Leave it to the 2024 Rockies to make the White Sox look like the ’27 Yankees.
The White Sox entered the weekend series with a major league-worst 22-61 record. Then they beat the reeling Rockies, 5-3, on Friday night at Guaranteed Rate Field.
On Saturday, the Rockies’ once-promising afternoon quickly derailed into a train wreck. After leading 3-0 midway through the fifth inning, the Rockies served up four home runs and lost 11-3.
The 11 (unanswered) runs were a season-high for the White Sox. It marked the 14th time this season that Colorado has given up 10 or more runs, the most in the majors.
The Rockies (27-55) have lost five straight, skidded to 6-20 in June, and are on pace to lose 109 games.
Rockies right-hander Cal Quantrill pitched like a bona fide ace for the first four innings. He blanked the White Sox and gave up just two hits and struck out six. He was cruising.
Then Quantrill spun out.
In the fifth, Nicky Lopez hit a one-out double and trotted home on No. 9 hitter Lenyn Sosa’s two-run homer to right, cutting Colorado’s lead to 3-2. Still, Quantrill was so good early that the bad inning seemed like an aberration. Only it wasn’t.
Luis Robert Jr. launched a 470-foot moonshot off a hanging curveball to lead off the sixth and tie the game. Quantrill struck out Gavin Sheets but then plunked Andrew Vaughn, setting the table for Paul DeJong’s two-run homer and a 5-3 Chicago lead.
Robert’s monster mash was the fifth-longest in the majors this season and ranks as the fifth-longest blast in White Sox history during the Statcast era (since 2015).
Asked if Quantrill’s tough outing was due, in part, to the high heat and humidity that might have affected his ability to command his split-finger fastball, manager Bud Black told Rockies.TV: “I don’t think so. Going in, the game plan was to utilize all four pitches, and you saw that it worked. Good curveball, good slider and the split was effective. Good fastball, too. But he got some pitches up … on the homers.”
The three home runs tied Quantrill’s career high. He also served up three homers at Boston’s Fenway Park on Sept. 3, 2021. Quantrill’s bottom line: 5 1/3 innings, five runs allowed on seven hits, eight strikeouts, no walks and a 3.78 ERA.
Quantrill took the mound with a 3.50 ERA, the lowest by a Rockies starter through their first 16 starts of a season since Kyle Freeland began 2018 with a 3.29 ERA.
Chicago’s sixth-run eighth, featuring a three-run homer from Korey Lee off reliever Riley Pint, turned the game into a laugher. Pint, called up from Triple-A Albuquerque on Friday, made his second big-league appearance, his first since May 2023. He was charged with two runs on two hits and uncorked two wild pitchers in two-thirds of an inning.
The Rockies had just four hits, but two were home runs: a solo shot by Brendan Rodgers in the second and a two-run blast by Nolan Jones in the fifth. Both homers came off White Sox starter Jonathan Cannon.
“We just got the four hits today, coming off last night’s three,” Black told reporters. “We’ve got to start swinging the bats. It’s nice to get the homers, but we’ve got to collect more hits.”
Rodgers, 2 for 2 with a walk, is now hitting .280. He’s hit safely in 19 of his last 22 games since May 22, batting .329 (27 for 82).
Blackmon returns. Veteran outfielder/designated hitter Charlie Blackmon was reinstated from the 10-day injured list, and outfielder Sean Bouchard was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque. Blackmon had been sidelined by a strained right hamstring. Blackmon went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts.
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Sunday’s pitching matchup
Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (0-3, 9.55 ERA) at White Sox LHP Garrett Crochet (6-6, 3.05)
12:10 p.m. Sunday, Guaranteed Rate Field
TV: Rockies.TV (streaming); Comcast/Xfinity (channel 1262); DirecTV (683); Spectrum (130, 445, 305, 435 or 445, depending on region).
Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM
Freeland returned from a long stint on the injured list to throw a gem against Washington last Sunday. He had no issues with his elbow and pitched six scoreless innings, allowing just one hit. He chased a no-hitter for 5 1/3 innings. The Rockies, however, lost 2-1. In three career starts vs. the White Sox, the lefty is 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA. In his only start at Guaranteed Rate Field, he pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings on Sept. 14, 2022.
Crochet, the subject of trade rumors, has posted a 1.36 ERA since May 5, the lowest in the majors. The likely All-Star has walked only 20 batters while striking out 130 over a career-high 94 1/3 innings. In his last start, Crochet worked 5 2/3 scoreless innings against the Dodgers, striking out six without issuing a walk while dropping his ERA to 3.05. In his last 10 starts, Crochet has a 1.36 ERA with 83 Ks. He’s never faced the Rockies.
Pitching probables
Monday: Brewers RHP Bryse Wilson (5-3, 3.89) at Rockies LHP Austin Gomber (1-5, 4.63), 6:40 p.m.
Tuesday: Brewers TBA at Rockies RHP Ryan Feltner (1-7, 5.82), 6:40 p.m.
Wednesday: Brewers RHP Colin Rea (7-2, 3.61) at Rockies RHP Dakota Hudson (2-11, 5.84), 6:40 p.m.
