White Sox 6, Cubs 6: Another draw

Mar 28, 2023 - 12:13 AM

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It’s another draw in the battle of South vs. North. Unfortunately, the White Sox could not pull out a win to bring themselves even for the Spring, and they remain at 12-13 in Cactus League competition. They have another shot at .500 tomorrow, in the final showdown against the Cubs before heading over to Houston on Thursday for Opening Day versus the Astros.

The Cubs’ offense struck early and scored four runs on four hits and one walk in the first inning off of [redacted], who exited the game in the first inning after only getting one out. Unfortunately, he returned in the bottom of the second inning and gave up another run, a home run blast by Dansby Swanson, and then two more runs in the bottom of the fourth. Whatever pitches he was working on in the offseason and was so excited to talk to reporters about early in Spring Training clearly still need MASSIVE work. He has just been BAD.

The South Siders had difficulty finding any offense off of Jameson Taillon. He pitched well, surrendering no runs on two hits and striking out five. Thankfully, the Cubs pulled Taillon after his five innings of work. The Sox finally managed to squeeze out a run in the top of the sixth off of Cubs righthander Julian Merryweather with three straight singles from Adam Haseley, Andrew Vaughn, and Jake Marisnick. In case there was ever any doubt, the Sox singles machine is BACK, baby, as Yasmani Grandal, Zach Remillard, Ryan Burrowes, Wes Kath, and DJ Gladney also had singles in the contest.

After that lonely run in the sixth, the Cubs bullpen shut down the Sox until the ninth inning, when the offense decided it was time for a hitting clinic. Romy González, who is still trying to carve out a spot on the roster, continued the power flex and hit a three-run dinger to left center off of Michael Fulmer, bringing the Sox within two, at 6-4. Then, after a Wes Kath single and Logan Glass double, the Cubs brought in Brad Deppermann, who gave up a two-run single to DJ Gladney, knotting it up at six, and that’s where it stayed.

The excellent news from this game was that the Sox bullpen was outstanding over 4 2⁄3 innings. The collective of rookies Lane Ramsey and Edgar Navarro, as well as the superpen arms of Kendall Graveman, Aaron Bummer and Joe Kelly, gave up no runs, one hit, two walks, and struck out seven. It appears the bullpen looks good to go for the regular season.

Miscellaneous Notes

• Following today’s game, the White Sox reassigned pitcher Keynan Middleton, catcher Sebastián Rivero, infielders Erik González and Zach Remillard, and outfielders Billy Hamilton, Adam Haseley, and Jake Marisnick to minor-league camp. The Sox now have 33 players remaining in camp, including 18 pitchers, two catchers, nine infielders, and four outfielders.
• I was planning to watch the game over at MLB.TV rather than stomach the Cubs broadcast team, and before the game, the MLB channel reviewed their Top 10 left fielders. Eloy Jiménez came in at No. 10, and Andrew Benintendi missed the cut. Do these guys not do any research before coming up with these lists? Jiménez will likely play more games at right field than left this season.
• Taillon hit Hanser Alberto on the hand in the top of the fifth inning and left the game, but per James Fegan, the White Sox report that he is fine.

• Grandal had a throwing error in the first inning.

The next game is a rematch tomorrow at 2:05 p.m. with the Cubs. The contest will be televised on the Cubs Marquee Network.

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