Sox fazed by Friars, drop series finale, 4-3

Anthony Kay did the best he could to secure a series sweep, but fell short. | David Frerker-Imagn Images If you had told me about six weeks ago how disappointed I would be at the Sox losing a 4-3 nailbiter and failing to complete a series sweep against one of the National League’s better teams, I probably would’ve told you that it was a good thing. And I would be correct!

While today’s tight 4-3 defeat at the hands of the Padres was certainly a frustrating one to watch, it speaks volumes that I actually expected them to have a chance to win, even after falling behind in the middle innings. They aren’t exactly the Cardiac Bears of this past fall, but if this game gave me anything, it’s that the late innings of a close game are no longer completely futile for the White Sox. That might seem like backhanded praise, but when it comes to the post-2021 White Sox there haven’t been many avenues for giving them credit without a healthy dollop of criticism.

What may seem like a baseline to many other franchises — still hanging around . 500 as we get close to a third of the way through the season — seems like excellence to us. That might be embarrassing to some degree, but then again, if you care about being embarrassed, the White Sox are unequivocally the wrong team to get behind.

As has been much the case lately, pitching wasn’t much to blame for today’s tally in the loss column. At the same time, we’re getting to the point in the season where it becomes easy to understand who exactly you do or do not want on the mound at any given time. And as stellar as the Sox pitching staff has been as of late, Griffin Canning gave the kind of performance that would likely make fans wish the South Siders had landed him to fill out the back of their rotation rather than Anthony Kay.