The White Sox (11-28) shut down any chances of another five-game losing streak with some timely offense and solid pitching, defeating the Marlins (14-23), 6-2, to earn their 11th win of the season. Miami had out-hit the South Siders with seven hits, but going 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position and leaving 11 on base usually puts you in the loss column.

In even better news, first baseman Tim Elko, is finally being called up to the big leagues on Saturday, as confirmed by Vinnie Duber right before Friday’s game. Elko has been raking all year with the Triple-A Charlotte Knights, posting a 1.101 OPS in 112 at-bats (31 games). His OPS ranks second in the Triple-A International League, and is tied for first in home runs with 10. He will be a welcome additional to the South Side, and fans have practically been begging for him to be called up all season. Welcome to the South Side, Tim!

Reliever-turned-permanent-emergency-fifth-starter Bryse Wilson was able to work through the first five innings of the game fairly efficiently, giving up just three hits and one run, while walking two and striking out one. The first inning was a little wacky, as a leadoff walk was the reason the first run scored, followed by a throwing error on a pickoff attempt at first. Thankfully that didn’t end up doing any additional damage. The two walks were both to Xavier Edwards, with the second coming in the top of the fifth. Once on base, Edwards stole second to get into scoring position, and was driven in on a single to left by Jesús Sánchez to put the Marlins up early, 1-0.

The offense didn’t do much in the bottom of the first, but the offense answered back the next inning when Andrew Vaughn mashed his fourth homer of the year to tie the game at one.

The South Siders ended up taking the lead a few batters later. Brooks Baldwin was hit by a pitch, and Michael A. Taylor followed that up with a line-drive double out to center, bringing Baldwin around to score and put the Sox up, 2-1.

It was Jordan Leasure who came in for Wilson in the top of the sixth, facing a tough part of the Marlins order. He gave up a double to Agustín Ramírez with one out, but that was all the damage, as he was able to rack up two strikeouts in his one inning of work.

Caleb Freeman wasn’t on his A-game Friday, and he only made it through one out of the seventh inning. He gave up a home run to allow the Marlins to tie the game, but thankfully Cam Booser was able to put out the fire after that. Booser would ultimately earn the win as well — not a bad tradeoff for a couple of outs.

The Good Guys got the offense going again in the bottom of the seventh, and got that run back and then some. Josh Rojas started the rally off with a base hit, but Lenyn Sosa ripped a hard-hit ball down the third base line for a double to put runners on second and third with no outs. Baldwin brought in the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly to left — it’s recorded as a sac fly, but it almost left the yard, forcing Kyle Stowers to make a great grab at the wall. My favorite part of the inning, however, was the beautiful squeeze bunt that Jacob Amaya pulled off, putting up an insurance run for the Sox to go up, 4-2.

Shout-out to Amaya for actually bringing his batting average past .100 … to .103. Sigh. The third and final run of the inning was scored on a bases-loaded walk by Matt Thaiss. We will always accept free runs.

Out for the eighth was righthander Steven Wilson, who gave himself a hard time by walking two batters and putting the tying run at the plate with two outs. Brandon Eisert was warming up in the bullpen just in case, but Wilson forced a ground out to end the inning and get out of the self-induced jam.

Once again in the bottom of the eighth, Rojas found a way to get on with an error from the Marlins third baseman. Sosa stayed hot and drove another single to right, allowing Rojas to make it around to third to put more pressure on the Marlins defense. It certainly worked, as a wild pitch scored Rojas to put the White Sox up by four. These two guys combined for half of Chicago’s hits and runs scored, paving the way for Friday’s win on the offensive front.

Eisert did end up coming in to close out the game in the ninth, and he did it (almost) flawlessly, allowing no hits but providing Miami with two baserunners on a walk and a hit batsman. He eventually did close it out, preventing Ramírez from doing any additional damage to the South Siders and ending the losing streak at four.

Futility Watch

White Sox 2025 Record 11-28, tied for the third-worst start in White Sox history and tied for 29th-worst start in baseball history. A 10-28 record projects to 46-116 over a full season. A year ago, the White Sox were 11-28.

All-Time White Sox Record (1901-2025, 19,245 games) 9,605-9,640 (.4991). It’s been 84 games since the White Sox had an all-time winning record.

Record Since the New Pope Was Revealed as a White Sox Fan 1-0

• Race to the Worst “Modern” 162-Game Record (2024 White Sox, 41-121)
• Race to the Worst “Modern” Record in a 162-Game Season (1962 Mets, 40-120-1, finished three percentage points worse than the 2024 White Sox)
• Race to the Most White Sox Losses (2024, 121)
• Race to the Worst White Sox Record (2024, 41-121)

5 games better, in all cases

Race to the Worst Post-1899 Record (1916 A’s, 38-124 adjusted to 162 games) 8 games better