The White Sox had enough from Davis Martin to win and still left Wednesday night with a 4-2 loss to the Pirates. Chicago wasted two bases-loaded chances, went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and saw the Pirates take the series.
Martin worked through a 16-pitch first inning and then limited Pittsburgh to one run on four hits and two walks with one strikeout over five innings. That kind of outing usually gives a club room to breathe. It did not here because the offense never turned early pressure into a lead.
The game turned on the kind of small chances that often decide close nights. Pittsburgh broke through on Esmerlyn Valdez’s leadoff solo homer in the fifth, then added more in the seventh when Sean Newcomb allowed the second run and Konnor Griffin followed with a single that drove in two more. Chicago finally got on the board in the bottom of the seventh, but by then the margin had already widened too far.
The White Sox had chances before that and could not finish them. They put runners in position to change the game twice with the bases loaded, then came away empty. A lineup that went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position left Martin with no margin for error, even after he had given them one.
There was one more piece of frustration late. Camilo Doval failed to cover first base on a grounder by Sam Antonacci, and Braden scored on the play. It trimmed the damage, but it did not change the result. The Guardians also lost to Baltimore, so the AL Central gap remained at two. The White Sox now have the series loss, the missed chances and a narrow division margin that did not move at all.
What remains is the same question that has followed Chicago through nights like this: whether a solid start can matter when the bats do not cash in. Martin did his part. The rest of the night showed how quickly a game can slip away when the chances are there and the hit does not come.
