White Sox enter All-Star break with sweep of Athletics
White Sox manager Will Venable is looking forward to a few days away from the grind that is a major-league season with the MLB All-Star Game coming up.
“I don’t have to make any lineups for a couple days, which will be great,” Venable said with a smile prior to Sunday’s final contest before the All-Star break.
But the way his team is headed into the four-day reprieve from baseball, he might not want his red-hot offense to have time to potentially cool off. And the way they’re hitting, filling out lineup sheets doesn’t seem like the most challenging thing on Venable’s list.
The White Sox sent nine hitters to the plate in the first inning and scored six times en route to a 9-1 win over the Athletics to complete a three-game sweep at Rate Field. They outscored the A’s 26-2 over the weekend set. Eight of the nine starters in the lineup reached base on Sunday.
“Really nice series,” Venable said after the win. “You saw contributions from everybody on both sides of the ball. Some really good defense this series. Pitching was great and some really good stuff from the offense.”
The sweep was an exclamation point on a strong first half for the resurgent White Sox. They head into baseball’s unofficial halfway point tied atop the American League Central and would have the No. 2 seed in the AL, with a bye into the AL Division Series, if the playoffs started today. The thought of the White Sox playing in October, after losing 324 games over the last three seasons, doesn’t seem impossible.
“It’s ours for the taking,” left fielder Sam Antonacci said. “We just have to get it. It’s not going to be easy. There’s going to be ups and downs, but you got to go get it.”
The White Sox have endured a roller-coaster ride this season — much like the first frame of Sunday’s win. A’s catcher Shea Langeliers clubbed a two-out, solo home run to left field to give them a 1-0 lead in the first inning against left-hander Noah Schultz. It was the second hit permitted by the rookie in the frame, creating worries that it would potentially be a tough outing for him.
Schultz has allowed a run in 10 of his 11 starts this season and has recorded just two quality starts. But Antonacci and the offense helped quell those concerns.
Antonacci hit his third leadoff home run of the season to tie the game, then three of the next four White Sox hitters reached to load the bases. Catcher Kyle Teel snapped an 0-for-13 skid with a two-run single before Braden Montgomery clubbed a three-run home run to break the game open.
“It’s really important when you have the support of your offense, you know they are in a good spot,” Venable said. “After you give up early leads, to come back and take it back means a lot.”
Schultz settled in after that. He retired six of the next seven hitters he faced. In the fourth inning, the left-hander escaped a one-out, bases-loaded jam by striking out Lawrence Butler and inducing a force out from center fielder Henry Bolte.
The hope for Schultz and the White Sox is that the 2022 first-round draft pick can build upon the start and contribute to a team with aspirations of playing in the postseason for the first time since 2021.
“It’s huge,” Schultz said. “It’s great for moving forward. Great team win at the end of the day. Offense putting up a ton of runs. For me, personally, just really happy being able to throw more strikes and no walks today.”
It’s the trend the White Sox, as a whole, have shown this season. The team started the year 6-13 after being swept at home by the Tampa Bay Rays, and a potential fourth-straight 100-loss season looked likely. But they’ve gone 44-32 in that span, buoyed by various surprise performances, including their three All-Stars: first baseman Munetaka Murakami, third baseman Miguel Vargas and center fielder Tristan Peters.
“Great first half,” Venable said. “To see the progress of the group, where this group really came together after a tough couple of series to start the year, to find different ways. We are getting contributions everywhere. It’s been really cool to see. (Let) these guys recover and recharge a little bit and get ready for the second half.”
It’s a stark contrast to last year, too, when they entered the Midsummer Classic with a 32-65 record and little to look forward to over the final two-plus months of the season.
“There’s been so many things behind the scenes, and progress in this organization to have these results here are really good,” Venable said. “We are just getting started. I feel like we have so much to learn and grow with, but really excited.”