3 takeaways as the White Sox lose in 10 innings and drop 2 of 3 in Nationals series

CHICAGO — The Chicago White Sox dropped their second straight extra-inning game, falling 2-1 to the Washington Nationals in 10 innings on Sunday in front of 24,259 at Rate Field.

The Sox went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position on Sunday as they lost two of three in the series.

“I think really the story (of) the whole series is just runners in scoring position, just weren’t able to create runs,” manager Will Venable said.

Here are three takeaways from the three games:

The 10th innings are unkind to the Sox

Hits were hard to come by for both teams most of Sunday afternoon. And neither team pushed across a run for the first nine innings.

The Nationals executed well in the 10th. Automatic runner Daylen Lile advanced to third on a grounder to first and then scored the game’s first run on a sacrifice fly to left by CJ Abrams. Tanner Murray made a diving catch to rob Abrams of a hit and departed the game with a left shoulder injury.

“Tanner is still being evaluated,” Venable said. “Obviously, he was in a lot of pain there.”

Pinch hitter José Tena followed with a home run against closer Seranthony Domínguez, giving the Nationals a 2-0 lead.

The Sox cut the deficit to 2-1 with a one-out RBI single by Tristan Peters in the bottom of the 10th. But Nationals reliever Paxton Schultz struck out Chase Meidroth and Miguel Vargas to end the game.

Four Nationals pitchers combined to limit the Sox to four hits — singles by Meidroth, Murray, Everson Pereira and Peters. The Sox left eight runners on base. The Nationals won despite also being held to four hits and going 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position.

The Sox hit .121 (4-for-33) with runners in scoring position for the entire series, including going 1 for 12 in Saturday’s 6-3 loss in 10 innings and 1 for 8 on Sunday.

“We got some guys on base and guys competed, I think they did a great job all series, just couldn’t finish the job and get some of these base runners across to score,” Venable said.

Sean Burke fills up the zone on Sunday

Sean Burke allowed a single with two outs in the third inning on Sunday to James Wood, who was later caught stealing. Burke didn’t allow another baserunner until Luis García Jr. singled leading off the ninth.

Burke allowed three hits and struck out four in a career-high 7 1/3 innings. He entered in the second inning following opener Bryan Hudson.

“Sean was outstanding,” Venable said. “He was in the zone the whole day. Got ahead of hitters, got a lot of quick, soft contact.”

Burke retired 15 consecutive batters from the beginning of the fourth through the end of the eighth innings.

“(Washington) is an aggressive team, so kind of using that to my advantage and know they are going to be swinging early,” Burke said. “Trying to pitch to the thirds and be in the zone a lot. The wind, it’s tougher to hit balls out today, so kind of using that to my advantage, too. Throwing balls over the fat part of the plate and trusting they aren’t going to hit it out.”

Burke became the first Sox pitcher to record 7 1/3-plus innings in relief since Jonathan Cannon went 7 2/3 innings on April 26 last season against the Athletics.

“Any time you can go deep into a game, it’s going to help the team, help the bullpen,” Burke said. “At times it was something I struggled with last year. That was a big thing coming into this year for me was wanting to go deep into the game every time I go out there.”

Reliever Tyler Davis’ unique journey led to a major-league debut Saturday

Sox pitcher Tyler Davis did not take a traditional route to his major-league debut on Saturday.

“My last year in college (at Sam Houston State in 2023), I just hit,” Davis said on Thursday in Phoenix after being called up from Triple-A Charlotte.

Davis had plenty of pitching experience previously during college, including 51 2/3 innings at Wichita State in 2018. He was slated to be a two-way player in 2022, according to Sam Houston State, but his season was cut short because of injury. He primarily played first base in 2023.

Following college, Davis had a short stint with the Oakland Ballers in the Independent Pioneer League, where he planned on pitching and hitting.

“When I went to independent ball, my pitching coach there (Jim Dedrick) was like, ‘Hey buddy, let’s put the bat down. Let’s focus on pitching and see where that takes you,’” Davis said.

“Got 3 at-bats and he made me stop hitting,” he said.

He had a 1.29 ERA in five outings with the Ballers and then signed with the Sox as a minor-league free agent in June 2024. Davis, 27, entered in the eighth inning for his big-league debut Saturday. He struck out two and walked one in a scoreless inning of relief work.

“It was comforting when I went out there and saw (catcher Drew Romo’s) face,” Davis said after Saturday’s outing. “Threw to him in Charlotte a decent amount, so that just kind of slowed me down right there. He knows what I like to do, so just trust what he put down and I left everything up to the game.”

____