Today is April Fool’s, but a game like this certainly feels like a bad joke. The Marlins took home the series victory over Chicago, brutalizing White Sox pitching and particularly Shane Smith.
Smith’s first start against Milwaukee ended with him unable to escape early pressure, giving up 3 earned runs in 1.2 innings. It was a similar story in Loan Depot today, with the Marlins picking him apart through three full innings for the former All-Star. He gave up eight runs, seven earned, on two walks and eight hits.
Marlin Liam Hicks had a quiet day yesterday, but returned today with a vengeance. He earned four more RBIs today, driving home the first runs of the game and finishing the series with seven runs plated. Miami’s deadly lineup continued to spearfish the White Sox from there as the bullpen entered in the fourth.
Jedixon Paez was Designated for Assignment last night, which brought a new face into the Chicago arm-barn in call-up Lucas Sims. His two innings were the lone bright spot of the game for the White Sox. He was the only pitcher on the team not to give up an earned run, yielding just one hit and one walk.
It was a forgettable day for the rest of the pen as Chris Murphy (2 IP) and Jordan Leasure (1 IP) both surrendered one run.
Miami’s Sandy Alcántara carved through the White Sox order, earning the first complete game shutout and Maddux of the 2026 season, with 93 pitches. It is his second career Maddux in which he issued three hits, no free passes, and seven strikeouts against a strikeout-heavy Chicago lineup.
The Dominican product may have finally found his stride after some difficult seasons following his 2022 unanimous Cy Young award win.
The three hits for Chicago came from Chase Meidroth, Tristan Peters, and Luisangel Acuña. The Marlins, now 5-1, will try to keep their exuberant power up in New York against the Yankees in the Pinstripes’ home opener series.
For Chicago, tomorrow’s home opener was moved to Friday at the same 1:10 CDT start time. After a series of losses in Miami, the slate gets no easier as they take on the defending AL Champions in Toronto. However, the day off does give a fatigued White Sox bullpen a chance to rest.
The reigning AL champion Blue Jays enter Friday’s contest off a series loss to the Rockies, the second time in a row the White Sox will see a team after their Rockies series already this year.
Old friend Dylan Cease will toe the rubber for the Jays in the matchup after tearing apart the Athletics’ lineup in his first start. Cease went 5.1 innings, giving up only a run and striking out 12, including a streak of sitting down seven in a row.
The White Sox have faced Cease only one time since his departure, earning a 4-3 win in September of last year. All four runs were scored off the former White Sox in a game in which Grant Taylor got the save.
Chicago’s Sean Burke will manage the mound for his second start after giving up four runs to the Brewers on Saturday. The White Sox hope his second start goes better than Smith’s today. It’s a young season, but there are reasons to be both pessimistic and optimistic heading into April’s first weekend, with what appears to be more of the same we saw in the last few seasons for the South Siders.
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Featured image: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
