The South Side is riding high. The White Sox extended their winning streak to five games with a commanding 4-0 victory, but this time, it wasn't the bats that stole the show—it was the arms.
For the first half of the ballgame, pitchers Sean Burke and Michael King traded zeroes like baseball cards, while hitters were left searching for a pack of their own. The Sox tried to spark something in the second inning when Colson led off with a walk, but a poor jump led to a caught stealing. Chase Meidroth drew a walk of his own, putting two on with nobody out for Sam Antonacci, who scorched a 102.7 mph liner with an .800 expected batting average—straight at a glove for an out.
The Padres tested Burke in the fifth. Miguel Andujar and Jake Cronenworth sandwiched an out with singles, putting runners on first and second. But Burke hunkered down, inducing a line out and a strikeout to escape unscathed.
That set the stage for the Good Guys to break through in the sixth. With one out, Tristan Peters drew a walk, and Andrew Benintendi followed with the most unusual infield single you'll see: a popped-up bunt that hit the ground before a shifted Manny Machado could secure the catch. (Hey, it's a robust 38.2 mph line drive in the scorebook!)
Munetaka Murakami grounded out to first, moving the runners to second and third—the first time all game a baserunner from either team had reached third. Right on cue, Miguel Vargas shot a 64.8 mph flare single to shallow right, breaking the score open at 2-0.
With the lead, Burke kept dealing. He battled Machado through a 12-pitch at-bat for the second out in the bottom of the sixth, then ended the inning the way he started: with a strikeout. After six dazzling shutout frames, Burke extended his scoreless streak to 14 1/3 innings, allowing just four hits, one walk, and striking out eight—with 11 swings and misses.
Looking to pad the lead, Meidroth singled and Antonacci kept the line moving. The South Siders are rolling, and with pitching like this, their winning streak might just keep growing.