It’s a South Side sweep against the Rays, as Fedde throws a gem
The Chicago White Sox just… swept the Tampa Bay Rays? Yes folks, you heard it here. I am covering my first win since early September 2023. And boy, does it feel good.
WE ARE STANDING, @JohnSchriffen ‼️ pic.twitter.com/JE3VHizoMY
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) April 28, 2024
The team has turned things around in one series, securing their first sweep and three-game win streak since last June. The offense has looked different, the energy is picked up.
Despite some offensive spark, this day belonged to Erick Fedde. It was a competitive game all around, with both teams pitching well, but today the South Siders excelled on the bases to make the difference in the game — getting a few breaks that never seem to go our way.
Although the Rays had two singles in the first inning, Fedde responded with two strikeouts. Zack Littell came out dealing, also getting two first-inning strikeouts to match Fedde. The first run came in the top of the fourth inning on an Isaac Paredes solo shot to left, but the White Sox responded with a big inning of their own in the bottom of the fourth.
Gavin Sheets and Eloy Jiménez had back-to-back singles and with two outs, Robbie Grossman had a clutch single to score a run.
Danny Mendick broke the tie with a single of his own. Four singles in the fourth? Now that’s what I call F-A-S-T (even though I still don’t know what it stands for).
The score remained at 2-1 into the later innings. Littell had a solid outing, going six innings with eight hits, two runs, and six strikeouts. The Rays pitching staff kept this one close, at least until the bottom of the eighth. The South Siders desperately needed some insurance, and that’s exactly what they got.
Tommy Pham and Sheets had a pair of singles to start it off, and Jiménez got lucky on a deflection from the pitcher Manuel Rodríguez to reach base on a single. The sacks were packed with Sox with no outs for Andrew Benintendi. The broadcast was a little surprised to see the righty reliever Rodríguez stay in to face a red-hot Benintendi, and so was I. Luckily it worked in our favor, as Benintendi broke the game open with a two-run single to extend the lead to 4-1.
Benny Bats is finally looking like a guy we willingly spent $75 million on. Hopefully he can continue not being completely terrible.
We don’t need to talk about the rest of the inning after that, as a strikeout and double play ended the threat to extend the game to a blowout.
Fedde stayed in to try and go for the complete game. He induced one out in the ninth, but got into some trouble on a Paredes single and Harold Ramírez RBI double to plate another run. Fedde’s day would end there, but his stat line was still mightily impressive, going 8 1⁄3 innings with seven hits, two runs, and nine strikeouts. His ERA now sits at 2.60 after an outing that saved the bullpen some arms.
Jordan Leasure had a chance to prove himself in a closing role with a runner on, and that’s exactly what he did, getting the next two outs with ease, and picking up a save.
The real story today is Fedde, who was a low-risk, high-reward signing in the offseason. So far he has established himself as a solid starter for this team, and his stuff is just nasty. Everything went our way today, which doesn’t happen often, but it’s nice to see. Although the power wasn’t there today, situational hitting mixed with a lot of singles ultimately won us the game, and this was the type of team a lot of people saw going into the season. Unfortunately, that terrible record is still there, but adding a few wins makes it a more bearable to look at. It sucks to have to get yourself in a hole and chip away, but there’s nothing they can do about it now except close the gap.
Baseball is something.
— Ryan McGuffey (@RyanMcGuffey) April 28, 2024
Sitting at 3-22 and losers of 7 straight, the #WhiteSox come home and sweep the #Rays. They scored 21 runs in the series.
Erick Fedde followed up a career high 11 K outing by pitching into the 9th and striking out 9
The Sox are 6-22.
Can they continue the winning at home? We will find out tomorrow, as the Minnesota Twins come into town. Having just got swept at Target Field, let’s hope the team comes out with some fire and can extend the streak. Garrett Crochet will be on the mound against Joe Ryan. Until then, everyone enjoy your Sunday. It’s been a while since we’ve had a Sunday afternoon win, so I’m not used to it, but it’s a fun feeling. See you all tomorrow at 6:40 p.m. CT.
Futility Watch
White Sox 2024 Record 6-22, worst 28-game start in White Sox history (ahead of THE 2023 WHITE SOX, at 7-21), tied with nine teams for 13th-worst in MLB history
White Sox 2024 Run Differential -77, 15th-worst 28-game start in MLB history
White Sox 2024 Season Record Pace 44-118 (.373)
Race to the Worst-Ever White Sox Record (1932, 52-109-1*) 8 1⁄2 games ahead
Race to the Most-Ever White Sox Losses (1970, 106) 12 games ahead
Race to the Worst-Ever American League Record (1916 A’s, 38-124*) 6 games behind
Race to the Worst-Ever MLB Record (1899 Spiders, 21-141*) 23 games behind
*record adjusted to a 162-game season
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