Rain-soaked White Sox lose to Braves, drop to 0-4

CHICAGO – With the Chicago White Sox facing one of the best rosters in Major League Baseball, most baseball fans could have predicted the result before their rain-shortened game against the Atlanta Braves on Monday.

The Braves beat the White Sox, 9-0 in eight innings, in a match that featured a steady dose of doubles from Atlanta, an eighth inning rain delay, and Chicago’s continued woes in the batter’s box.

The White Sox are now 0-4, which matches the start of the 2018 White Sox. That squad went on to finish their season 62-100.

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Game Recap

Chris Flexen started off the game well, retiring the first seven Braves he saw, but Atlanta went 5-10 with three doubles and two walks over their next 12 plate appearances to score the game’s first three runs across the third and fourth innings.

He finished the day with 4.1 innings pitched, six hits, four earned runs, three walks and one strikeout.

“The first couple innings, I think I showed flashes of being able to be consistent,” Flexen said postgame. “I think it’s just bad execution and ultimately, not winning counts – falling behind 3-1, 3-0’s – I think I had what, three walks today? Just not executing.”

Atlanta pushed across their next six runs with two outs.

The first came courtesy of a Bryan Shaw wild pitch that scored Austin Riley from third in the fifth inning (charged to Flexen), then RBI hits from Ozzie Albies (double) and Riley (single) in the sixth inning.

Two innings and a 44-minute rain delay later, Riley continued the two-out hit parade with a three-run home run that snuck over the right centerfield fence.

Riley finished the day 2-4 with a walk, single, home run and four RBI’s.

Outside of Yoan Moncada, who finished the day 2-3 with a single and a double, the White Sox struggled mightily at the plate.

Chicago didn’t push across a single run for the second time in four games and went 0-4 with an intentional walk with runners in scoring position (RISP). The White Sox are now 1-18 (.055) overall this season with RISP heading into game No. 5.

Who played the biggest hand in that stat Monday? Braves starter Charlie Morton.

Entering his 17^th big league season, Morton went 5.2 innings pitched and gave up three hits, no runs, two walks and six strikeouts.

After a second rain delay that lasted 20 minutes, the game was officially called due to rain after eight innings.

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Injury update

Eloy Jimenez is day-to-day, according to comments from White Sox manager Pedro Grifol postgame.

“Eloy] said he felt a little better,” Grifol said pregame. “I mean, we got the cage down there, he can be seen — He’s moving around, he’s swinging, he’s doing all kinds of stuff. He’s stretching.

“It’s going to be day-to-day now and we’ll see how he feels tomorrow.”

Jimenez left Sunday’s series finale against the Detroit Tigers in the eighth inning with left abductor soreness.

When asked if a roster move would coincide with the announcement of Jimenez’s injury status, Grifol said the team would play a man short until he returns to full health.

Braves North or White Sox South?

Outside of the one-sided result, Monday was also a battle of familiar faces for both organizations.

Michael Soroka, Braden Shewmake and Nicky Lopez were three-of-five players acquired in a trade with Atlanta over the offseason that sent reliever Aaron Bummer to the Braves.

“It’s perfect back here in the weather, you know, it’s like, what else do you want in Chicago?” Bummer said before the game Monday. “Some rain and some winds … potentially some snow. But I’m excited to be back here. I’m excited to see a couple of guys over there.

“We’ve got an entirely new team … A whole new bunch of new faces over there. And it’s a mix, [I’m] excited to be back and to be able to kind of continue this journey.”

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Sox trade Bummer to Atlanta, get former all-star in return

On top of Bummer (2017-23), Atlanta’s Chris Sale (2010-16) and Reynaldo López (2017-23) all pitched for the White Sox. Sale was a five-time All-Star with the Sox (2012-16) and owns the franchise single-season record for strikeouts with 274, which he set in 2015.

Soroka and Shewmake were both first round draft picks of the Braves, while Soroka also made the National League All-Star Team in 2019 as a rookie with Atlanta.

White Sox Outfielder Kevin Pillar played last season with the Braves.

Up Next

The Chicago White Sox take on the Atlanta Braves in game No. 2 in their series on the South Side. First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m. CST, with Garrett Crochet set to take the mound for the White Sox, and Reynaldo Lopez for the Braves.

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