Blog 3

An error committed by Triston Casas in the fourth inning would lead to a Chicago White Sox rally, scoring four in the inning and 11 total for the game. (via Abigail Dean/Getty Images) Getty Images 

By Owen Brown

April 12, 2025 | Chicago, IL

CHICAGO – The Red Sox began their second road trip of the season last night with a three-game series in Chicago against the White Sox, followed by another three-game series, this time in Tampa to take on the Rays. After a rough series against the Toronto Blue Jays, where Boston won just one of four games, playing a team like the White Sox was supposed to be a confidence booster, as they entered the game on an eight-game losing streak. Instead, it served as what has arguably been rock bottom thus far in the early 2025 baseball season for the Red Sox.

Both teams remained scoreless in the first inning, but it was Chicago who struck first in the second. Boston starter Sean Newcomb allowed a leadoff single to Michael A. Taylor and a walk to former Red Sox prospect Chase Meidroth. Following that, it was the White Sox's nine-hitter, Jacob Amaya, who came through for his ball club, lacing a two-run double down the left-field line to give the team an early 2–0 lead.

Boston tried to rally back in the third inning, as a Rafael Devers walk and an Alex Bregman double put runners on second and third with two outs, but Triston Casas hit a weak pop-up to centerfield to end any hope that inning. It also served as the beginning of immense struggles for Casas throughout the game. The score held until the bottom of the fourth inning, where Newcomb quickly got a flyout from Brooks Baldwin. Following him, Meidroth—one of the players Boston traded away to land their ace, Garrett Crochet—hit a sharp grounder to the right side. Casas could have had a play on it, but let it get past him for Meidroth’s first Major League hit. After that, Chicago’s catcher, Omar Narváez, hit another grounder to Casas, who officially committed an error this time, losing the ball on the transition.

As a result, instead of an inning-ending double play, the White Sox took advantage, scoring four in the inning on a two-RBI double by Miguel Vargas and back-to-back RBI singles by Luis Robert Jr. and Lenyn Sosa to go up 6–0 and quickly put the game out of reach for the Red Sox.

Once again, Boston went 1-2-3 in the fifth inning, and immediately following, Taylor hit a booming double off the centerfield wall, which was mishandled by Ceddanne Rafaela, allowing him to advance to third. This error proved costly as Narváez hit a sacrifice fly to extend Chicago’s lead to 7–0.

Both batting orders went 1-2-3 in the sixth inning, but in the seventh, the Red Sox finally got on the board. Wilyer Abreu pulled a line drive down the right-field line for a double, followed by sensational rookie Kristian Campbell singling to centerfield and advancing Abreu to third. Campbell, who went 2-for-4 in the game, extended his on-base streak since Opening Day to 14 games, continuing to show glimpses of what’s to come for the rookie. Following the hit, the White Sox turned to old friend Cam Booser, who allowed a sacrifice fly to Blake Sabol—his first RBI in a Boston uniform—to eliminate the shutout and make it 7–1. The Red Sox loaded the bases on a Rafaela hit-by-pitch, a Jarren Duran force out, and a Rafael Devers walk, but a Bregman groundout ended the rally and ultimately proved to be the only run Boston would get across all game.

Two more runs came across in the seventh and eighth innings for the White Sox as well. Narváez picked up two more RBIs in the seventh on a line drive single to left, helped by a throwing error from Red Sox reliever Josh Winckowski. Sosa hit an RBI double in the eighth, with the RBI coming thanks to a catcher’s interference by Sabol—one of two he committed during the game—and Baldwin brought Sosa in with an RBI single to make it 11–1. Boston went 1-2-3 once more in the ninth inning, and that was all she wrote on this ballgame.

It continues to be the same story, but a different day for this Red Sox team: high strikeouts, failure to bring in runners in scoring position, horrific defense, and leaving their pitchers out to dry. While Boston picked up seven hits and two walks in the game, the team as a whole went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position, leaving nine runners on base. On top of that, their 11 team strikeouts add to their Major League-leading 147, while their five errors (two from Sabol, one each from Casas, Rafaela, and Winckowski) add to their Major League-leading 19 errors. While it’s still early in the season with 147 games left to play, it certainly isn’t too early to worry about the trends fans are seeing from this ballclub.

Boston’s main goals entering 2025 were to eliminate strikeouts and errors, yet the trends continue onward from 2024 to the point of leading all of baseball so far this year. That said, it would be foolish to write off this team in April, and if you’re a baseball club, you’d much rather get your struggles out of the way early, so you can be hot down the stretch. Year after year, fans have seen the team collapse post-trade deadline, and if this is the tradeoff to make a run, it is one worth taking.

Game two of the three-game series begins later this afternoon, with Richard Fitts taking the bump. First pitch is scheduled for 4:10 PM EST, and hopefully serves as the game where the Red Sox righten the ship and get back on track to what is hopefully a season to remember.