Cardinals spoil DeJong's first game back in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS -- The public address announcement of Paul DeJong’s name came in the second inning of a 3-0 White Sox loss to the Cardinals on Friday night at Busch Stadium.

DeJong was batting with two outs and Andrew Vaughn on third when the applause started to pick up, eventually crescendoing into a brief standing ovation. The man who played parts of seven years for the Cardinals, finishing second in the 2017 National League Rookie of the Year voting and launching 30 home runs as a 2019 All-Star, tipped his helmet before getting back into the batter’s box.

“It was pretty cool,” DeJong said. “I wasn’t sure walking up to the plate what was going to happen. The umpire and [Cardinals catcher] Willson [Contreras] did a good job of giving me a moment, so that was really nice.

“I appreciate the fans here and am thankful for all the memories, all the opportunities. It’s special to come back to an organization like this that really values their players. It was nice to see that tonight.”

There weren’t any additional memories created by DeJong and his teammates in front of 34,010 fans, as the worst start in White Sox history has now reached a 6-26 record. The South Siders lost a ninth straight road game, dropping to 1-14 away from home, which is tied for the worst road start in Major League Baseball’s Modern Era done 10 times (last by the Rockies and Astros in ‘05).

Their ledger dropped to 1-8 in Interleague action, losing for a seventh straight time. The White Sox also have been held scoreless a Major League-worst nine times, while producing 12 games of four hits or less. Sonny Gray has pitched great this season, dropping his ERA to 0.89 with seven scoreless, but it was a bad mix with the White Sox offense.

“Sonny was tough,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “We gotta find ways to do something but this guy has been doing it for a long time. He didn’t make too many mistakes. He pounded the corners and he used all his pitches. He did a really good job of pitching.”

Andrew Benintendi’s long fly out to right with Vaughn on base in the second pushed the White Sox as close as they could to scoring, although they did strand runners on first and third in the third when Eloy Jiménez ripped a line drive with a 107.3 mph exit velocity, per Statcast, right at third baseman Nolan Arenado. Brad Keller made his first start for the White Sox, allowing three runs over 4 2/3 innings, before Jared Shuster threw 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.

"Slider was good, I felt like I was able to put it in the zone and put it below the zone when I wanted to,” Keller said. “Felt like I had good bite to it, so we kept going to it.

“Later in the game, went to the changeup, kind of opened the slider back up a little bit, so something to learn on that I've got to go to the changeup a little bit earlier and then obviously mix in a lot more fastballs. I was really happy with my stuff. I’ve just got to throw less pitches."

DeJong was not the only White Sox-related figure enjoying a return to St. Louis. Tony La Russa, who won two World Series titles and three pennants over 16 seasons as Cardinals manager, was back as the White Sox special advisor to the executive vice president. Reliever John Brebbia worked his first three big league seasons with the Cardinals from 2017-19.

And outfielder Tommy Pham, in his seventh game with the White Sox, was selected by the Cardinals in the 16th round of the 2006 MLB Draft. Pham learned from expert veterans such as Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright during parts of five seasons in St. Louis.

"Just how to be a pro,” Pham said. “Two guys that had great careers. They were always busy. They always were working when I played with them. I still keep in contact with them.”

This night featured extra special meaning for DeJong, who returned to St. Louis for the first time since being traded to the Blue Jays on Aug. 1. It would have been even better with a win or a run, for that matter.

“I’ve been thinking about it a lot before coming here, and getting here and seeing the guys today, so it was a real trip down memory lane,” DeJong said. “I was really just focused on getting my at-bats. I appreciate the ovation. I was just trying to help my team there.”