Offense Disappears During Rough Night for Cristopher Sanchez as White Sox Beat Phillies 6-2

The Phillies, coming off of back-to-back series wins and sweep threats against the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, came into the Southside of Chicago with intent to do damage through all nine innings, as this looked to be a perfect opportunity for the Fightins’ to steal ground in not only the National League East race with the New York Mets, but to get ground in the National League standings.

The Phillies, however, did not take advantage of this opportunity against a lacking team in the Chicago White Sox, as they went into tonight’s game 30 games under a .500 record.

Though the Phillies had their moments earlier in the game, they failed to keep the momentum throughout the innings, as the Phillies’ offense found themselves in deeper and deeper holes as the game continued to progress, and ultimately fell, 6-2.

Though Cristopher Sanchez brought himself together after a few early mistakes in the game, the offense stayed right where they were since the third inning, which adds to the conversation regarding right-handed batter additions during the nearing trade deadline.

Offense Cannot Fix a Rough Start for Sanchez

With Sanchez being in the National League Cy Young talk this year, four runs to the White Sox was not expected from anyone tonight. Though disappointing, starts like these happen to the best of the best, and the starter must move on right after, which Sanchez will have no problem doing.

The problem lies with the offense, as the lead being given up seemed to drain a lot out of the Phillies, as the game looked to be nothing short of despair.

Against a less talented pitching staff in the White Sox, settling on two runs after the third inning sends many questions regarding approach or consistency, as the bats were red-hot against New York and Boston, two clubs with top-tier pitching staffs.

Against the White Sox tonight, Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, Nick Castellanos, J.T. Realmuto, and Otto Kemp all went hitless. Though they had an “off-night,” it seems that these batters have had many of these “off-nights” this season, leading back to the point of trading for a consistent batter.

White Sox Take Control

Though a two-run lead doesn’t seem like a huge margin, the White Sox made the game look as if it were a blowout, as the Sox offense began to heat up while the Phillies continued to cool down.

In the eighth inning, with the game still in reach, the Sox rallied for two more runs of insurance, also eliminating the save opportunity. In that inning, Phillies’ reliever Seth Johnson gave up three hits and a walk for the two runs of the inning in 24 pitches, only 15 for strikes.

The more the Phillies continued to fall, the White Sox took advantage and seemed to have the far edge in confidence. White Sox pitching was able to find a groove and stay there until the top of the ninth came to an end.

Phillies Hope to Even the Series

Though a disappointing loss, this series is far from over, as these next two games are as important as they can be. The Phillies need to look at what went wrong today and find a way to get the bats back to what they were for the past week.

Jesus Luzardo, who is also looking to get back on track, makes the start for the Phillies Tuesday night at 7:40 p.m. in an attempt to even this series at one game apiece.

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