Still, getting tuned up by the last-place Angels and shut down by a degraded Jered Weaver, which in turn capped a deflating sweep to begin the second half, probably is enough to start edging in the word “disaster” as a descriptor.

1. If the Sox were looking for telltale signs that Turner would have trouble with a major league lineup, he offered them up early. He walked leadoff man Yunel Escobar on four pitches, and after a pair of whistling lineouts, Albert Pujols cracked the first of two home runs off Turner for the day off to the rockpile in center. He faced the minimum over the second and third innings, but any notion of Turner ‘settling in’ was blasted away in his second turn through the heart of the order.

Mike Trout‘s leadoff double quickly became another run on Pujols’ second blast, and the Angels extended their lead to 6-1 on back-to-back RBI doubles from such luminaries as backup catcher Jett Bandy and utility infielder Gregorio Petit. Turner still came back for the fifth inning, but was chased after walking the first two men he faced, and Michael Ynoa was unsurprisingly ill-equipped to clean up the mess without incident.

2. With one out in the third, Omar Narvaez, effectively the fifth-string catcher if we’re following along from the start of the year, tracked a 67 mph Jered Weaver curveball and blasted it into the left-center gap for his first career major league hit. One out later, Adam Eaton got a hold of a 80 mph…fastball, change?…and drove it to the same place, but on a lower line plane to bring Narvaez home, and the White Sox scoreless streak died at 34 innings.

That was the Sox only run of the day, and their only two extra-base hits of the day. All three of the at-bats with runners in scoring position took place in this inning as well. They scored a run, though.

3. Weaver, dragging his way through starts with a sub-85 mph fastball, and still helming and eating innings for a definitively doomed Angels pitching staff despite an ERA well over 5.00, tossed his second gem of the season against Sox hitting despite not a hint of swing-and-miss stuff. He’s allowed two runs against the Sox in 14 innings despite striking out only three.

4. Carson Fulmer making his major league debut was so clearly the highlight of this game, there should be some sort of effort to censure me for holding it back this long. He struck out two over two scoreless, efficient innings, allowing just one single and throwing just 21 pitches (four whiffs) to seven batters. He pumped his low-to-mid-90s fastball in the zone on demand, and his high-80s slider was overwhelming. Those mechanics are low and violent but he looks like a reliever to enjoy this Summer.

5. This week will bring seven-straight against teams ahead of the Sox in the standings for the last Wild Card spot, and 14 games in a row total. The Sox front office doesn’t need a barometer for the quality of their team, but there should be some extra emphasis placed on the state of things by the end of the month.

Team Record: 45-46

Next game is Monday at 9:10pm CT in Seattle on CSN

Lead Image Credit: Jayme Kamin-Oncea

Enjoying the fruits of a soft early schedule has led them to a promising 10-6 start, but with the Rangers, Blue Jays and Orioles coming in to close the month, they may rue going 3-4 against the Rays and Angels, and especially failing to hit Jered Weaver on Thursday.

1. Despite barely being able to crack 85 mph and being reduced to looping breaking balls at age 33, Weaver was able to hold the Sox to three hits over seven innings despite only striking out two. The only tally against him came when Melky Cabrera ripped a frozen rope out to right for his first home run of the year; briefly making the practice of crushing slow-speed slop look as it easy as it normally seems, if only for a moment.

2. Otherwise, the Sox offense stayed dormant until they ran into the best pitcher they saw all day in Angels closer Huston Street. Protecting a two-run lead with two outs and the bases clear, Street hung a slider to Todd Frazier, who blasted his fourth homer of the year out to the opposite field and could probably be said to be struggling less than Jose Abreu at this point. The shot cut the Sox deficit in half and Street suddenly found himself leery of throwing strikes, issuing back-to-back walks to Cabrera and Brett Lawrie. But while Street didn’t stop making mistakes, his meatball to Austin Jackson just barely stayed in the park, settling in Craig Gentry‘s glove at the left field warning track to end the late rally.

3. John Danks‘ stuff at this point made him a good stylistic matchup with Weaver. He pitched over a hideous five walks and somehow squeezed out his first quality start of the year. Mike Trout bombing a flat fastball to the moon accounted for the only two runs against him all afternoon. He’s been beating the odds since his shoulder gave out on him, but Danks hardly looks like a guy who will fight off bidders for his slot in the rotation all year at the moment.

4. The Angels got an insurance run in the top of the ninth that wound up being the deciding factor when Carlos Perez dropped a sacrifice squeeze to score Kole Calhoun. Between the defense not looking particularly prepared for the move, and Zach Duke getting dinged around to extend the Angels lead, no one was very happy with Robin Ventura by the end of the eighth, but let’s focus on the real killer in the room.

5. The Sox have now scored 14 runs in their last seven games. That is not enough.

Team Record: 10-6

Next game is Friday at 7:10pm CT vs. Texas on CSN.

Lead Photo Image: David Banks // USA Today Sports Images