White Sox pitcher James Shields will avoid 20-loss season

James Shields

For a change, struggling White Sox pitcher James Shields didn't lose Monday night.

The right-hander picked up his first victory since July 26, firing six innings of one-run ball in a 7-1 Sox win over Shields' former team, the Tampa Bay Rays.

With the victory, Shields improves to 6-18 (4-11 with the Sox) and ensures that he will not be a 20-game loser this season, regardless of the outcome of his final scheduled start Saturday against the Minnesota Twins.

Shields struggled for most of the game. Tampa Bay had multiple base runners in four of the six innings he pitched, but a couple of well-timed double plays and six strikeouts allowed Shields to pitch out of trouble.

I'm still 100 percent opposed to the idea of Shields being in the Sox's rotation for 2017. His 0-4 mark with an 11.42 ERA over six starts in August was more than enough for me to say it's time to move on. But the reality is Shields has two years left on his contract, and the Sox are probably going to trot him to the mound for 32 starts next season, so we're left with hoping the Shields of Monday night appears more often.

It didn't hurt that the Sox had another decent offensive game. Justin Morneau and Carlos Sanchez each hit two-run homers as part of an 11-hit attack. Morneau, Sanchez, Jose Abreu and Omar Narvaez had two hits each. Abreu picked up his 98th RBI, inching closer to reaching the 100-RBI mark for the third straight season. Melky Cabrera collected his 40th double Monday, becoming the first Sox hitter to reach that plateau since Jermaine Dye in 2008.

After a six-game losing streak, the Sox (75-81) have won three straight games and will send ace Chris Sale to the mound Tuesday in the second game of the four-game series with the Rays.

White Sox (temporarily) prevent Indians from clinching AL Central

Carlos Rodon

The Cleveland Indians would have the AL Central Division title wrapped up if they had won either of their last two games against the White Sox over the weekend.

Instead, the Sox surprised them with back-to-back victories and a rare series win in Cleveland. The Indians' magic number remains at 1 heading into Monday's action.

Here's a look back at the weekend in Cleveland:

Friday, September 23
Indians 10, White Sox 4: The Sox were in decent shape halfway through this game. They had a 4-2 lead headed to the bottom of the fifth inning, after a pair of two-run homers -- one by Melky Cabrera in the first inning and the other by Avisail Garcia in the fifth.

But the wheels came off for Sox starter Miguel Gonzalez (4-8) in the bottom of the fifth. The Tribe touched Gonzalez and reliever Juan Minaya up for four runs to take a 6-4 lead, and for good measure, they added four more in the sixth off the relief combination of Minaya and Dan Jennings.

Blessed with a 10-4 lead, Cleveland starter Trevor Bauer (12-8) got two outs deep in the eighth inning and picked up the win.

The Sox lost outfielder Adam Eaton for the rest of the series after he crashed into the center field wall hauling in a line drive off the bat of Cleveland catcher Roberto Perez in the fifth inning.

Saturday, September 24
White Sox 8, Indians 1: The Sox have scored a few more runs for Jose Quintana (13-11) the second half of the season, and this was the lastest example. A two-spot in the first inning gave Quintana the lead before he ever took the mound, and that had to be comforting for him, because he did not have his best stuff.

The left-hander worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning, and kept the Indians to just one run in the second inning, when the Tribe left runners at second and third.

The Sox added single runs in the fifth and sixth innings -- Todd Frazier hit his 39th homer of the season in the sixth -- and then broke it open with a four-run hit parade in the eighth inning. Carlos Sanchez and Jose Abreu each had three-hit games to back Quintana, who nursed the lead through six innings.

Tommy Kahnle, Jennings, Nate Jones and David Robertson combined for three innings of scoreless relief to give the Sox just their second victory at Cleveland this season.

Sunday, September 25
White Sox 3, Indians 0: Cleveland entered the day with its magic number at 2, needing a win and a Detroit loss to clinch the division. The Tigers lost, 12-9, to Kansas City, but the Indians couldn't hold up their end of the deal.

Left-hander Carlos Rodon (8-10) turned in one of the finest performances by a Sox starting pitcher all season. He went eight shutout innings, allowing just two hits (both singles), and tied his career high with 11 strikeouts.

Frazier went 1 for 3 with a single, a walk, two stolen bases and two runs scored. Each of the two steals led directly to a run. Sanchez drove him home with a single in the fifth; Omar Narvaez knocked him in with a single in the ninth.

Those three runs were ample for Rodon, who needed just one inning of help from the bullpen. Robertson provided it with one of his most impressive performances in months. The closer earned his 36th save by striking out Cleveland's 3-4-5 hitters -- Jose Ramirez, Mike Napoli and Carlos Santana -- in succession, all on nasty curve balls.

The Sox (74-81) now come home to conclude the season. They've got four games with Tampa Bay and three with Minnesota at U.S. Cellular Field this week.

Chris Sale's loss to Philadelphia costly to his Cy Young chances

Chris Sale

In case you were wondering -- and I'm sure you are -- the White Sox are 49-70 in their last 119 games. That is not a small sample size: This team stinks, and it has stunk for a long time.

The Sox dropped their fifth consecutive game Wednesday, an 8-3 loss to the lousy Philadelphia Phillies, and they've been outscored 36-17 during this losing streak.

The South Siders (72-80) are just two losses away from clinching their fourth consecutive losing season, and they'll need to win at least four more times just to equal last year's 76-86 record. They have the schedule to do it -- Tampa Bay and Minnesota are coming to town for the last week of the season -- but it remains to be seen whether the Sox can muster enough energy to care about these final games.

This late-season misery continues to hammer home the point that the organization needs numerous changes -- in the front office, on the coaching staff and most of all on the field. We've highlighted all those things on this blog at different points during the year, and we're still waiting for some sign that team brass has noticed problems that seem so obvious to us as fans.

Maybe when the season ends ...

In any case, even ace Chris Sale caught the suck bug in Wednesday night's game. The All-Star lefty has had a good second half of the season, although his outstanding pitching has not often been rewarded in the win column.

Unfortunately, this outing against Philadelphia will not go down as one of his finer moments. He gave up six runs over four innings and hit three batters. It was ugly, and the poor performance ended his stretch of six straight outings where he pitched eight innings or more.

Sale had averaged 118 pitches per start over the stretch, so maybe the heavy workload has started to catch up with him. His velocity seemed to be down a touch last night, and he was all over the place with his slider to right-handed batters (causing the three HBPs). Fortunately, Sale only threw 72 pitches Wednesday, and there's an off day Thursday, so that lesser workload and extra day in between starts could allow him to recharge before he faces Tampa Bay on the next homestand.

This bad game lifted Sale's ERA to 3.23. He trails the other two major Cy Young award contenders in that category now. Boston's Rick Porcello is at 3.08, and Cleveland's Corey Kluber is at 3.11. While Sale's 16-9 record is fairly impressive pitching for a bad team, his odds of winning the award are not good considering he's going up against two pitchers on likely playoff teams. Kluber is 18-9 for the Indians, and Porcello is 21-4 for the Red Sox.

A lot of people like to talk about how wins are a poor measure of a starting pitcher, and I agree, but at lot of those old-school voters don't. They want to see a pitcher who wins for a good team get the Cy Young. And, hey, if Porcello gets it, who am I to say he doesn't deserve it? He's 10-2 with a 2.40 ERA the second half, and he just had an 89-pitch complete game in a critical win over Baltimore in his last outing.

I think Sale is going to settle for third in this year's Cy Young vote. There's still time, I suppose. If he is awesome in his last two starts, and Kluber and Porcello both falter like Sale did Wednesday night, things could still change. But I wouldn't bet on it.

It's hard to justify postseason awards for anyone on this White Sox team.

Jose Abreu questions White Sox's 'desire to win' after latest Kansas City crapfest

Jose Abreu

The White Sox lost three out of four games against the Kansas City Royals over the weekend. This is not news. The Sox lose to the Royals all the time.

What made this interesting is we finally saw a sign that somebody on the team is as sick and tired of losing to Kansas City as we fans are.

Slugger Jose Abreu credited the Royals for their "desire to win" and "hunger to win games and to be good" in an interview with MLB.com's Scott Merkin after Monday's 8-3 loss in Kansas City.

In a follow-up question, Abreu was asked whether the Sox possessed that same desire to win.

"No," Abreu said, while shaking his head.

Are any other words necessary after that? Not really, but just look at these facts:

• The Sox finished 5-14 against Kansas City this year.
• The Sox lost all six series against the Royals in 2016, and have lost the past seven series between the two teams dating back to last year.
• The Sox are 18-39 against the Royals during the three seasons Abreu has been on the team.
• The Sox had the lead in nine out of 10 games at Kauffman Stadium this year, and they still managed to go 2-8.
• The Sox blew five games against the Royals this season in which they had the lead in the seventh inning or later.
• The Sox went 1-7 in one-run games against the Royals this season.
• The Royals are 71-40 in the last 111 games between the two teams dating back to 2011.

All of this is ridiculous. The Sox look unprepared and intimidated every time they face the Royals. Consider, the series before this, Kansas City was swept at home and outscored 43-12 in four games by the lowly Oakland Athletics. Yes, the Royals are the defending World Series champions, but that was 2015, and this is 2016. You cannot convince me the Royals have *that much* more talent than the Sox.

For Kansas City to own the Sox like this is unacceptable, and it's about time somebody on the team said something about it. The question is, what are the Sox going to do about it for next year?

Hopefully, at least part of the answer will be a change in leadership in the dugout. This whole business of getting killed by AL Central opponents has gone on long enough.

White Sox will open 2017 season at home vs. Detroit

Jose Quintana

Hey, the White Sox finally won two in a row against Cleveland for the first time this year!

The Sox used a seven-run sixth inning and strong pitching from Jose Quintana to beat the Tribe, 8-1, on Tuesday night, but let's face it: It's far too little and far too late.

Let's instead talk about the next meaningful game the Sox will play, which will be the 2017 home opener against the Detroit Tigers on April 3, 2017.

MLB released its 2017 schedule Wednesday, and we now know the Sox will begin with a six-game homestand against division rivals Detroit and Minnesota. Interleague opponents for 2017 will include the Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and Arizona Dodgers.

You can view the whole schedule by clicking here.

With the Sox sitting at 70-74 with less than three weeks left in the season, who among us wouldn't want to look forward to a fresh start next year?

White Sox score in every inning for first time since 1949

Carlos Carrasco

The White Sox offense was shut out on two hits Sunday against Kansas City, so naturally, they came back Monday and pounded out 16 hits and scored in every inning during an 11-4 victory over the first-place Cleveland Indians.

It was only the 20th time in major league history that a team scored at least one run in every inning -- and the second time the Sox have done that -- the other time was May 11, 1949, during a 12-8 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

I talk a lot about AL Central players who own the White Sox, so in fairness, let's note that the South Siders own Cleveland right-hander Carlos Carrasco.

Carrasco (11-8) lasted only 3.2 innings Monday night, allowing five runs (four earned) on eight hits. His lifetime record against Chicago falls to 3-9 with a 5.63 ERA in 17 games (16 starts). His career ERA at U.S. Cellular Field spikes to 6.50.

Avisail Garcia's leadoff homer in the bottom of the fourth inning gave the Sox the lead for good. The right fielder finished 4 for 5 with three runs scored. Adam Eaton and Todd Frazier also homered as part of the onslaught. Jose Abreu went 2 for 4 and increased his team-leading RBI total to 92. He still has a chance for a third consecutive 100-RBI season.

Miguel Gonzalez (4-6) recovered from a three-run second inning to earn his second straight victory since returning from the disabled list. He went 6.2 innings and allowed nothing more after the Indians got him for three early runs. The right-hander is now 4-0 lifetime with a 3.26 ERA in five games (4 starts) against the Tribe.

At this point, one would have to believe Gonzalez is pitching to earn a spot in the 2017 Sox rotation, and he's doing a good job of it. You can do a lot worse than a 3.82 ERA from a back-of-the-rotation pitcher, and Gonzalez has posted a quality start in nine of his past 10 appearances. The only exception was an Aug. 11 start in Kansas City, where he left in the second inning because of injury.

Really, that's the only thing that gives you pause about Gonzalez: Can he stay healthy? When he's been on the mound, he's been an effective pitcher for the Sox.

White Sox lose two out of three to Kansas City

Carlos Rodon

Nothing brings out the worst in the White Sox quicker than the sight of Kansas City Royals uniforms in the other dugout. The Sox dropped two out of three at home to Kansas City over the weekend. They have lost all five series they have played against the Royals this season, and are now just 4-11 against Kansas City this year.

Here's a look back at the weekend that was:

Friday, Sept. 9
White Sox 7, Royals 2: The late-season surge continues for left-hander Carlos Rodon, who settled down after a shaky first inning to win his fourth consecutive start and fifth straight decision.

Rodon (7-8) went six innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits. He struck out nine and walked two while lowering his ERA to 3.80. He punctuated his outing by striking out Royals outfielder Paulo Orlando on a nasty slider with the bases loaded in the sixth inning.

Rodon is now 5-0 with a 1.85 ERA since Aug. 1, a period spanning seven starts. He continues to be a bright spot in an otherwise miserable second half for the Sox.

The Sox offense did have a good showing Friday night, seven runs without the benefit of a home run. The South Siders pounded out 13 hits, and all nine players in the starting lineup either scored a run or drove in a run. Tyler Saladino continued a prolonged hot streak, as he went 3 for 4 with two RBIs.

Saturday, Sept. 10
Royals 6, White Sox 5: Can anyone explain to me why the Sox are suddenly using Chris Beck in a high-leverage role? The right-handed reliever has appeared in five of the last seven games, despite a 7.41 ERA and no real evidence of major league competency.

After a rare decent start by James Shields, Beck was summoned to protect a 4-3 lead in the seventh inning and did not get the job done. He gave up a one-out single to Christian Colon, who was pinch run for by Terrence Gore. The speedy Gore spooked the Sox bench and Beck by his mere presence on the bases. The Sox called for two consecutive pitchouts. Gore stole second base anyway, and Beck walked light-hitting Jarrod Dyson after the "brain trust" foolishly ran the count to 2-0 with the useless pitchouts.

After being issued the free pass, Dyson scored the go-ahead run on Whit Merrifield's two-run double (#typicalWhiteSoxnonsense), and Kansas City never trailed again.

The Sox were behind 6-4 going into the bottom of the ninth. They scored one run off Royals closer Wade Davis, but Jose Abreu and Justin Morneau struck out consecutively with runners at first and third, ending the comeback attempt.

Sunday, Sept. 11
Royals 2, White Sox 0: Ace Chris Sale struck out 12 and became the first Sox pitcher in 20 years to throw eight or more innings in five consecutive starts.

Didn't matter, because for all of Sale's brilliance, the rest of the team stinks.

The Royals got solo home runs from Kendrys Morales and Eric Hosmer, and starting pitcher Ian Kennedy and three Kansas City relievers combined to limit the Sox to just two hits -- both singles by Adam Eaton, one in the first and one in the ninth.

The Sox had another crack at Davis in the ninth, who allowed Eaton's second single and walked Melky Cabrera to put the potential winning run at home plate. But once again, Abreu lined out to right field and Morneau struck out swinging, allowing Kansas City to escape town with another in a long line of series wins over Chicago.

Here are some interesting splits on Sale:
Before the All-Star break: 14-3, 3.38 ERA
Since the All-Star break: 1-5, 2.82 ERA

Sale was chosen to start the All-Star game because of his strong first-half performance. He's been even better the second half, but you'd never know it based upon the won-loss statistics.