The White Sox have been on a rollercoaster ride lately, and it seems like their pitching staff is the latest to take center stage. After clawing their way out of a hitting slump last season, the team now faces a potential pitching conundrum. Saturday's doubleheader offered a glimpse into the challenges ahead, as the White Sox arms struggled in the heat, despite efforts to mitigate the conditions by shifting games to the evening.
In a night marked by wild pitching, the White Sox's Spring Breakout squad, supposedly showcasing the cream of their pitching crop, couldn't find the strike zone. Across two games, they issued a staggering 24 walks, with 17 coming from the Breakout game alone. It's not every day you witness five consecutive bases-loaded walks, but that's precisely what happened against the reigning champions, the Dodgers, during a seven-run second inning.
Lucas Wepf, a Double-A reliever for the Dodgers, had a night to forget, allowing four of those bases-loaded walks in a sequence that saw him throw just two strikes in 17 pitches. Before this walk-a-thon, William Bergolla Jr. had put the White Sox ahead with a clutch bases-loaded ground-rule double.
The White Sox seemed poised to cruise after flipping a 2-1 deficit into an 8-2 lead, all with two outs. But the Dodgers weren't done.
The young White Sox pitchers couldn't hold the lead, issuing more free passes and allowing the Dodgers to claw back. By the fourth inning, the Dodgers had turned an 8-2 deficit into an 11-8 advantage, with the White Sox pitchers having issued 12 walks by then.
The White Sox offense showed some resilience, with Billy Carlson grounding into a double play that scored a run in the seventh, and George Wolkow adding a solo homer in the eighth. In the ninth, Samuel Zavala reached on an infield single and advanced on an error. Kyle Lodise followed with a hard-hit single, but the rally was cut short when José Mendoza grounded into a double play, ending the game after nearly four hours.
Meanwhile, over in Goodyear, the White Sox's "Opening Day lineup" started strong, building a 5-1 lead halfway through the game. But the pitching woes persisted.
Sean Newcomb, tasked with bridging the middle innings, struggled mightily, surrendering five earned runs and committing an error. The staff's seven walks against eight strikeouts kept the Reds in the game, allowing them to surge ahead 7-5 by the fifth inning.
The White Sox managed to tie it up at 7-7 with a two-run single from Everson Pereira, who had already homered earlier. But the Reds had the last word.
In the bottom of the ninth, they loaded the bases for P.J. Higgins, who faced a full count against reliever Frankeli Arias.
Higgins didn't wait for a potential walk-off walk; instead, he launched a fastball into right field for a grand slam, sealing an 11-7 victory for the Reds.
As the White Sox look ahead, the focus will undoubtedly be on stabilizing their pitching. With the potential of a promising offense, finding consistency on the mound could be the key to turning these close contests into victories.