Grifol, White Sox forge ahead despite recent slide

DENVER -- Prior to Friday’s series-opening loss to the Rockies at Coors Field, White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said he could “feel” the overall tenor in his team’s clubhouse changing for the better after questions arose as to the “culture” and “accountability” therein.

“I feel it,” he said. “I feel it in the energy in the dugout and the energy in the clubhouse, on the plane. I feel it. These guys are close. They’re getting closer. There’s a chemistry and a culture we’re going to continue to create, and we’re definitely seeing some of it.”

A few hours later, Chicago suffered its worst loss of the season, by scoring margin, in a 14-1 defeat. And on Saturday night, the Sox again fell to the Rockies -- the club with the worst record in the National League -- by an 11-5 final.

In being outscored, 25-6, over their first two games in Colorado, the White Sox play could perhaps be characterized as “uninspired,” an antonym of the energetic nature Grifol spoke of.

“When you give up five runs in the first inning and four in the fourth or fifth, and you’re down 9-1, that’s kind of what happens,” Grifol said. “And is it acceptable? No. But that’s what happens. … It’s unacceptable, because our job is to start the game and finish it with energy. And I will address that.”

Much like with Michael Kopech on Friday night, Saturday’s starter for the Sox, right-hander Jesse Scholtens, struggled early. Scholtens walked four batters in the first inning -- establishing a season-high in that department within the first eight batters he faced -- and gave up three runs.

Overall, Scholtens, who had a 2.95 ERA over his previous three starts (all of which were at least six innings), surrendered five runs on five hits over three innings Saturday, walking five and striking out two on 86 pitches.

Defensively behind Scholtens, it was a mixed bag. Third baseman Yoán Moncada, in particular, had some Jekyll and Hyde to his glove, making three nice plays at the hot corner, but also committing a third-inning error on an Elehuris Montero ground ball that ate him up.

Offensively, Chicago’s lineup showed more life than it did in the series opener, when it managed only one run on four hits.

Elvis Andrus, after going 3-for-4 with his 100th career homer on Friday, added two more hits and walked in five plate appearances Saturday. He also stole home in the first inning when the White Sox had runners at the corners and Rockies starter Kyle Freeland made a pickoff attempt to first base.

Luis Robert Jr. belted his 33rd home run of the season, a solo shot in the eighth, as part of a 2-for-4 night. And rookie infielder Lenyn Sosa had a pair of singles and a pair of RBIs.

But it wasn’t nearly enough, particularly in a ballpark that is as hitter-friendly as they come.

“They had 20 baserunners out of 45 total plate appearances for them,” Grifol said. “It’s tough to win that way.”

With the loss, the White Sox dropped to 48-75 on the season. With their win, the Rockies improved to 48-75. Entering the 2023 season, these clubs were not expected to find themselves with the same record on Aug. 19, especially when the loss column shows 75.

With a pitching staff that featured 2022 American League Cy Young Award runner-up Dylan Cease, a right-hander with a strong track record -- though a disappointing 2022 campaign -- Lucas Giolito, promising young right-hander Kopech, and veterans Mike Clevinger and Lance Lynn, it certainly seemed as if the White Sox were poised to at least be competitive in the wide-open AL Central.

Add to that a lineup with big potential in the middle, with Robert, Eloy Jiménez, Jake Burger -- who was traded to the Marlins -- and Andrew Vaughn, and 27 games under .500 toward the end of August just didn’t seem in play.

But here they are. And whatever is at the root of the club’s woes, it doesn’t seem to have been uprooted just yet.

On Saturday, the prevalent word seemed to be “energy.”

“There’s energy, and at times, we lose it,” Grifol said. “And when we get it back, it just comes and goes in the game. And that’s really unacceptable. … We need to bring it every day, every single inning. We’ll talk about that and we’ll move on to tomorrow.”

Moving on to tomorrow during the dog days of a heavily disappointing season can’t be easy. But it’s something the White Sox are trying to find the right energy to accomplish, both in the clubhouse and on the field.