Where was this guy when he wore our uniform?
A battle of the two teams with the worst Cactus League records almost ended in a tie. Instead, the White Sox and Padres are now tied in the cellar at 5-12, with the two biggest factors in the outcome of both recent denizens of the South Side.
The Sox jumped off to a 4-0 lead in the second off Dylan Cease, thanks to four hits, a walk, and a sac fly, all by players unlikely to be in the starting lineup for games that count. It was 20-year-old Single-A shortstop William Bergola Jr. who had the big blow.
Jonathan Cannon’s spring woes continued as he surrendered four runs, pushing his ERA into double digits. Tyler Gilbert fared better, save for a costly encounter with a red-hot San Diego hitter, who torched him after a three-homer tear.
Gavin Sheets’ solo shot put the Padres up 5-4, but the Sox got the run back up on a Corey Julks double and Bryan Ramos RBI single in the seventh. The inning might have produced more offense, but Ramos was out trying to stretch his hit into a double and got tagged out on one of the worst slides you’ll ever see (both teams did a lot of lousy baserunning in the game).
That was all for the offense until the bottom of the ninth, when Sheets, who’d singled earlier to keep his day perfect, came to the plate and found a first-pitch high four-seamer from Bryce Collins to his liking.
Despite being out-hit 15-8, the Sox kept the game close until the walk-off, capitalizing on their opportunities by going 3-for-5 with runners in scoring position, while the Padres went only 4-for-15.
The original lineup posted by the White Sox had Colson Montgomery at short and batting clean-up. Apparently, no one told Will Venable that Montgomery was being shifted to minor league camp before the game. So much for him being the Opening Day shortstop.
So, a two-game win streak remains a distant dream as Chicago gets ready to host the Angels tomorrow afternoon.