Sixteen perfect outs

Called up from Triple-A Charlotte for a spot start, David Sandlin retired the first 16 Cardinals he faced in St. Louis on Sunday.

Teel saw it coming

Catcher Kyle Teel said Sandlin never looked rattled, reading it off his face between pitches.

“He just was in complete control. You could see it in his eyes.”

Seven pitches, one weakness hidden

Sandlin's four-seam fastball is his vulnerable pitch. He buried it inside a seven-pitch mix and looked like an answer to the Sox' thin rotation.

Two soft singles

One out shy of 18, the perfect game died on two weakly hit singles. Nothing was squared up, and the inning was alive anyway.

The 103.6 mph grounder

Ivan Herrera scorched a ball at Colson Montgomery, who had shaded toward second and got a glove on it but couldn't hold on.

Burleson clears the bases

Venable went to lefty Chris Murphy for the matchup. Alec Burleson fought off a fastball on his hands and doubled home three runs.

Sandlin blamed himself

He refused to enjoy one of the best starts of his career, focusing only on the out he didn't get.

“Should've gone six and given the team a better chance. We lost. It sucks.”

No second-guessing the bullpen

Venable said he had no regrets pulling Sandlin rather than letting him face Burleson a third time through the order.

Screened at shortstop

Montgomery was blocked by the baserunner on the play, then flied out with the bases loaded to end the game. He gave himself no excuse.

“Stuff happens like that. You just have to make that play.”

A triple that went nowhere

Sam Antonacci led off the sixth with a triple and got caught in a rundown trying to keep Munetaka Murakami's chopper from becoming a double play.

Zero for seven

The Sox went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, including a dead rally in the ninth. Venable said the dugout never got its energy back.

“That kind of snowballed as far as the spirit of the club.”

Half a game left

The loss leaves the Sox clinging to a half-game lead over Cleveland in the AL Central, with a three-game set at Progressive Field next.

Twenty-one games, no sixth inning

Between openers and short starts, no Sox starter has finished six innings in 21 straight games. Their rotation has thrown the fewest innings in the majors.

The farm can't help

Triple-A lefty Shane Murphy is the only Sox minor-leaguer who will clear 130 innings in 2026, so reinforcements built for length aren't coming.

Why nobody goes deep

Brian Bannister points to the pitch clock removing breathers, and to hitters studying pitchers on Trajekt machines, forcing max effort on every pitch.

“Literally pitching at max effort on almost every pitch, just to beat these hitters.”

Bases loaded with dread

Over their last 14 games, a 4-10 stretch, the Sox loaded the bases 17 times and went 1-for-13 with four walks.