White Sox Weekly Recap: Some Life at Home, Elko Delivers, and the Crosstown Showdown Awaits

One week ends, another begins — with an off-day in between. The Chicago White Sox are back at it Tuesday, opening a three-game road set against the Cincinnati Reds before returning home for a weekend clash with their crosstown nemesis, the Chicago Cubs.

The South Siders are coming off a 2-5 week, which followed a 3-3 stretch. However, they had no luck in riding any momentum into Kansas City. Things unraveled quickly on the road against the Royals, where the Sox were swept in four games, primarily due to a lifeless offense and a bullpen allergic to clean ninth innings. 

But they salvaged some dignity at home by taking two of three from the Miami Marlins, just their third series win of the season.

Currently sitting at 5-6 in May, the week ahead against two NL Central foes won't be easy. The Reds are two games below .500 despite having a positive run differential. They sit four games behind the first-place Cubs. Both teams can score runs with the best of them. The Cubs lead the National League in runs and trail only the Yankees for most in all of baseball.

Royals Run Wild, White Sox Offense Flatlines

The White Sox were simply outmatched by Kansas City's pitching staff, suffering gut-wrenching losses and scoring just four runs across the four-game sweep.

The series opener saw Cole Ragans, who had allowed nine earned runs across his previous two starts, silence the Sox with 11 strikeouts in five shutout innings. Rookie Shane Smith tossed five innings of two-run baseball, but the offense continues to fail him, producing only six hits in a 3-0 loss.

Game two featured the now-infamous "headbutt heard around the world" after Chase Meidroth took a pop-up off the face in the ninth, leading to a Royals rally. Despite a decent night from Sean Burke and some timely hitting, the Sox imploded late. Bobby Witt Jr. walked it off, and the horror show continued.

Jonathan Cannon threw a quality start in the third game. The righty tossed six innings, allowing two earned runs, but once again, the offense was lifeless in a 2-1 loss. 

The finale followed an uglier script for the Pale Hose: Royals starter Kris Bubic held the Sox scoreless in a 10-0 blowout. Witt Jr. torched the South Siders again with a four-hit day, and for the third time in four games, the Sox tallied just six hits.

They went 4-for-29 with runners in scoring position in the series and didn't hit a single home run.

Elko Enters, Sox Show Life vs. Miami

The White Sox returned home Friday and actually looked like a major league team. A 6-2 win over the Marlins, powered by a three-run eighth inning that featured three hits, three walks, and a sac fly.

Before the game, reports surfaced that the club would promote first baseman Tim Elko from Triple-A Charlotte. The next day, it became official. His debut didn't make much of a splash, but Sunday? That was a different story.

Saturday's 3-1 loss saw Andrew Vaughn go deep in the first, but the Sox only managed three hits the rest of the way. A late two-run triple from Eric Wagaman's liner evaded a diving Michael A. Taylor, sealing the win for Miami.

On Sunday, Burke pitched just four innings and allowed the leadoff hitter to reach base in each inning, but held the Marlins to one run despite heavy traffic on the bases. 

Then came Elko. 

With runners on the corners and the game tied at one in the sixth, he mashed a three-run bomb to left — his first MLB homer — giving the Sox the lead for good in a 4-2 win. An old friend on the organ added a nostalgic touch to cap the weekend.