contributor at http://www.sportsradioservice.com