*Official 7/4 Late fireworks not enough...

[Lipman 1]

When the Triple A Tigers beat you two out of three, that's not a good weekend.

2-11 with RISP told the tale today.

Giolito not the same as the previous two years.

At least Cleveland lost, Sox still with a nice lead.

Get Yaz and Yoan back and take care of business in Minnesota.

By the way Monday's game is on ESPN, Wednesday's on the MLB Network.

[thomas35forever]

The good news is Cleveland lost again. Six-game lead maintained.

[Lipman 1]

5-3 now in this stretch of playing teams under .500 before the all-star break, that's OK I guess...not great, but OK.

[LITTLE NELL]

We came close with the go ahead run at the plate in the 9th.
Good day for Jose, we need him in the second half if we are going to win the division.
Giolito is having issues and he and Katz need to figure what's going on.

[LITTLE NELL]

5-3 now in this stretch of playing teams under .500 before the all-star break, that's OK I guess...not great, but OK.

After whipping the Tigers in the opener of the series it was a big letdown to lose the next 2. Lets go into MInny and keep the winning ways we've had with them in 2021.

[voodoochile]

Team had three position starters in the lineup today. Tough to win when that's the case.

[TDog]

Giolito has been inconsistent. If the Sox had a deeper bullpen, he probably doesn't pitch the fifth, certainly not the hitters he was facing in the fifth that he hadn't been able to get out, not easily anyway. This was the sort of game that Kopech and or Crochet was supposed to take over in the middle innings when the bullpen was being imagined in March and April. Even when the Tigers were playing for one run in the fifth, Giolito gave up two.

This game turned around when Abreu grounded into a double play after two leadoff singles. Later when the Sox looked like they were coming back, Anderson grounded into a double play with first and second and nobody out. Meanwhile, the Tigers got a run in the fist without hitting the ball out of the infield. It looked like this game turned around when Schoop grounded into a fielder's choice out at the plate with second and third and one out, shutting down the second-inning rally, and the Sox responded with two. With 17 base runners in nine innings, and your No. 3 hitter and the top of the order coming up with two on and none out in separate scoreless innings, the problem wasn't the composition of the offense.

This teams biggest need is bullpen depth.

[Lipman 1]

Team had three position starters in the lineup today. Tough to win when that's the case.

But that's been basically the case all season though and they seemed to overcome it (granted the season is only half way over...)

They played badly in Detroit who has won I think, 9 of 13. OK, put it in the rear view mirror and get it done in Minnesota. You don't want that lead shrinking right before the break.

[Lipman 1]

Giolito has been inconsistent. If the Sox had a deeper bullpen, he probably doesn't pitch the fifth, certainly not the hitters he was facing in the fifth that he hadn't been able to get out, not easily anyway. This was the sort of game that Kopech and or Crochet was supposed to take over in the middle innings when the bullpen was being imagined in March and April. Even when the Tigers were playing for one run in the fifth, Giolito gave up two.

This game turned around when Abreu grounded into a double play after two leadoff singles. Later when the Sox looked like they were coming back, Anderson grounded into a double play with first and second and nobody out. Meanwhile, the Tigers got a run in the fist without hitting the ball out of the infield. It looked like this game turned around when Schoop grounded into a fielder's choice out at the plate with second and third and one out, shutting down the second-inning rally, and the Sox responded with two. With 17 base runners in nine innings, and your No. 3 hitter and the top of the order coming up with two on and none out in separate scoreless innings, the problem wasn't the composition of the offense.

This teams biggest need is bullpen depth.

I tend to agree with you now as long as Sheets continues to play well but some here seem to be very comfortable with what the Sox have right now and I think that would be a serious mistake.

[voodoochile]

But that's been basically the case all season though and they seemed to overcome it (granted the season is only half way over...)

They played badly in Detroit who has won I think, 9 of 13. OK, put it in the rear view mirror and get it done in Minnesota. You don't want that lead shrinking right before the break.

No they are down two more at present, Grandal and Moncada. The three expected starters today included Eaton which is pushing the boundary.

[TDog]

I tend to agree with you now as long as Sheets continues to play well but some here seem to be very comfortable with what the Sox have right now and I think that would be a serious mistake.

I'm not comfortable with the bullpen and haven't been since April, and it isn't like there is significant relief help sidelined by the injured list. The issue isn't the lineup. It's the pitching.

For that matter, there is a rippling effect through the game. Look at Sheets' at bat in the top of the first with Anderson on first compared with Sheets in the third with Anderson on first and the Sox down 4-0. In the first, he was mostly getting high fastballs with Anderson a threat to run, and he singled on a 3-2 pitch. In the third, without the focus on Anderson, he took a low curve for a strike and grounded out on a low change. Winning flows out of successful pitching. They lost two straight games in Detroit although they scored five in each. When the Astros split a four-game series in Detroit last weekend the Tigers never scored more than three runs in a game, actually scored fewer runs in splitting the series against Houston than they scored against the Sox on Saturday.

The lineup isn't a problem compared to the lack of bullpen depth. You could jettison future talent for short improvements to the lineup, but you still have the thin bullpen.

[Noneck]

The offense is becoming more important with the banning of the sticky stuff. I don't expect to see what the Sox starting staff did in the 1st half of season.

[voodoochile]

The offense is becoming more important with the banning of the sticky stuff. I don't expect to see what the Sox starting staff did in the 1st half of season.

Gonna be true of every team.

[TDog]

Gonna be true of every team.

Of course. It's all relative. Are the White Sox using more sticky stuff than the pitchers who have been getting White Sox hitter out? I'm not convinced the White Sox have starting pitchers that rely on sticky stuff to get hitters out. I don't believe that's the secret to the success of the White Sox pitching coach, and I don't believe he he's simply withholding it from the bullpen. Giolito has been inconsistent all season. Donaldson has been an ******* since Oakland.

July and August, in a typical season, tend to be hitters' months. September and October are more about pitching. I'm guessing that a lot of hitters with great first halves are going to fall off some in the second half, regardless of sticky stuff.

[PaleHoser]

I don’t think Giolito has had a good start in a day game since Oakland in the playoffs last year.

I think his velocity is down compared
to last year, but haven’t seen much of a difference since the umpires started inspections. The only difference I’ve seen is that he is throwing his slider a little more and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.