Identical scores: White Sox lose game, series 2-1 to Nationals

Sean Burke was terrific, but his offense let him down. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images Despite a terrific outing from Sean Burke, the White Sox couldn’t hit the ball this afternoon, collecting just four singles over 10 innings.

Both teams carried zero runs into extra innings, and the White Sox fell to the Nationals, 2-1, in the 10th to collect the series loss. Bryan Hudson, who opened for Burke, had a clean first frame for the second straight game. Chase Meidroth started with a leadoff single, advanced on a balk, and stole third on a wild pitch with two outs.

Alas, it was all for nothing for one of the few White Sox hitters to make it to third base today, as Everson Pereira struck out. The game moved on at a quick pace, with neither offense mounting any rallies, or landing anything for extra bases. As Burke continued to shut down Nationals batters, Foster Griffin was doing the same for Washington.

However, while Griffin worked at a solid starters’ efficiency (91 pitches over seven innings), Burke again shifted into super-efficient mode, pitching to contact and trusting his defene. Burke threw just four pitches in the top of the seventh, and pitching into the eighth got three outs with nine pitches. Overall, Burke went 7 1/3 innings using just 76 throws.