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There’s never a reason to expect a 12-1 loss, but when considering the fact that Wednesday’s White Sox-Royals game<\/a> was preceded by bad news for Luis Robert Jr.<\/a> and not-great news for Colson Montgomery<\/a>, there’s an urge to write off the entire day in hindsight.<\/p>\n Tuesday’s 5-4 loss<\/a>, in which Robert played, Montgomery homered and the White Sox led 4-0 through seven innings, is the the more symbolic showing of another disastrous season series against the Royals, especially since the team fell to 9-30 in one-run games.<\/p>\n The White Sox are done with the Royals for the year, and the end result feels like a microcosm of 2025, as any sense of improvement is largely based on the staggering extent of failure the previous year. The 2024 White Sox went 1-12 with a -43 run differential against Kansas City, so when these White Sox finish the year 3-10 and only outscored by 24 runs, sure, it’s terrible, but it could be worse. It’s just that “it could be worse” stops representing progress once this season is over, so they have about 30 games before the novelty of standard-issue putridity wears off. <\/p>\n Speaking of novelty, had I not known how Wednesday’s game had ended, the jubilation expressed by this MLB.com headline<\/a> would’ve thrown me for a loop.<\/p>\n Lee’s feat would’ve warranted the exclamation point had it the other hallmarks of the 1902 version. It was far more defensible when Frank Isbell and Sam Mertes flipped roles in the battery for that game against the St. Louis Browns<\/a>, because it was 1) the back end of a doubleheader and 2) the last game of the season. Also, the White Sox finished that year 74-60. Also, the White Sox won that game.<\/p>\n The circumstances of that game have to be investigated a bit, though. The box score reproduced on MLB.com<\/a> and matching the Retrosheet and Baseball-Reference.com versions, shows Isbell pitching the first inning, and Mertes pitching the last 7\u2154 innings (not eight). However, Mertes’ Baseball-Reference.com player page<\/a> shows him pitching 4 \u2154 innings for the year, and Isbell<\/a> throwing four. Further bulletins as details are uncovered. <\/p>\n Prompted by Rob Manfred’s reiteration that he wants two expansion teams named by the time he departs the commissioner’s office in 2029, The Athletic’s Stephen J. Nesbitt sizes up the six most competitive markets at the moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n It’s a good overview, especially since it highlights the aspects that make Nashville a hollow threat for a swift relocation of the White Sox.<\/p>\n Music City Baseball\u00a0has spent years building the brand and story of the Nashville Stars \u2014 a name borrowed from the city\u2019s Negro league team \u2014 and positioning itself as the most natural fit to be MLB\u2019s next team in the east. But at this stage, the group is still missing some critical components of a bid, including a general partner and a stadium site.<\/strong><\/p>\nExpansion scoreboard<\/h2>\n
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