White Sox lose two out of three to AL Central-leading Indians

Carlos Rodon

At least Carlos Rodon is living up to his potential, right?

Coming into the White Sox's three-game weekend series against the Cleveland Indians, I figured the South Siders would, at best, take one out of three. And, I figured the one they would win would be Friday's game with Rodon on the mound.

That's exactly how it unfolded. Here's a look back at the weekend that was.

Friday, Aug. 10
White Sox 1, Indians 0: Daniel Palka accomplished something that no Sox player had done in the previous 118 years of baseball: He hit a home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Sox a 1-0 victory.

It's astounding that it had never happened before in all the games that have been played over the past century plus.

It's too bad the home run did not come early enough to give Rodon the win. The Sox left-hander was brilliant, pitching eight shutout innings. He allowed only four hits, struck out five and walked two. The two walks were both in the first inning. The Indians failed to make Rodon pay, and they really didn't get a sniff after that.

Rodon's season ERA now stands at 2.61. He is pitching like a No. 1 starter, although he needs to stay healthy over the long haul before he can earn the title of staff ace.

Saturday, Aug. 11
Indians 3, White Sox 1: Small steps forward for second baseman Yoan Moncada. After I criticized his poor performance on this blog last week, he went 3 for 9 with a home run and a walk in the series against Cleveland.

He still struck out four times in those 10 plate appearances, but he did connect for his 15th home run of the season for the Sox's lone run in this game. The blast to right field came off a Cy Young contender, Cleveland's Trevor Bauer.

Moncada's incremental improvement coincided with manager Rick Renteria's decision to move him out of the leadoff spot. Moncada batted eighth Friday and Saturday, and sixth on Sunday.

James Shields (4-14) continues a potential march toward a 20-loss season, although he pitched a credible game. He went seven innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits. He struck out four and walked none. Shields can't win any games, but the veteran's job in a lost season is to eat innings. He is doing that.

Sunday, Aug. 12
Indians 9, White Sox 7: It looked like this one was over in the eighth inning. The Indians led, 9-1, but the Sox made a game of it with two runs in the eighth on home runs by Adam Engel and Yolmer Sanchez, and four more runs in the ninth.

The Indians were forced to bring closer Cody Allen into the game, and the Sox had the tying run at home plate with one out in the ninth before Allen struck out Nicky Delmonico and Sanchez back to back to earn his 23rd save of the season.

It was a good game for Engel, who went 3 for 4 with the aforementioned homer, a triple, three RBIs and another spectacular catch to rob Yonder Alonso of a home run. It's too bad Engel is a .224 hitter, because his skills in center field are of elite big-league quality. I just don't think he sticks over the long haul because of his weak bat.

Speaking of not sticking over the long haul, Dylan Covey (4-9) didn't wait until the second time through the order to get shelled Sunday. He gave up four runs in the first and two more runs in the second. By the end of the third inning, Hector Santiago was on in relief for the Sox.

Covey's season ERA is up to 6.06. As we've stated in the past, it is time to remove this pitcher from the starting rotation. He is not giving his team a chance to win.