Game 1 Box Score: Mets 5, White Sox 2 (F/11)
Game 2 Box Score: Mets 4, White Sox 2
Game 3 Box Score: Mets 4, White Sox 0
Just when you think that getting swept in a 4-game set by the Royals means the White Sox couldn’t possibly find a new low, they go and get swept by the Mets at home. I mean in some ways it’s unsurprising, because they had to face three of the Mets best pitchers, two of whom are considered among the absolute best in the game. And they had to do with a lineup that ended up missing Yoan Moncada and therefore was comprised of Tim Anderson, Yoan Moncada, and a bunch of replacement level or worse players. Then again, the same could kinda be said about the Mets, but they swept the damn set. So.
Let’s just do this.
– Yoan Moncada getting hurt is obviously a terrible thing, but the manner in which he was hurt makes it a little harder to swallow for me. It’s one thing to strain your hammy running the bases or making an extraordinary play, but doing it on a routine grounder that requires minimal movement is tough. He’s had a number of these seemingly innocuous moments turn into injuries that make him miss time, and some people are starting to call him soft. And it’s a little hard to argue. But he’s still the best player on this team and will be for hopefully the next decade, so I can learn to live with it I suppose.
– If there was any doubt that Lucas Giolito is deserving of recognition as one of the best pitchers in the game, him going toe to toe with Jacob DeGrom should remove it. Sure it was the Mets but it was still Jacob DeGrom, and Giolito kept his team in striking distance of a win for a long time. It’s too bad the lineup was made up of trash and couldn’t get more than one run, even it was Jacob DeGrom.
– The bullpen blowing both of the first games of this series was not exactly surprising, but Alex Colome being the one that blew Game 2 was a little disheartening, but also put many things into perspective. Obviously at that point it meant nothing for his trade value – the Sox had already not traded him before the deadline. And the reason for that was clearly that they didn’t get an offer they liked, because even if he is controllable for next year, relievers are always out there to be had so keeping him to contend does not make sense. It’s just what they’re saying they decided. Colome finally having an epic meltdown, however, did make sense. His peripherals have been bad for a while, which also allows them not getting what they wanted for him to make sense as well. Hopefully he cleans his shit up and actually helps this team contend next year.
– Dylan Cease took another loss today moving his record to 1-4, but overall he was solid. He lost control as the game went on, but he finally went 7 and gave up only 3 ER, making it a quality start. Control is going to be an issue for him for a while, but him sorting it out in the bigs makes farmore sense than doing it in AAA. As long as he has the 70 grade fastball and a curveball that is at least a 60 (which is currently leading MLB in average break, by the way) he is going to have a strong ceiling.
