The White Sox had every reason to feel good about themselves on Tuesday night at Rate Field. A sellout crowd of 38,113 packed in for Pope Hat Night, and the offense jumped on Reds lefty Nick Lodolo early, building a 4-0 lead behind solo homers from Brenton Doyle, Edgar Quero and Miguel Vargas, plus an RBI double from Sam Antonacci. Sean Burke was cruising too, tossing 7 strong innings and allowing just 1 run. Then it all fell apart.
Chicago went ice cold at the plate, managing just 1 hit over its final 19 at-bats and failing to score again after the 4th inning. The bullpen didn't help — Bryan Hudson got hit by an infield single, a bloop and a well-placed grounder in the 8th, and Grant Taylor coughed up a 2-run single to Tyler Stephenson that tied it. The Reds finished the job in the 10th on an Elly de la Cruz sacrifice fly, and Cincinnati walked away with a 5-4 win.
For the fans in the building and watching from home, that collapse hit different. Barstool's own White Sox guy summed up the mood before he even went to bed.
That’s the worst loss of the year. I’m irate
He wasn't feeling any better the next morning. A full night's sleep apparently didn't cool anybody off.
I cannot believe the white sox blew that baseball game last night. Woke up angry
It's the kind of loss that sticks with a fanbase longer than the standings suggest it should — a 4-run lead evaporating without another run scored is the type of box score line that gets screenshotted and passed around for days. Other fans piled on with the same math that made the whole thing sting.
@barstoolWSD 4-0 lead and didn’t score again smh
Sean Burke's 7 shutout-until-the-5th innings deserved better, and Pope Hat Night deserved a happier ending for the crowd that showed up to celebrate Pope Leo, a lifelong Sox fan. Instead the story of the night became a bullpen that couldn't hold a 4-run cushion and an offense that vanished. For a White Sox team trying to build any kind of momentum, a loss like this is the one that lingers.