*Official 4/7 Walk this way...*

[Lipman 1]

That was one of the most bizarre games I’ve ever seen.

Eight walks in 4+ innings and ONLY ONE HIT???????

At least they won the series.

Guys going down left and right (now Hamilton...), bullpen giving up runs by the bushel, and the defense is atrocious, comical actually.

Other than that, this looks like a championship team! LOL (sarcasm implied)

Last healthy White Sox player remaining please turn out the lights as you leave the park.

[KenBerryGrab]

Walked the dogs at 4-1. Come back to 8-4. How did the kid stay in so long?

Luis's line-drive DP was tough luck.

Welcome to Chicago Nick Williams, and we'll see you at home tomorrow.

[Lipman 1]

Walked the dogs at 4-1. Come back to 8-4. How did the kid stay in so long?

Luis's line-drive DP was tough luck.

Welcome to Chicago Nick Williams, and we'll see you at home tomorrow.

The way these guys look I'm wondering just exactly what they worked on in spring training...serious question.

Eaton with three errors already, just stunning. And he's not the only one.

These guys should be 6-1 without stretching things to much, instead they are 3-4 and look lost. Giving away games that they can't make up.

But remember "F--- it, we're the best team in the American League!"

[shingo10]

Defense has been nothing short of embarrassing. La Russa and company have got to fix it whatever it takes. Also Robert getting picked off 2nd base by the catcher is inexcusable. It's just dumb baseball. They seem to lack any fundamentals. To be honest it feels like their record should be a lot worse so I guess we should consider ourselves fortunate. Hopefully getting home will do us some good and we can get our heads out of the sand. Injuries are certainly concerning.

[Lipman 1]

Defense has been nothing short of embarrassing. La Russa and company have got to fix it whatever it takes. Also Robert getting picked off 2nd base by the catcher is inexcusable. It's just dumb baseball. They seem to lack any fundamentals. To be honest it feels like their record should be a lot worse so I guess we should consider ourselves fortunate. Hopefully getting home will do us some good and we can get our heads out of the sand. Injuries are certainly concerning.

Fundamentals have been a constant issue since the end of the 2005 season. The one time things seemed to get better was when Ventura ordered mandatory infield / outfield pre-game practice (which teams used to do DAILY back in the day).

Like I've said in the past either White Sox coaches/managers simply can't teach the fundamentals properly or the players on the roster are simply baseball-stupid. I tend to think the second part is the actual reason. Guys throw to the wrong base (Hello! Adam Eaton!) get picked off (Hello! Luis Robert!), run into each other in the outfield (Hello! Eloy Jimenez!), guys can't bunt, can't move guys over with situational hitting. Just stupid, dumb, baseball.

[Lipman 1]

In the postgame TLR took the blame for the way he managed that 6th inning. Look I'm a big TLR guy, have known him since the early 80's, interviewed him multiple times but early indications are JR's decision isn't working out well.

[Zakath]

How do you leave a guy in getting lit up that badly? Following it on MLB and it looked like everything Foster was throwing was up in the zone. Even a team that hits as poorly as the Mariners do is going to light you up if you hang around up there.

You go out and talk to him when it's 4-4 (and he's given up three singles, a walk, and a sac fly) with the bags juiced AND YOU LEAVE HIM IN THERE TO GIVE UP A BASES-CLEARING DOUBLE? And then for good measure leave him in for one more guy so that the guy that hit the double can score?

Just atrocious. Lipman mentioned that we could be 6-1. Hell, we could easily be 7-0, despite the errors.

Our starters should sue for lack of support. And I'm sure Matt Foster is a nice guy, but he should be walking back to Chicago from Seattle.

[Zakath]

In the postgame TLR took the blame for the way he managed that 6th inning. Look I'm a big TLR guy, have known him since the early 80's, interviewed him multiple times but early indications are JR's decision isn't working out well.

Can you really call sitting back and watching a disaster unfold managing?

[PaleHoser]

Leaving Foster out there to take one for the team, only to bring in Ruiz for two pitches and then follow-up with Bummer and Hendriks (when you know they're going to throw regardless of the score anyway) is a real headscratcher for me.

[shingo10]

Leaving Foster out there to take one for the team, only to bring in Ruiz for two pitches and then follow-up with Bummer and Hendriks (when you know they're going to throw regardless of the score anyway) is a real headscratcher for me.

That is maybe the most disappointing aspect to me so far. I kept thinking that this team would be managed so much better than last year. Nobody is going to be perfect but damn it's like Ricky is still there. The lack of fundamentals and the questionable pitching use were things I didn't think we'd have to worry about so much.

[TDog]

The way these guys look I'm wondering just exactly what they worked on in spring training...serious question.

Eaton with three errors already, just stunning. And he's not the only one.

These guys should be 6-1 without stretching things to much, instead they are 3-4 and look lost. Giving away games that they can't make up.

But remember "F--- it, we're the best team in the American League!"

An ugly game to be sure, but the Sox lost today because Foster isn't the reliever he was expected to be after 2020. The seven-run inning was set up by Eaton's second throwing error. (Neither of the throws were wild. The first freakishly hit the pitcher's rubber in Anaheim. Today's took a hop that skipped over Mendick's -- I believe -- glove at an angle where it wasn't being backed up. With starters not able to go deeper into games and the Sox not having an off day in a week, Foster needed to at least preserve the lead, which exactly fits the role he fills on the roster. After failing twice on this road trip, it's possible that role will be re-evaluated.

Even after the seven-run sixth, the Sox loaded the bases with no one out. They didn't score, but the line-drive double play was simply bad luck. This game would have looked even uglier, though, had the Mariner's pitcher dropped the popup he was bobbling. With Mendick not running down the line, he likely would have started a double play. I didn't go through the game thread to see if anyone noticed that.

If you only pay attention to, only care about your team, you don't notice how ugly, how injured the other teams are. Seattle lost a couple of players last night and had another come out hurt with an injury today. Around the rest of the league, you only notice the most prominent injuries, like Donaldson, who went down quickly or Tatis, who, surgery or not, is in worse shape than Anderson from simply swinging at a pitch, if that's what you want to call it. When I saw the schedule, I wasn't sure if the Sox caught a break by getting Anaheim and Seattle trips out of the way after breaking camp in the same time zone (Arizona Mountain Standard Time being the same as Pacific Daylight Time) or if they were looking at being disadvantaged by playing eight games without an off-day in an era when teams ease starting pitchers into the season. There isn't any need to schedule off-days when you start the season with four in Anaheim and three in Seattle.

I didn't expect this team to be strong defensively, but I don't think the errors by Eaton and Robert on this road trip were indications of bad defense. The ball Vaughn didn't get to last night wasn't worse defense than I expected. The in-season injuries aren't serious. The White Sox had a chance to win every game on this trip, were ahead in all but one and tied going into the bottom of the ninth in the other. in a game so ugly that the Sox scored two runs on a strikeout. An ugly game to end an ugly road to be sure, but the Sox are only a game below .500, don't have to go to Anaheim and Seattle in August and aren't as bad as they've looked.

[Lipman 1]

How do you leave a guy in getting lit up that badly? Following it on MLB and it looked like everything Foster was throwing was up in the zone. Even a team that hits as poorly as the Mariners do is going to light you up if you hang around up there.

You go out and talk to him when it's 4-4 (and he's given up three singles, a walk, and a sac fly) with the bags juiced AND YOU LEAVE HIM IN THERE TO GIVE UP A BASES-CLEARING DOUBLE? And then for good measure leave him in for one more guy so that the guy that hit the double can score?

Just atrocious. Lipman mentioned that we could be 6-1. Hell, we could easily be 7-0, despite the errors.

Our starters should sue for lack of support. And I'm sure Matt Foster is a nice guy, but he should be walking back to Chicago from Seattle.

Zakath: Even worse, NOBODY WAS EVEN WARMING UP FOR MOST OF THAT INNING! TLR just left him in there to take a beating, that's also inexcusable especially for a guy who has made a career out of putting his players in the best situations to win.

[voodoochile]

An ugly game to be sure, but the Sox lost today because Foster isn't the reliever he was expected to be after 2020. The seven-run inning was set up by Eaton's second throwing error. (Neither of the throws were wild. The first freakishly hit the pitcher's rubber in Anaheim. Today's took a hop that skipped over Mendick's -- I believe -- glove at an angle where it wasn't being backed up. With starters not able to go deeper into games and the Sox not having an off day in a week, Foster needed to at least preserve the lead, which exactly fits the role he fills on the roster. After failing twice on this road trip, it's possible that role will be re-evaluated.

Even after the seven-run sixth, the Sox loaded the bases with no one out. They didn't score, but the line-drive double play was simply bad luck. This game would have looked even uglier, though, had the Mariner's pitcher dropped the popup he was bobbling. With Mendick not running down the line, he likely would have started a double play. I didn't go through the game thread to see if anyone noticed that.

If you only pay attention to, only care about your team, you don't notice how ugly, how injured the other teams are. Seattle lost a couple of players last night and had another come out hurt with an injury today. Around the rest of the league, you only notice the most prominent injuries, like Donaldson, who went down quickly or Tatis, who, surgery or not, is in worse shape than Anderson from simply swinging at a pitch, if that's what you want to call it. When I saw the schedule, I wasn't sure if the Sox caught a break by getting Anaheim and Seattle trips out of the way after breaking camp in the same time zone (Arizona Mountain Standard Time being the same as Pacific Daylight Time) or if they were looking at being disadvantaged by playing eight games without an off-day in an era when teams ease starting pitchers into the season. There isn't any need to schedule off-days when you start the season with four in Anaheim and three in Seattle.

I didn't expect this team to be strong defensively, but I don't think the errors by Eaton and Robert on this road trip were indications of bad defense. The ball Vaughn didn't get to last night wasn't worse defense than I expected. The in-season injuries aren't serious. The White Sox had a chance to win every game on this trip, were ahead in all but one and tied going into the bottom of the ninth in the other. in a game so ugly that the Sox scored two runs on a strikeout. An ugly game to end an ugly road to be sure, but the Sox are only a game below .500, don't have to go to Anaheim and Seattle in August and aren't as bad as they've looked.

There are positive signs. Robert is starting to hit again. If that continues and he turns into the guy we need him to be then there's a lot more reason to think things are going to improve. I agree the team looks tired. Friday can't get here soon enough and being able to sleep in their own beds for a week should do wonders for their energy. Tough start to the season, but there's still a ton of talent on this team.

[Lipman 1]

"An ugly game to end an ugly road to be sure, but the Sox are only a game below .500, don't have to go to Anaheim and Seattle in August and aren't as bad as they've looked.

That remains to be seen doesn't it?

"In stranding nine runners in the Seattle series finale, the Sox extended their American League-leading left-on-base total to 55 in the young season."

And it's not just the physical errors and the plays where a mistake changed the situations (Madrigal bobbling potential DP balls and at best getting one out) it's the continuous stupid mental errors, like getting picked off, getting doubled up off bases, outfielders running into each other.

These are plays good high school and college teams make without thinking twice.

Why can't these professional highly paid athletes do them?

Every team gets injuries but here's the thing, just one example;

The Sox are 3+ years into the rebuild and are STILL having to rely on retreads, cast-off's and failed draft picks like Nick Williams and Billy Hamilton to provide depth because their minor league system STILL can't produce guys who can step in and contribute when needed.

Recent history showed clubs like the Yankees and Cardinals getting gutted by injuries yet last I looked they still won a ton of games and made the playoffs.

The White Sox (who are getting more than a fair share of injuries) lose a few guys and the situation becomes critical.

Why is that?

The front office had chances to provide some cover in this area this season, had payroll room to spare...and what did they do?

I'll be completely honest, the day Eloy hurt himself by being baseball-stupid, I felt all the off season enthusiasm get sucked right out of me. My immediate thought was the "same old s---" the baseball gods were going to shove it up the Sox rear ends again in another season where the expectations were high.

Maybe they pull out of this...I hope so, I hope you are right in your analysis.

But after what I've seen this week they haven't changed my mind on that bad feeling.

[Lipman 1]

There are positive signs. Robert is starting to hit again.

Very true but the flip side to it is this Gold Glover is now starting to look like Eloy in the field.