Joshua Báez and Leo Bernal wasted no time making themselves part of the story in Chicago.
The two rookies each finished with three hits and two RBIs, powering the St. Louis Cardinals to a 7-3 win over the White Sox on Friday night.
St. Louis also got a big night from the middle of the order, with Alec Burleson delivering an RBI single and an RBI double and Jordan Walker piling up a single, a double and two runs scored.
The Cardinals’ offense kept coming in waves. After the game was delayed 70 minutes because of storms that never arrived, Chicago jumped first when Chase Meidroth took the first pitch from Matthew Liberatore and sent it into the greenery in front of the left-center field bleachers for his 13th home run. Meidroth struck again in the third, lining a 391-foot shot into the left-field bullpen to tie the game at 2.
But St. Louis answered and then pulled away.
Anthony Kay (9-9) was tagged for three runs over four innings and dropped to 0-4 in his last six starts for Chicago. The Cardinals then added three more against Trevor Richards in the fifth, starting with Walker’s one-out double and followed by run-scoring hits from Burleson, Báez and Bernal.
Gordon Graceffo (8-1) picked up the win by getting the final two outs of the fifth. He struck out pinch-hitter Tristan Peters with the bases loaded to preserve a 3-2 lead. Chicago had another chance to flip the game in the sixth, loading the bases with one out, but Randal Grichuk struck out and Miguel Vargas flied out.
The loss was Chicago’s fourth in a row and ninth in its last 12 games, and it trimmed the White Sox’s AL Central lead to one-half game over Cleveland, which beat Minnesota 5-2.
For St. Louis, the heart of the lineup did the damage: the group combined to go 10 for 16 with six RBIs and six runs scored.
The series continues Saturday night, with White Sox trade-deadline acquisition Luis Castillo (4-11, 5.57 ERA) set to face fellow right-hander Kyle Leahy (10-4, 3.41).
In Other News...
White Sox Just Lost A Key Voice In Their Draft Pipeline
The White Sox lost a familiar figure in their draft room this week, with Mike Shirley resigning from his job as Director of Amateur Scouting and no longer being with the organization. Shirley had been in that role since 2019, making him a significant part of how Chicago evaluated amateur talent and shaped recent draft plans.
For a team trying to keep building a stronger pipeline, the timing matters because Shirley was directly involved in those strategy conversations and selections. The club has not offered any further detail on the resignation, and Shirley has not commented, leaving one more important front-office transition hanging over a development system that has already been under a microscope. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Suddenly Have A Trust Problem In Their Playoff Push
Luis Castillos latest turn in the rotation offered little relief for a White Sox team trying to steady itself in a tight playoff chase. In Chicagos 6-5 win over the Cardinals, Castillo was tagged for three earned runs in just 2.2 innings, another rough outing in a stretch that has made his late-summer arrival from Seattle feel more like a gamble than a lift. Even with the win, the White Sox had to work through another messy night on the mound while inching their way closer to October.
The timing only adds to the pressure, with the magic number down to 13 and a key series against Cleveland looming. Chicago can see the finish line, but the bigger question is whether it can trust enough of its current pitching mix to get there cleanly. Castillos struggles have become part of that conversation, and every start from here carries more weight as the White Sox try to protect their position. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Try To Seal Cardinals Series With A New Wrinkle Sunday
The White Sox head into Busch Stadium with a chance to keep a good run going after their recent victory, and Sundays setup brings a little something different for Chicago. Sam Antonacci is leading off, David Sandlin is getting the start on the mound and the Cardinals will counter with Michael McGreevy, giving the series a fresh look after the usual mix of roster shuffling and lineup tinkering around the edges.
Sandlins call-up has become part of the story here, and the White Sox have also moved Schweitzer off the roster as they continue sorting out the pitching side of things. For a club trying to stack wins and keep momentum in a tough spot on the schedule, the series finale is less about ceremony than seeing whether the new pieces can hold up long enough to finish the job in St. Louis. [Read more 🡒]