Chicago White Sox 2, Washington Nationals 0: Garrett Crochet fought the battle and got the win

The offense was sparse, but the pitching was dominant and helped the White Sox win their second straight series. Hit king Tommy Pham and young stud Korey Lee scored enough points to secure the W, and Chicago is now 7-3 in their last 10 games.

Garrett Crochet earned his third straight victory despite struggling with his command today. He walked three batters, a significant change from his previous two starts, with no free passes. Although he had a rough 26-pitch first inning, Crochet became more efficient as the game progressed, ultimately allowing no runs on three hits while striking out six in five innings. The southpaw has made great strides as a starter, but needs to work on pitching deeper into games as he has only thrown more than five innings in three of his 10 starts.

Today Chicago only had two counts, but it was enough to get the job done. In the bottom of the third, Zach Remillard led off with a walk. After Braden Shewmake hit a force out, Pham doubled home Remillard to give the Sox a 1–0 lead.

Here’s a special defensive shout-out to Remillard, who made this exceptional grab in the second to strand Riley Adams, who had doubled.

The bullpen was great again, shutting out the Washington Nationals two games in a row. Jared Shuster pitched two flawless innings with one K, and Jordan Leasure also pitched one inning with one strikeout. Fans can talk about Rick Hahn all we want, but those 2023 trade deadline deals are working out quite nicely with Leasure and Lee, plus at least three players doing quite well in the minors.

Michael Kopech took ninth and made us all a little queasy as Wild Thing was everywhere. While the former starter appears to have embraced his newly acquired role, he still doesn’t have control over his pitches. The righthander ultimately earned his fifth save of the season, but not before passing on the tying run and the go-ahead runs with the free pass. It makes the end of the game more exciting, I guess? Someone remind MK that he doesn’t have to post runners in the ninth to secure a save.

Thursday is a day off for the South Siders, who will be in the Big Apple for a weekend series against the AL-top New York Yankees.

Futility watch

White socks 2024 record 14-30, the third-worst 44-game start in White Sox history (1 ½ games behind the 1948 White Sox) and tied for the 77th-worst start in MLB history
White Sox 2024 Run Differential -87, tied for the 47th-worst 44-game start in MLB history
White Sox season record pace 2024 52-110 (.318)
Race to worst ‘modern’ 162-game record (2003 Tigers, 43-119) 9 games behind
Race to worst ‘modern’ record in a 162-game season (1962 Mets40-120) 11 games behind
Race to most White Sox losses (1970, 106) 4 games ahead
Race to Worst White Sox Record (1932, 52-109-1*) Still half a match ahead
Race to Worst American League Record (1916 A’s, 38-124*) 14 games behind
*record adjusted to a 162-game season