Lip Man 1

Well we know that has been an issue for him. Getting flashbacks of Joe Crede and Bill Melton.

It's called knowing baseball fundamentals which literally for years has been an unknown word to this organization despite talk seemingly every spring about how they are working on these things.

Just saw this stat: Sox relief pitchers have now given up 113 runs on the road this season, the most in MLB.

Can he pitch? 😉

I'm not sure how it works but he may have to actually consent to a demotion.

Just got back from some pre 4th of July activities. Saw the score, looked at the box score. Make that nine straight losses in Cleveland dating back to 2024. 7th time this year the Sox had a lead in the 7th inning or later and lost the game. Dominguez is completely useless it appears regardless of the situation or inning. Getz (assuming he gets the OK) needs to somehow improve the pitching staff sooner rather than later or it may not matter if he waits for the deadline. They still have two chances to do something positive. Maybe we'll have something to celebrate Saturday over and above the holiday.

I wonder if he can come back for the A's series then get four days off for the ASB, even if he's selected the Sox won't actually let him play.

I'm not the one who lost eight straight in Cleveland. Just stating the facts.

Didn't realize it was Williams, that's bizarre.

Tonight's game factoid: The Sox have lost eight straight games in Cleveland going into tonight's contest. Their last win? July 3, 2024.

I'm assuming a lot of the relief pitchers from last night won't be available this evening. Kay needs to have a solid start and pitch deep into it.

SIX factoids today: July 3, 1922 - Sox pitcher Ted Blankenship made his big-league debut in a big way. Blankenship relieved starter Ferdinand “Ferdie” Schupp in the second inning of a game against Detroit. He’d pitch 12 innings before losing the game in the 14th giving up nine hits. The final score was 7-6. It took place at Comiskey Park and was the first game of a double header. The Sox won the second game 4-3. July 3, 1940 – It was a wild ninth inning punctuated by a franchise first. The White Sox came up with a seven-run final frame to put away the Tigers 12-7 in a game in Detroit with the highlight being a pinch-hit grand slam off the bat of Taft “Taffy” Wright. It was the first time the Sox had ever recorded a pinch-hit grand slam. Wright was batting for Eric McNair when he sent a Lynn Nelson pitch over the fence scoring Joe Kuhel, Julius “Moose” Solters and Larry Rosenthal ahead of him. For the year Wright would only hit five home runs! July 3, 1973 – In a 15-1 thrashing of Texas in the opener of a doubleheader Tony Muser tied a franchise record with five walks. The first baseman scored four times and added a single, meaning he reached base safely in all six of his trips to the plate from the two spot in the batting order. Muser joined Dick Allen, who was walked five times in a game nearly a year earlier, along with Sammy Strang, “Minnie” Minoso, Frank Thomas and Jim Thome in franchise annals. July 3, 1976 – It was the first morning start for a game in the history of Comiskey Park as the Sox hosted Texas. The first pitch was delivered at 10:30 AM. The Sox didn’t care much for the novelty as they lost 3-0 to Nellie Briles, getting only three hits. The Sox would play another morning game the following season in connection with McDonalds restaurants Egg McMuffin sandwiches, and hammer Cleveland 18-2. July 3, 1993 - Former Sox announcer and Hall of Fame pitcher Don Drysdale was found dead in his hotel room in Montreal of a heart condition. Drysdale, then a Dodgers announcer, worked for the Sox mostly on television from 1982 through 1987. His broadcast partner Ken “Hawk” Harrelson broke down on the air, while making the announcement during the Sox 9-6 loss to the Orioles at Comiskey Park that evening. July 3, 2012 – Sox pitcher Chris Sale earned his 10th win of the season as the White Sox ran out to a 19-0 lead and ended up crushing Texas, 19-2. An Ian Kinsler error at second base helped propel Chicago to a nine run fifth inning (seven unearned), capped by an A.J. Pierzynski three-run blast. Roy Oswalt started for the Rangers and surrendered 11 runs (nine earned) in a little less than five innings of work. Pierzynski, Alex Rios, Kevin Youkilis, and Alexei Ramírez all collected three hits apiece in the game.

From Sun-Times Jeff Agrest's recap: "Davis’ home-road splits are stark. In seven starts at Rate Field, he has an 0.88 ERA with a 0.951 WHIP. In 10 starts on the road, his ERA is 4.72, and his WHIP is 1.48. He allowed two earned runs, six hits and five walks to the Guardians. That said, Davis has allowed two runs or fewer in all but four of his 17 starts — all four were on the road." https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2026/07/02/davis-martin-chicago-white-sox-cleveland-guardians-will-venable-grant-taylor

From Merkin's recap: "Cleveland chipped away to cut the margin to 5-4 through seven, before Taylor took the mound. There was a four-pitch walk issued to Steven Kwan with one out, but Taylor got through the eighth with two strikeouts and no runs allowed. Bryan Hudson was unavailable after pitching Wednesday in Baltimore and getting hot in the bullpen two other times, and one-time closer Seranthony Domínguez is being used in lower-leverage situations to get him back on track, although he could have followed Taylor if needed. So, Taylor came back for the ninth and issued a four-pitch, leadoff walk to Rhys Hoskins. An eight-pitch battle with Kahlil Watson resulted in a fly out to center, before Rocchio connected on a 99.3 mph four-seamer up a bit and somewhat outside. “Yeah, I wasn’t landing the curveball earlier,” Taylor said. “I was going to stick to my strength. I have a good fastball, especially against lefties. I threw it in a pretty good location, but he was looking for it and got a good swing.”

Fair point which makes Friday's game a little more important in my opinion.

Because of the pitching shortcomings it is hard to see them have a stretch where they can win say seven in a row or 12 of 14. The pitching just doesn't seem to be good enough to allow them to do that.

My guess is they'll be in the playoffs with 90 or so wins in part because they'll do whatever they have to do and take on whatever salary they have to do at the deadline to correct their issues.

Not taking a position one way or the other just stating what the record shows. Personally I think that difficult stretch took a little something out of them and with the pitching shortcomings it is adding up. And their road record speaks for itself.

This is where closing series out and getting sweeps would have been important. And getting swept by Detroit didn't help matters.

Venable said last week to the papers that Siranthony was told he was going to be used in less stressful situations.

Sox are 7-9 in their last 16 games.

Just bad. Wow. Couldn't come at a worse time momentum-wise Pitching simply isn't up to par and it's becoming more of a factor as the season rolls on. 6th time this year the Sox had a lead in the 7th inning or later and lost the game. We'll see how they respond Friday with a pitching match up that is not in their favor.

Tonight on paper has the Sox with the edge in starting pitching. Let's hope they can take advantage of it.

Very true.

I'd also add if Getz can get the pitching help they badly need at the deadline.