The White Sox’ relief corps continues to lead the majors in innings pitched, and at the rate the starters are going, the relievers should win in a runaway.
That’s not a good thing.
Left-hander Anthony Kay allowed five runs in 4 ⅓ innings Saturday in the Sox’ 6-4 loss to the Twins, his third consecutive start with fewer than five innings. It extended the rotation’s failure to reach six innings to 14 consecutive games. The Sox have weathered their starters’ inability to pitch deep into games this long, but you have to wonder how much longer they can.
The Sox gave Kay a 3-0 lead in the first on a two-run homer by Munetaka Murakami, his 30th of the season, and a solo shot by Colson Montgomery, his 31st. But after pitching three hitless innings, Kay began to unravel, the big blow coming on Ryan Jeffers’ three-run homer in the fifth, a 415-foot shot to left field.
“We got in a groove early and then kind of fell apart,” Kay said. “Second and third time around, they pick up good swings. It comes down to execution and maybe some pitch-calling that we can work on second time, third time through. They’re clearly seeing something that we have to work on.”
“You have to find ways to get outs and get through the fifth there,” manager Will Venable said. “Obviously, it’s been something that we’ve been struggling with as a staff. You’re in a spot going into that inning, I think 62-63 pitches, and you want to be able to push through. Just some pitches left over the middle of the plate.”
The last Sox starter to pitch six innings was Sean Burke on Aug. 21. It hasn’t happened nearly enough, and the Sox have to hope that an overworked bullpen doesn’t come back to bite them in the final 20 games of the season.
“You’re going to expose guys to some spots like we did today in the fifth with Kay facing [right-handed-hitting] Jeffers where you’re going to have some trouble you’ve got to be able to work through.”
Rotation roulette
Venable changed the Sox’ rotation, taking advantage of the team’s day off Monday. He moved Sean Burke from Sunday in the series finale against the Twins to Tuesday in the opener against the Pirates. Bryan Hudson will be the opener for a bullpen day Sunday.
“[We] have a chance to line some things up,” Venable said. “We’re looking ahead and trying to get guys in the best spots. There’s some implications with rest; there’s some implications with matchups.”
Burke is more than 20 innings past his career high and probably could use the extra two days of rest. He’s coming off one of his better starts of late in which he pitched 5 ⅔ scoreless innings of one-hit ball against the Astros, though he walked four.
“We’ve seen him so good,” Venable said. “Feel like he’s getting back to form after a couple that maybe weren’t as sharp as the previous stretch. Feel really good about where he’s at and want to make sure that he stays there.”
Burke will be followed by Davis Martin on Wednesday and a starter to be announced for Thursday. Based on the last run through the rotation, that would be Luis Castillo’s turn. But since his seven scoreless innings Aug. 12 against the Reds, his ERA is 9.98 in four starts.
Notes
Catcher Kyle Teel felt good after his first game back from injury Friday. Teel, who missed six weeks with a sprained ankle, didn’t start Saturday — he struck out as a pinch hitter in the seventh and stayed in the game — but is expected to Sunday.
“I thought he played at a really good pace, especially for his first game back,” Venable said. “I know there were emotions and some excitement. But he was really calm, really did a nice job being in tune with what he needed to do out there.”
• Winston-Salem outfielder George Wolkow, 20, became the youngest Sox minor-leaguer since at least 1981 (Adam Grundt) to reach 100 RBI in a season. The left-handed-hitting Wolkow is the Sox’ 14th-ranked prospect, according to MLB.com.