Author: staff

Sports

With the Chicago White Sox rotation finally whole, it’s time for the starters to pick up the slack

It takes a lot to satisfy a pitcher like Lance Lynn, and Monday night’s performance was not going to cut it.“I gave up five runs in five innings,” Lynn told reporters after the game, “It’s still horse(bleep), so …”AdvertisementIf you think Lynn was being too hard on himself after only two starts following 2½ months of rehab from knee surgery, perhaps Lucas Giolito can allay your concerns about the Chicago White Sox rotation.Or maybe not.Advertisement“I can only speak for myself, but I have not been doing my job,” Giolito said before Tuesday night’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Guaranteed Rate Field. “Luckily the guys around me in the rotation have really been doing a nice job and picking it up a level like they have.“It’s important for me to clean these things up and get back on track and help this team win ballgames.”Both pitchers know they need to be better for the Sox to return to their 2021 form, and now is as good a time as any to show it.[ [Don’t miss] Good news — and then more bad news — for White Sox: Tim Anderson off the IL, but Yoán Moncada goes on it ]These are trying times for the Sox, who’ve been waiting all season to go on an extended run. The return of Lynn means the rotation is as healthy as it has been, so no excuses allowed.Lynn, Giolito, Dylan Cease, Michael Kopech and Johnny Cueto can be as dominant as any rotation in baseball, but the longer it takes before they’re all in sync, the harder it will be for the Sox to climb out of their hole.Sox starters were a combined 17-24 entering Cease’s start Tuesday and ranked 18th in the majors with a 4.07 ERA. Last year Sox starters were a combined 61-40 and finished fourth in the majors — and tops in the American League — with a 3.57 ERA.The departure of Carlos Rodón in free agency, Lynn’s end-of-spring-training knee injury and the struggles of since-released veteran Dallas Keuchel all affected the rotation early this season. But we’ve seen all of the starters at their peak, which gives Sox fans hope the best is yet to come.It all starts with Lynn, whom Giolito called the leader of the pack.Advertisement“Having Lance back is huge,” he said. “And the way Johnny has been pitching is just fantastic. What an amazing addition for us. Dylan and Michael are doing their thing. We can continue to motivate each other every single time out.White Sox starter Lucas Giolito tosses the ball up between pitches against the Red Sox on May 25, 2022, at Guaranteed Rate Field. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)“Watching one of our guys go out and do their thing, it gives me the motivation to keep working hard and to clean up these things I need to clean up so I can do my job too.”Giolito, who starts Wednesday afternoon’s series finale against the Blue Jays, is 4-3 with a 4.78 ERA, his highest since 2018, the year before his turnaround.Right-handed batters have a 1.059 OPS against him after Giolito limited them to a .690 OPS last year. He was pitching well through the first two months, but an 8.71 ERA over his last four starts since May 31 is alarming.Giolito said Tuesday some mechanical fixes were in order with pitching coach Ethan Katz after last week’s start in Houston, where he allowed eight runs in five innings in a 13-3 loss.[ [Don’t miss] Andrew Vaughn’s 4-hit night includes 1 of 3 White Sox homers in an 8-7 win vs. the Blue Jays ]“The advantage is that Ethan and he have a great relationship, and Ethan can make a trip (to the mound) and he’s always better after a trip,” manager Tony La Russa said Tuesday. “But most of the time, if a hitter struggles or a pitcher’s not exactly where he wants to be, there’s something wrong mechanically. That’s why the coach tweaks and they get back on it. But as long as he’s healthy and he’s got the heart and he’s got the smarts …”AdvertisementLynn has had moments of dominance in his two starts but not nearly enough for someone of his talent. He has given up eight runs (six earned) on 14 hits over 9⅓ innings after three subpar outings in the minors.He wasn’t helped much Monday when a 3-2 cutter to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the sixth inning was called a ball in spite of being down the middle of the plate. Instead of getting the strikeout, Lynn was left with two on and no outs. He bit his glove in frustration, then allowed a two-run double to Teoscar Hernández, ending his night after five-plus innings and 99 pitches.White Sox manager Tony La Russa (22) takes out starter Lance Lynn during the sixth inning Monday, June 20, 2022, at Guaranteed Rate Field. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)“You’re looking at the fifth start I’ve made since I’ve had surgery,” Lynn said. “We don’t know what the next start is going to feel like after getting close to 100 pitches. That’s just the way it works right now until I get some starts under me and know what I’m working with.”Unfortunately the Sox can’t afford to wait for Lynn to ease himself back into form. They need him to take the ball into the seventh or eighth inning and help save a bullpen under stress with closer Liam Hendriks on the injured list.The important thing is both Giolito and Lynn know they’re better than they’ve pitched so far, and they understand the Sox need them to step up to get this team where it needs to be.

Sports

Notre Dame is eliminated from the College World Series with a 5-1 loss to Texas A&M

OMAHA, Neb. — Nathan Dettmer pitched three-hit ball over seven shutout innings, and Texas A&M capitalized on Notre Dame’s mistakes to beat the Irish 5-1 in a College World Series elimination game Tuesday.The fifth-seeded Aggies (44-19) will play Oklahoma in the Bracket 1 final. They need to beat the Sooners on Wednesday and again Thursday to reach the CWS finals this weekend.AdvertisementThe Irish (41-17) ended the season with their most wins since 2006 and their first Omaha appearance since 2002.Dettmer (6-3) was working on three days’ rest after giving up seven runs and getting pulled in the second inning of Texas A&M’s 13-8 loss to Oklahoma on Friday.AdvertisementHe bounced back with his best performance of the season. He got Notre Dame batters to swing over the top of his sinker, mixing in a changeup and breaking ball.The Irish reached base on an error and a hit batter but didn’t get their first hit until David LaManna singled with one out in the fourth.Chicago Tribune SportsWeekdaysA daily sports newsletter delivered to your inbox for your morning commute.Dettmer, who struck out six and walked none, had his longest outing since he went seven innings against Vanderbilt on April 28. He threw 99 pitches, 68 for strikes.The Aggies converted two walks, a balk, two singles and a throwing error into three runs in the third, the first two off Irish starter Liam Simon (2-1).Trevor Werner homered leading off the fifth against Jack Findlay, and Dylan Rock later had an RBI single, ending his 0-for-14 spell and making it 5-0.Findlay, the Irish’s star freshman left-hander, had allowed only one earned run over his 14⅓ innings in the NCAA Tournament before giving up the two in the fifth.Brad Rudis took over for Dettmer starting the eighth, and Brooks Coetzee drove Rudis’ second pitch more than 400 feet over the left-field fence for his 12th homer.After Rudis walked the next batter, the Aggies brought in lefty Joseph Menefee, who allowed one hit in two innings for his second save.AdvertisementThe game was the ninth of the CWS, and all were decided by four or more runs. That was a first in the event’s 75-year history.

Lifestyle

Legendary Chicago music producer Steve Albini wins World Series of Poker tournament again

When the last card flipped and legendary Chicago-based music producer Steve Albini emerged as victor in a 773-competitor World Series of Poker tournament, he ran over to friends watching nearby.“It made me feel like a million bucks,” Albini said.AdvertisementMetaphor aside, he certainly felt like $196,089 — the first-place purse that he won.Albini — who produced mega-influential rock albums like Nirvana’s “In Utero” (1993) and Pixies’ “Surfer Rosa” (1988) and who sings and plays guitar for indie-rock band Shellac — won his second World Series of Poker tournament on Friday.AdvertisementHis winning Stud Hi-Lo hand was a five-card flush with a pair of sevens, he said.“When we played the final hand and I realized I had won it, I didn’t have a rush of emotion,” Albini said. “It was sort of like, ‘Oh, that hands over, on to the next one. Oh, wait, there’s no next one.’”The producer won his second bracelet at Paris and Bally’s Las Vegas Casino. He competed in the $1,500 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. event, a multigame form of poker that alternates between Texas Hold ‘Em, Omaha Hi-Lo, Razz, Stud and Stud Hi-Lo.Players compete during an event at the World Series of Poker, June 3, 2022, in Las Vegas. (John Locher / AP)Albini plays informal cash games in Chicago with friends like professional Brandon Shack-Harris and statistician Nate Silver. He’s excited about the prospect of another Bally’s casino coming to Chicago.“Having a card room that I can get to by the Blue Line sounds (expletive) amazing,” he said.Raised on family games of cribbage and pinochle, Albini said he’s long joined casual games at casinos while on tour and is “perfectly happy playing kitchen table poker for quarters and dollars.” The one tournament he competes in is the World Series of Poker every year.He won a $1,500 buy-in Seven Card Stud event in 2018.“I was never short on chips in that tournament. I was never really faced with a tough decision in that tournament. That one felt like it was sort of dealt to me,” he said.AdvertisementNot so this time. The local rock-legend was all-in “eight or 10 times” this tournament. The odds of all those near-fatal bets falling through were low, he reckoned.“This one also felt like a fluke,” he said.If luck propelled Albini to victory, it may have come from the special buckeyes his wife gave him. He kept them in his pocket as he played.“Not so much as a lucky talisman, but to remind me of how much I love my wife,” Albini said.While it takes a lot more than luck to win two World Series of Poker events, Albini has “no illusions” about his ability to play professional poker. While he’s proud he punched above his weight, he doesn’t think he can compete with more dedicated players and isn’t willing to dedicate the time to take his game to the next level.“I have a wife and a business and an occupation and a band and two cats and a bicycle and a garden. I have things that I have to do in my life,” Albini said, adding that if poker became his livelihood, it might also become less fun.AdvertisementAs he weathered all-in hand after all-in hand, Albini said he didn’t feel emotional. Instead, he was doing the same arithmetic poker always requires of him, gleaning information from exposed cards and subtle expressions.That coldblooded calculus doesn’t relate to music production or anything else in his life, Albini said.“In order to succeed in poker, you need to be pointedly deceptive. You need to be pouncing on the weaknesses of other people and you need to exploit other people’s mistakes,” he said. “Those are sociopathic tendencies.”After playing nearly 40 hours over three days, Albini was awarded his second “bracelet,” the signature top prize of World Series of Poker events. He snagged it off the felt and rushed to show it to his friends after his victory. But the bracelet fell to the floor and a link broke off.“They’re not jewelry, they’re more like fairground trinkets,” Albini said. The producer, famous for his raw, analog style, said he might leave the prize broken to remember.The everlasting, hypnotic pandemonium of the casino floor left Albini with little sense of time as he took his friends out for celebratory tacos.Advertisement“I couldn’t tell you if it was 12:01 or four in the morning,” he said.He decided to enter a $10,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. event next. It started Monday evening, and he was set to face off against a professional-filled field.“I don’t have to have any expectation of winning to have an expectation of winning some money,” he said before the tournament started.Albini ran out of chips by the end of the tournament’s opening day.jsheridan@chicagotribune.comTwitter @jakesheridan_