[jksander]

August 8, 2025: Brandon Pfaadt (6-11, 4.78 ERA, 135.2 IP, 145 K’s, 1.22 WHIP) got the start against Cleveland’s Hunter Gaddis (4-8, 4.71 ERA, 114.2 IP, 98 K’s, 1.32 WHIP) in the first game of our series here at Rate Field, and in the top of the second the Guardians took the lead off a sac-fly by Tyler Freeman. Pfaadt got through five hard-fought innings without conceding any more runs, and in the bottom of the fifth, with the bases loaded and one out, Joey Gallo tied the score off an RBI single, and our next batter, Miguel Vargas, hit a three-run double to rocket us into the lead 4-1! Noah Syndergaard took over in the top of the sixth, and in the bottom of the inning we added on with an RBI double by Tauchman. Martin Perez came out to pitch in the top of the eighth, still leading by four runs, and a Tauchman homer increased our lead to five runs in the bottom of the eighth. Penn Murfee came in with one out in the top of the ninth and ended the game on a pair of strikeouts as we stumped the Guardians 6-1! Pfaadt had five innings with six hits, seven strikeouts and an earned run ... no walks, as he won his first game as a White Sox starter. We outhit Cleveland 10-7, led by Mike Tauchman, who had two hits, two walks, two runs and two RBIs.

August 9, 2025: Yu Darvish (9-7, 3.51 ERA, 125.2 IP, 120 K’s, 1.17 WHIP) started against Tanner Bibee (10-6, 3.45 ERA, 143.1 IP, 160 K’s, 1.17 WHIP) in game two against the Guardians. In the top of the first Cleveland took the lead with one out and the bases loaded when Bo Naylor hit a sac-fly into deep right. Johnathan Rodriguez hit an RBI single to add on, and Gabriel Arias reached to load the bags again thanks to an E5 groundball error. Darvish was having an awful inning, and when he let Tyler Freeman hit a two-RBI single off his 40th pitch of the inning we had to start warming arms. He got out of the inning with us trailing 5-0, and had thrown 53 pitches with four hits, three walks and five runs (three earned) against him. Out of concern that he’s dealing with a nagging injury, we pulled him for Jonathan Cannon in the second inning. Cleveland added a run in the sixth with a solo homer by Jose Ramirez, and though our bullpen played well all night, that first inning haunted us as Cleveland shut us out 6-0. Darvish took the loss, and we were outhit 10-6, Meidroth leading the way with a pair of hits ... nobody on our team walked. That was about as thorough a beatdown as can be delivered, and they did the bulk of it in that one inning.
 
August 10, 2025: Noah Schultz (6-1, 1.87 ERA, 62.2 IP, 57 K’s, 0.88 WHIP) has become a huge fan favorite already, and today he battled Cleveland’s Bryce Miller (9-7, 4.55 ERA, 120.2 IP, 114 K’s, 1.29 WHIP) who was recently acquired by them from Seattle ... in his two starts for the Guardians he’s yet to see a decision, but has thrown 10 innings with a 0.90 ERA, eight strikeouts and a 1.00 WHIP), so he’s definitely adapted well to the move. Schultz struck out the side in the top of the second, and in the bottom of the inning we took the lead off a bases-loaded RBI double by Michael A. Taylor that scored us two runs. Starling Marte beat out an infield blooper to reach first safely AND drive in the run from third, and Mike Tauchman piled on with an RBI single that made it a 4-0 lead heading into the top of the third. The Guardians got on the board in the top of the fifth with a two-run homer by Tyler Freeman, and they got another on two outs when Jose Ramirez hit an RBI double to drive in a third. The Guardians tied it thanks to an RBI single by Johnathan Rodriguez, and the collapse became complete when Gabriel Arias hit a three-run homer to ruin Schultz’s night. With two outs and the deficit now at 7-4, Noah Syndergaard came out to get the final out of the inning, via a quiet stirkeout, and suddenly we had work to do, and we absolutely were NOT up to it. Syndergaard pitched brilliantly, getting us through the top of the ninth with the same three-run deficit, but our bats had gone completely silent and we lost 7-4, showing zero fight once we got destroyed in that miserable fifth inning. Schultz fell to 6-2 in a schizophrenic game ... he allowed nine hits, but didn’t walk anyone, and he struck out eight in 4.2 innings, but they scored seven on him all at once in a brutal beatdown. Syndergaard kept it from getting completely out of hand, pitching 4.1 innings with a hit and two strikeouts, improving his ERA to 3.41 through 92.1 innings in 28 appearances. We were outhit just 10-8, led by Michael A. Taylor with two hits, a run and two RBIs.