Every time it seems like the White Sox are about to pull away in the AL Central race, something happens to drop them back into reality and make them nervous. At least that’s been the story for the past four days.
The Sox were one strike away from defeating the Cleveland Guardians for the second time in as many games and increasing their division lead to 2.5 games. Instead, Grant Taylor served up a two-RBI double to Brayan Rocchio that landed just out of the reach of a shallow-playing Sam Antonacci in left field, and the Guardians earned a 7-6 walk-off victory to get back to within half a game of the Sox.
One night earlier, the Sox took control with six runs in a sixth inning that was highlighted by Tristan Peters drawing an 18-pitch walk. It seemed that would be the moment that turned the tide in the division race. In fact, they had a four-run sixth in this most recent game that brought them back from behind. Apparently, not all sixth-inning rallies are created equal.
The loss to the Guardians when the Sox needed only one more strike was the exact opposite of when they were in that situation against the St. Louis Cardinals. Randal Grichuk then hit a two-run homer that appeared to save the season, and it might still when all is said and done.
The good vibes from that win didn’t last, though. David Sandlin retired the first 16 batters the next day, but the Cardinals got all the runs they needed on a bases-clearing double by Alec Burleson that was set up by Colson Montgomery’s two-out error. That also happened in the sixth inning.
Now, the Sox have to try to take momentum back in the series finale, or they’ll be in second place – allegedly Jerry Reinsdorf’s favorite position for a team to be in – for the first time since July 3. That won’t be easy with the Guardians pitching their best player, Parker Messick, and the Sox not yet having announced a starting pitcher as of this writing.
If the Sox don’t win the division, many will point to their inability to turn big moments down the stretch into something bigger. The good news is they would only be half a game out if they lose Wednesday, with a week-and-a-half to go and the tiebreaker in hand. Still, it would be nice not to give up having their divisional fate in their own hands.
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