On the surface, it was simply a bad game by a team on the brink of advancing in the playoffs. It’s far from the first time this has happened to a playoff team, and it definitely won’t be the last.
But let’s consider everything the White Sox had done in the four games before the Cleveland Guardians dealt them their first loss of this postseason, 9-3. Until Game 3 of the ALDS, the Sox looked like a team that was doing everything right. The exact opposite happened in front of a sellout crowd that was frenzied at the start but had been long silenced by the end.
The Sox striking out a lot was hardly anything new, though they did it 19 times in Game 3. Every hitter struck out at least once, and seven fanned at least twice. That was the second-most for them this season, behind only the 20 they had against the Milwaukee Brewers on Opening Day.
The pitching staff hardly had been scored upon, with a 1.75 ERA in the playoffs along with 11 walks allowed through four games. Regression to the mean eventually was going to happen, but it’s unlikely that many fans considered it would happen with the Sox nearly doubling that walk total in one game. They probably also didn’t think that four of the five pitchers that followed Hagen Smith after he allowed Jo Adell’s bases-clearing triple would allow at least one run.
Many would argue that Kyle Teel quickly burning both of the Sox’s ABS challenges – possibly in an attempt to help the struggling Bryan Hudson – represented a turning point in the game. Teel had been money with those challenges during the postseason, and to see him lose both in a matter of moments in a tight game was incredibly disheartening.
Now, the Sox once again will need to prove that they can bounce back quickly from adversity, as they have all season. The only difference is they now will need to do it with their season potentially hanging in the balance. If they fall at home in Game 4 and thus have to go back to Cleveland for the winner-take-all Game 5, they will be back to being the clear underdogs with all the momentum working against them.
Nevertheless, the Sox still have a 2-1 series lead and will have the home crowd backing them once again in Game 4. The question is whether they can change the result.
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