Frustrated White Sox fall to Brewers in opener of heavyweight series
It's a series accurately billed as the Central showdown.
On one side, there's the White Sox, who are running away in the AL Central.
On the other, the Brewers, who are on a similarly smooth path on top of the NL Central.
Six top starting pitchers are set to go in the three-game series, and five of them were at the July 13 All-Star Game.
"Their numbers speak for themselves, as far as more than half of the season how effective they've been," Sox manager Tony La Russa said. "On paper, it looks like it's going to be a rough weekend for hitters."
Lucas Giolito got the ball for the White Sox in the opener at American Family Field in Milwaukee, the lone starter that wasn't an all-star this season.
The right-hander did just fine, limiting the Brewers to 1 run on 6 hits and 5 walks over 6 innings.
Milwaukee starter Freddy Peralta lasted just 4 innings, but he didn't allow a run and limited the Sox to just 1 hit.
This one came down to the bullpens and home-plate umpire John Libka, and the Sox lost on both of those fronts.
They also lost to the Brewers, 7-1.
The trouble started in the seventh inning, when Aaron Bummer relieved Giolito with Milwaukee clinging to a 1-0 lead.
Bummer gave up a leadoff single to Kolten Wong and followed with walks to Willy Adames and Christian Yelich on eight straight balls to load the bases.
Avisail Garcia's groundout scored a run and Ryan Burr came out of the bullpen to replace Bummer with two on and two outs and walked the first two batters he faced before Tyrone Taylor broke the game open with a grand slam.
On a mound visit before Taylor's home run, La Russa had words with Libka and was ejected.
Afterward, La Russa said Libka did not cost the White Sox the game in the matchup against Central heavyweights.
"We play against the other team, we do not play against the umpires" the Sox's manager said. "There's no way that it's beneficial to get upset at umpires."
With the White Sox batting in the eighth, Yoan Moncada took a called strike and Tim Anderson started yelling at Libka from the dugout. He was also ejected.
"Frustrations got high with the way the game was being called against us," Giolito said. "I got frustrated a couple times, I just tried not to show it out there. And sometimes it just kind of hits that breaking point, and it hit that breaking point for Tony and Timmy. It's just how it goes sometimes. We play with a lot of emotion on this team. We come out, put our heart and soul in it."