Inside the Chicago White Sox's 10 games in 10 days and 3 time zones: ‘These guys have been grinding'

Chicago Tribune

28-04-2025

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Chicago White Sox manager Will Venable thought through several steps ahead of the team's three-city trip featuring 10 games in 10 days.
'Just have to be clear on the plan, and how we value recovery and building a plan for that for the guys, so we're not just leaping into this without having been thoughtful about these things,' Venable said on April 17 at Rate Field, one day before the trek began. 'We are sensitive to the fact that this is a tough stretch and covering multiple time zones is tough, too.'
The expedition — which went from Boston to Minneapolis and wrapped up in West Sacramento — covered 5,320 air miles, according to director of team travel Ed Cassin.
The trip concluded with a walk-off loss to the Athletics, 3-2, in 10 innings Sunday at Sutter Health Park. Luis Urías hit a game-ending two-run home run against Jordan Leasure.
'At the end of the day, if I could go back in time, I'd probably make the same exact pitch (fastball) and do it again,' Leasure said. 'He just beat me that time and sometimes that happens.'
The Sox dropped two of three in the series and went 3-7 over the 10 days.
It was the team's first trip that spanned three time zones and both coasts since July 12-21, 2019, when the Sox played the Oakland Athletics, Kansas City Royals and Tampa Bay Rays.
'It's part of just being in the major leagues, right?' Venable said on Friday at Sutter Health Park as the voyage neared its conclusion. 'And that's what we do. We play and we rest and we play again. And you're probably going to be tired most of those days. But as far as this trip in particular, these guys have been grinding.'
Here's a journal of the journey.
Days 1-4 against the Boston Red Sox, April 18-21 at Fenway Park
Most of the four days felt like an extended reunion weekend.
White Sox pitchers Shane Smith, Sean Burke, Mike Vasil and Jared Shuster — who joined the team on Day 2 from Triple-A Charlotte when Martín Pérez went on the injured list — are each from Massachusetts.
The White Sox were the third team since 2000 with four Massachusetts-born players to play at least one game for them in a season, joining the 2022 San Francisco Giants (Mike Yastrzemski, Tyler Beede, John Brebbia and Alex Cobb) and the 2001 New York Mets (Mark Johnson, Brian Rose, Turk Wendell and Pete Walk).
The connections didn't end there. The Red Sox roster featured starter Garrett Crochet and reliever Liam Hendriks, who both formerly excelled for the White Sox. Andrew Vaughn hit a two-run home run against Hendriks on April 20, the lone win of the series for the White Sox in the four-game set.
Former Red Sox playing for the White Sox included Pérez, left fielder Andrew Benintendi, reliever Cam Booser and infielder Bobby Dalbec, along with ex-Boston prospect Chase Meidroth (Dalbec joined the team when Meidroth went on the IL). Additionally, Venable was a former bench coach for the Red Sox.
'This weekend being (Boston) Marathon weekend, it's a huge weekend in the city,' Burke said on April 20. 'So it's just been surreal. It's a dream come true to be able to come back and play here.'
The White Sox got into the spirit of the weekend, with several associated with the team contemplating what it would take for them to run a marathon.
'I'll be down to do it,' Venable said. 'I don't know if I could finish it. I might have to be crawling the last stretch.'
Days 5-7 against the Minnesota Twins, Tuesday-Thursday at Target Field
Byron Buxton has hurt the Sox throughout the years at the plate with 23 career home runs against the South Siders.
The center fielder showcased his Gold Glove defense in the ninth inning of the series opener, making a spectacular diving catch for the final out to rob Benintendi of what would have been a game-tying extra-base hit.
There was still buzz around the sequence the next afternoon.
'One swing away, and Byron Buxton — he's in center field for a reason,' Dalbec told the Tribune on Wednesday. 'I think (Benintendi) said he knew he was catching it right off the bat, but from my angle, it looked — I don't know — but that closing speed is different. A great player over there.'
The Sox dropped two of three in the series, salvaging the finale with a rain-shortened 3-0 victory. Smith collected his first major-league win in a game that also included a solo home run by Miguel Vargas.
The third baseman made adjustments at the plate, getting his hands higher. And it paid off in the form of two hits on Wednesday and the home run the next day.
'What I've been doing, being more aggressive with the fastball and try to put it more in play,' Vargas said on Thursday.
Days 8-10 against the Athletics, Friday-Sunday at Sutter Health Park
The Sox made their first trip to the Sacramento-area ballpark, but it was a return stop for pitcher Tyler Gilbert.
'I actually pitched really well here in Triple-A (allowing one run in six innings for Reno) right before I got my major-league debut in '21,' Gilbert told the Tribune on Sunday. 'I've always liked pitching at this place and it's cool to see the little renovations they've done here to make it adequate for Major League Baseball.'
Gilbert served as the opener on Friday and Saturday.
'It was crazy being done after the first inning, but it was cool,' Gilbert said.
The Sox continued the opener strategy Sunday with Brandon Eisert pitching the first. Davis Martin followed, allowing three hits in six scoreless innings.
'I think (catcher Matt) Thaiss did a great job of making sure we were going in and out,' Martin said.
Luis Robert Jr. knocked in a run with a single in the 10th, giving the Sox a 2-1 lead. But the trip ended on a bumpy note for the Sox with the one-out, two-run home run by Urías on a first-pitch fastball.
The Sox (7-21) are off Monday before beginning a three-game series Tuesday against the Milwaukee Brewers at Rate Field.
'These guys have been grinding,' Venable said after Sunday's game. 'We've talked about the three time zones, 10-game road trip, it's a lot. So we'll be happy to get home.'