Grand slam? Sure. Win? Absolutely not. Chicago still finds a way to lose as they drop Game 1, 5-4, and Game 2, 8-6
Game 1
It looked like things were going to get ugly really fast for Sox starter Sean Burke as the St. Louis Cardinals wasted no time lighting up the scoreboard in the first. Masyn Winn kicked things off with a leadoff walk. Iván Herrera followed up with a sharp single, scooting Winn over to second. Burke packed the sacks by surrendering a free pass to Alec Burleson. With the pressure on, Willson Contreras lofted a sacrifice fly to left, easily plating Winn and giving St. Louis an early 1-0 advantage.
Chicago’s defense offered Burke a reprieve in the second. After Lars Nootbaar singled, Kyle Teel’s timely throw caught Nootbaar stealing, completing a strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out double play as Burke fanned Jordan Walker. Burke settled in, his curveball improving throughout the game as he retired the Cardinals in order in the third and fourth, finishing with seven strikeouts over 5 1⁄3 innings.
The Sox knotted things up in the fourth, capitalizing on some shoddy Cardinal defense. Miguel Vargas and Teel jump-started the rally with back-to-back base hits, setting up Luis Robert Jr. to successfully bunt both runners over. Though Ryan Noda struck out, Josh Rojas hit what looked like a single up the middle. Yet, Winn’s impressive grab was marred by a wide throw to first, allowing Vargas to score on the error.
The Good Guys seized the lead in the bottom of the fifth on Andrew Benintendi’s one-out triple. Vargas followed by smacking a single to center, driving Benny home. However, the lead proved short-lived as the Cardinals knotted the score in the top of the sixth with an unearned run. Herrera singled to center, and Alec Burleson reached on catcher’s interference by Teel. After Contreras struck out, manager Will Venable called on Brandon Eisert. The southpaw induced a groundout from Nolan Gorman, then intentionally walked Nolan Arenado to load the bases. St. Louis capitalized when Nootbaar drew a walk, tying the game at 2-2. Fortunately, Eisert limited the damage by striking out Walker to end the threat.
Veteran Michael A. Taylor briefly ignited the South Siders with another lead, launching a two-run go-ahead bomb to left in the sixth. Venable went to the pen in the top of the seventh for the other Taylor on the team, Grant, who retired the Cardinals 1-2-3.
Things looked promising again in the seventh when Benintendi led off with a single. Sadly, Vargas grounded into a double play. Yet, the Sox didn’t roll over; Teel worked a walk, and Robert singled. But with two on and two out, Lenyn Sosa flew out, leaving the runners stranded.
The never-say-die Cardinals retook the lead in the eighth. Reliever Cam Booser entered the game, promptly surrendering a single, a two-run blast to Contreras, and then committing a throwing error that ultimately allowed the go-ahead run to score. This bullpen remains incredibly frustrating; they couldn’t hold a lead if their life depended on it.
So, with two outs, Venable turned to the pen again for Steven Wilson, who got Winn to fly out and bring an end to a painful frame. The damage was already done, though, as that inning proved to be the nail in the coffin as the Sox couldn’t muster any other runs in the final two innings.
Game 2
The White Sox tied their longest losing streak of the season by getting swept by St. Louis. They also dropped eight straight during a stretch from April 1-10. June started off well enough, with Chicago going 4-3 over the first week, but it’s been rough going since. It looks like the Sox are back to being everyone’s get-right team. Do we think Venable is questioning his life choices yet?
Mike Vasil had a solid start to the game as he struck out three in the first and then retired the side in order in the second. However, it didn’t last, and then I really badly wanted to turn off my TV. But since my job is to shield you, wonderful readers, from having to watch, I kept plowing through despite this contest being almost unwatchable for the first six frames.
Newly acquired first baseman Ryan Noda did us a solid by crushing his first homer in a Sox uniform to give the Good Guys a really quick yet short-lived 1-0 lead. Then, the wheels just fell off in the third. With two outs and one on, Vasil hit Contreras and then allowed a three-run jack to left by Alec Burleson. Not to be outdone, Arenado followed with a solo tank of his own, 4-1 Cards.
Vasil pitched himself into another jam in the fourth. He loaded the bases with one out and gave up a double to Contreras, which plated two tallies. Then, Venable called on Tyler Gilbert for mop-up duty, and he secured the final out of the frame.
The rest of the game was hum-ho — that was until the seventh inning. As the rain was pouring down and things seemed to be all doom and gloom, the South Siders got themselves right back in the game. Sosa sparked a rally with a base hit, and after Noda went down swinging, Austin Slater also singled. Then, Robert came in to pinch hit and whiffed on a foul tip, but the next man up, Tauchman, singled home Sosa. Meidroth, demonstrating patience at the plate, worked a walk. With the bases juiced, Benny crushed a grand slam to right, tying things up 6-6.
Reliever Owen White found himself in a tough spot in the top of the eighth with runners on first and third with only one out. Jordan Leasure entered with Jose Barrero at the plate, who showed bunt for a safety squeeze on the first pitch. Edgar Quero saw Gorman leaning too much toward home and picked him clean off third for the second out. Leasure closed out the frame by fanning Barrero with a 96.8 mph four-seamer.
The Good Guys had a golden opportunity to walk it off in the ninth and just couldn’t get it done. After a walk to Tauchman and a passed ball that got him to second, Meidroth moved him over to third on a grounder. Up in the biggest situation of the game came Vinny Capra, and if there’s any moment that defined 2025 White Sox baseball, that was it. Capra grounded into a fielder’s choice, and Tauchman, going on contact, was mercilessly tagged out at the plate by Pedro Pagés. With two outs, Vargas grounded out to send the game to extras. And we all know how it goes for the South Siders in extras.
Dan Altavilla replaced Leasure for the 10th, and after getting a quick K on Burleson, Arenado singled home the ghost runner. Arenado tried stretching his base hit into a double, and on the relay, Meidroth tagged him out. Before the sting of the first run scoring could fade, Nootbar followed with a solo jack to give the Cards an 8-6 lead.
The bottom of the tenth proved futile for the Sox. Quero and Sosa both flew out, failing to move the Manfred runner. With two out, Noda walked, but Slater went down swinging, sealing the Sox’s eighth consecutive loss.