ST. LOUIS — For 16 outs on Sunday, David Sandlin’s return from Triple-A was going perfectly.
“He just was in complete control,” said catcher Kyle Teel. “You could see it in his eyes.”
Shielding his vulnerable four-seam fastball behind a seven-pitch mix, Sandlin looked like a solution to the White Sox’ starting pitcher shortage with 5⅔ innings without an earned run allowed.
Before he could reach 18 outs, two soft singles broke up Sandlin’s perfect game, Colson Montgomery couldn’t keep hold of a 103.6 mph Ivan Herrera grounder to end a fraught sixth inning, and Cardinals RBI machine Alec Burleson fought off a Chris Murphy fastball on his hands for the decisive bases-clearing double of a 3-1 White Sox loss.
“Should’ve have gone six [innings] and given the team a better chance,” said Sandlin, in no mood to romanticize one of the best outings of his career. “We lost. It sucks. That’s all that I’m worried about.”
Will Venable had no regrets about going to the bullppen for a left-on-left matchup rather than let Sandlin face Burleson for a third time. Montgomery had given himself a chance at Herrera’s ball by shading toward second, and was screened by the baserunner. But results are paramount in September, and the White Sox aren’t getting them.
“Stuff happens like that,” Montgomery said, who also fouled back a meaty George Soriano heater before flying out with the bases loaded to end the game. “You just have to make that play.”
A fruitless ninth-inning rally capped an 0-for-7 showing with runners in scoring position, highlighted by Sam Antonacci sixth-inning leadoff triple going to waste, as he was caught in a rundown trying to save Munetaka Murakami’s bouncer to first from becoming an inning-ending double play.
“That kind of snowballed as far as the spirit of the club and didn’t really recover after that,” Venable said.
The recovery will have to come in Cleveland, with the Sox clinging to a half-game lead in the American League Central.
Why don’t Sox starters go deep?
With their use of openers, and now 21-straight games without a pitcher completing six innings, White Sox starting pitchers have logged the fewest innings in MLB.
Venable has preached flexible usage all year, and will deploy relievers even more aggressively down the stretch. But the ebb in starter innings goes further. Triple-A lefty Shane Murphy is the only Sox minor leaguer who will complete over 130 innings this season.
Sox senior adviser to pitching Brian Bannister said innings restrictions are usually dictated by the medical staff, not reflections of strategy. But he also feels the sport has evolved away from long outings in two ways. The first is the pitch clock, reducing the opportunity for pitchers to catch their breath.
The second way feels even more intractable in this age of efficiency.
“You’re going out, leveraging your best stuff for as long as you possibly can, and then handing the baton to the next guy,” Bannister said. “Literally pitching at max effort on almost every pitch, just to beat these hitters who are out there training on Trajekt machines and know everything about you down to the smallest detail. It just requires a ton of stuff.”
Bases loaded with dread
The Sox have batted with the bases loaded 17 times in their last 14 games (4-10), and gone 1-for-13 with four walks.