Adam Engel foils Minnesota's defense; Sox beat Twins in series opener

Adam Engel

The White Sox have scored an American League-best 81 runs in the seventh inning or later, and that's a great habit to get into. Most of the offense has come in the form of bashing the ball off the wall or over it.

However, Adam Engel's RBI single that gave the Sox the lead in the bottom of the eighth inning of an eventual 3-1 win over the Minnesota Twins on Monday was somehow more satisfying. Maybe this particular hit felt cathartic because Engel outsmarted the Twins, and for years, it seems as though the Twins have been outsmarting the Sox.

Not on Monday. 

With the score tied 1-1 in the eighth inning, Minnesota reliever Taylor Rogers walked Yoan Moncada and Luis Robert to put runners on first and second with nobody out. Rogers is left-handed, so Sox manager Rick Renteria wisely sent Engel to the plate to pinch-hit for Nomar Mazara. 

Engel has laid down 16 sacrifice bunts in his career, so he's certainly no stranger to being asked to bunt in a situation such as this. In fact, he attempted to bunt the first pitch from Rogers and fouled it off.

However, Engel noticed that the Twins were expecting the bunt, and they put the wheel play on. For those unfamiliar, the wheel play involves having the third baseman charge hard, while the shortstop sprints from his position to cover third base, leaving the middle of the field vacant.

In a first-and-second situation, batters are taught to make the third baseman field a bunt. You don't want to bunt down the first-base line in that spot, because it's too easy for the first baseman to field the ball and sling it over to third to cut down the lead runner. 

The wheel play provides the defense with a better opportunity to cut down the lead runner at third on a bunt up the third-base line. The idea is to have the third baseman field the ball and throw it to the shortstop covering third for the force. 

As an offensive player, how do you counter the wheel play? Well, you show bunt, get the shortstop moving, and then slap a grounder through the middle of the infield for an RBI single. That's precisely the play Engel executed, and it ultimately won the Sox a critical September game.

Engel hit the ball roughly where Minnesota shortstop Jorge Polanco normally would be standing. However, Polanco had vacated his position to cover third base as part of the wheel play. With all his momentum heading toward third, he had no chance in hell to reverse course and field Engel's grounder. 

Moncada scored easily from second to make it 2-1 Sox, and moments later, Tim Anderson doubled off the fence to score Robert. 3-1 Sox, and Alex Colome made the lead stand up in the ninth inning.

It was an unbelievable win for the Sox, because the Twins probably should have scored 10 runs given all the opportunities they had. Consider these facts:

• Sox pitchers combined to walk 10 Minnesota hitters over nine innings.
• The Twins stranded 15 runners.
• The Twins left the bases loaded three times.
• The Twins went 2 for 16 with runners in scoring position.
• Sox pitchers walked Minnesota's No. 9 hitter, Ehire Adrianza, three consecutive times. Adrianza is batting .183 this season.
• Minnesota's MVP candidate, Nelson Cruz, stranded nine runners himself. He twice came to the plate with the bases loaded and failed to deliver both times. He also grounded into a double play with runners on first and third.
• Sox pitchers stupidly walked three consecutive batters in a tie game in the top of eighth inning to give Cruz a bases-loaded chance. They got away with it.

The Sox missed their share of opportunities, as well. They went 3 for 13 with runners in scoring position and stranded 12 runners. Two of the three hits came in the aforementioned bottom of the eighth inning.

Really, this might have been the most poorly pitched 3-1 game in the history of baseball. It very easily could have been 11-9, but the Sox will take it.

Going into Tuesday's play, the Sox (31-16) hold a two-game lead over the Twins (30-19) in the American League Central Division.

White Sox continue to slay bums at a ridiculous level

Jose Abreu leads baseball with 48 RBIs.

Believe it or not (and I really don't), the White Sox have the best record in the American League entering Monday's play at 30-16. How did they get there? Well, they beat the living tar out of the three least talented teams in the central part of the country -- the Detroit Tigers, the Kansas City Royals and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Sox beat the Tigers, 5-2, on Sunday at Guaranteed Rate Field to complete a three-game sweep. The South Siders concluded the season series against Detroit at 9-1, and they improved to 21-3 in 24 games against the aforementioned bottom feeders.

21-3!

With 14 games to play, the Sox are one game ahead of the Minnesota Twins (30-18) in the American League Central Division, and 4.5 games ahead of the Cleveland Indians (26-21).

While the Twins and Indians both have winning records against the second-division teams, it's clear the Sox have done a much better job of slaying bums. 

Minnesota is having a strange season. The Twins are a remarkable 21-5 at home, but 9-13 on the road -- and they've been swept in a three-game series at *both* Kansas City and Detroit this year. Minnesota is in position to potentially win the division because it has gone 7-3 against Cleveland and 4-2 against the Sox, with four games left to play in Chicago this week.

Cleveland, meanwhile, is riding a six-game losing streak. The Indians inexplicably lost the last three games of a four-game series against Kansas City last week, then got swept by the Twins over the weekend. It's not looking too good for the Tribe right now, but they aren't out of the division race yet because they have four games remaining with the Tigers and three left with the Pirates. 

The Twins have two games left with the Tigers, as well, but they are done with the Royals and Pirates. The Sox are done slaying bums for the year, as they have the Twins, the Cincinnati Reds, the Indians and the Cubs remaining on their schedule.

Here's a breakdown of how the Sox, Twins and Indians have done against the worst teams on their respective schedules:

• Sox vs. Tigers: 9-1 
• Sox vs. Royals: 9-1
• Sox vs. Pirates: 3-1
• Sox vs. all the bums: 21-3

•  Twins vs. Tigers: 4-4
• Twins vs. Royals: 5-5
• Twins vs. Pirates: 3-1
• Twins vs. all the bums: 12-10 

• Indians vs. Tigers: 4-2
• Indians vs. Royals: 5-5
• Indians vs. Pirates: 3-0
• Indians vs. all the bums: 12-7 

So, the Sox are eight games better than the Twins when it comes to slaying bums, and 6.5 games better than the Indians. Without a doubt, this is the reason the Sox are in first place.

Still on the Sox's to-do list? They need to prove they can beat the other contenders in their division before the playoffs start. That 4-8 combined record against the Twins and Indians is unsightly.

The Sox are only two weeks removed from losing two out of three to the Twins in Minnesota, a series in which the South Siders committed eight errors in three games. That was ugly.

The opportunity for redemption comes Monday through Thursday this week, and as we mentioned, the Twins are almost unbeatable at home, but are mere mortals on the road. We'll see if the Sox can turn Minnesota away and protect their slim division lead.

White Sox place Dallas Keuchel on 10-day IL, recall Reynaldo Lopez

Dallas Keuchel

The day before starting a marathon stretch of 17 games in 17 days to close the season, the White Sox put their second-best starting pitcher on the 10-day injured list.

Dallas Keuchel has done his job to this point in the season. He is 6-2 with a 2.19 ERA in nine starts, so he's brought both production on the field and leadership in the clubhouse -- just as the Sox hoped he would.

Unfortunately, he's been pitching with a balky back this year, and it locked up on him after he threw five shutout innings in his last start against the Kansas City Royals. The Sox announced earlier this week that Keuchel's turn in the rotation would be skipped during this weekend's series against the Detroit Tigers, so his landing on the IL is not a surprise. Might as well put a healthy pitcher on the active roster, right?

The Sox have said they want Keuchel to be healthy to pitch in the four-game series against the Minnesota Twins, which will be Sept. 14-17 at Guaranteed Rate Field. The IL move is retroactive to Sept. 7, which means that it is still possible for Keuchel to take the mound Sept. 17 against the Twins.

Let's hope that happens. Keuchel is among the essential pitchers if the Sox hope to make a run in October.

In the meantime, Reynaldo Lopez takes Keuchel's spot on the roster, and he's likely to get a start sometime this weekend against the Tigers. It's been a rough season for Lopez. He injured his shoulder in his first outing of the year, and he's got a 8.38 ERA over four starts. That will happen when you've allowed 22 baserunners over 9.2 innings.

Perhaps having been sent to the Sox's alternate training site in Schaumburg will serve as a wake-up call for Lopez. The right-hander has been inconsistent throughout his career, but the past two seasons, he made at least 32 starts and threw more than 180 innings for the Sox.

Coming into the year, my thinking was, at minimum, Lopez would be able to soak up some starts and some innings at the back of the rotation. Now, I wasn't sure how quality those innings would be, but I felt Lopez would at least be around to take the ball every fifth day.

Unfortunately for him and the Sox, he's been a combination of injured and horrible all season. However, there's still an opportunity for Lopez to make three or four starts the rest of the way and redeem himself. Given all the pitching injuries and all the rookies hanging around the roster, the Sox could use some contributions from Lopez, even if it's just eating up some innings so that more important pitchers can have a breather.

The White Sox are 4-0 when Dane Dunning starts

Dane Dunning

The White Sox have won all four games Dane Dunning has started this season, and the rookie right-hander got his first major league win Wednesday, as the Sox bounced back from Tuesday's debacle with an 8-1 win over the last-place Pittsburgh Pirates.

Dunning had an efficient outing. He needed only 76 pitches to get through six innings. He gave up a leadoff double two pitches into the seventh, and that ended his night. Gio Gonzalez stranded the inherited runner to keep Dunning's outing scoreless. 

His final line: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 Ks, 1 BB and 51 strikes on 78 pitches. 

Anytime a pitcher throws 65% of his pitches for strikes, we'll take it. And Dunning's outing saved the bullpen, too. Gonzalez allowed one run over two innings, and Steve Cishek mopped up in the ninth.

It was nice to see the Sox win a game without having to use Jimmy Cordero, Evan Marshall or Alex Colome.

James McCann had his first career multihomer game and totaled four RBIs. Yoan Moncada also had two hits for the second straight game. Nick Madrigal's two-out, two-run single with the bases loaded in the top of the fourth was the key hit, taking a 3-0 Sox lead to 5-0.

The Sox stand at 27-16, one game ahead of both the Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins heading into Thursday's off day.

I'm not sold on this Sox team as a legitimate contender, because I don't think their run prevention is good enough. But here's where the clear progress has occurred: They continue to kick the crap out of bad teams. 

The Sox are a combined 18-3 against the Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates. There are still three more games with the Tigers; those will be this weekend at Guaranteed Rate Field.

After that, the Twins come to Chicago, and we'll see if the Sox are able to win a series against one of their chief division rivals for the first time this year.

Going back to Dunning, his next start figures to be against Minnesota. I'm interested to see how he fares. He's proven he can slay the bums, just like the team as a whole. The biggest tests are still ahead.

White Sox manager Rick Renteria is burning up his bullpen unnecessarily

Rick Renteria

The White Sox entered Tuesday's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 99.6% chance of qualifying for the postseason.

So why is manager Rick Renteria treating every game as if it is the seventh game of the World Series?

The Sox lost, 5-4, to the last-place Pirates, but the way they got there was more concerning than the loss itself. Was it really necessary to burn through five relief pitchers to try to win this game? Not in my world.

Starter Dylan Cease got a quick hook after throwing only 79 pitches. He took a 3-2 lead into the sixth inning, and he gave up a leadoff single. That would be all. Not sure why.

Codi Heuer, pitching for the third time in the past five days, was able to finish the inning without giving up the lead.

Enter Matt Foster, who worked a 1-2-3 seventh inning. Foster was pitching for "only" the third time in the past six days, so I thought he might have another inning in him.

Nah.

Renteria needed to go to Evan Marshall, who was pitching for the fourth time in the past five games, for the eighth inning. Marshall gave up two runs to surrender a 4-2 lead and couldn't finish the inning. Ross Detwiler entered and managed to strand the go-ahead run on third base.

But Detwiler gave up two singles to start the bottom of the ninth. Enter Jimmy Cordero, who has appeared NINE TIMES in the past 12 games. A passed ball, an intentional walk and an error later, the Sox were in the loss column.

Good thing Renteria pulled Cease early to make sure the Sox won this one, huh?

The Sox have played 42 games, and Cordero has already made 21 appearances. Marshall has pitched 20 times, and Steve Cishek has pitched 18 times. All three of these men have more appearances than they do innings pitched.

And that doesn't even get into the 40-pitch outing Alex Colome had in Friday's win over Kansas City. Colome was then asked to save the game Saturday night, too, which he did, but at some point he might wear out as well.

Would it kill Renteria to let guys pitch more than one inning? Would it kill him to let a young pitcher like Cease work his way out of his own trouble for once?

The Sox are in really good shape to make the playoffs. But will the bullpen have anything left for October with this kind of usage, or overusage, as the case may be?

Forget about October. Who is going to pitch in relief Wednesday? Probably at least one or two guys who pitched Tuesday night, and that's a problem.

It's time for Renteria to back off the throttle a little bit. He's got to stop micromanaging so much, even if it means losing a few more games.

Happy Labor Day from The Baseball Kid

White Sox quiet as trade deadline passes Monday

Mike Clevinger

Major League Baseball's trade deadline passed Monday afternoon, and the White Sox made no major moves.

Sure, they tinkered on the margins of the roster, activating infielder Yolmer Sanchez and designating infielder Ryan Goins for assignment, but I don't think that's the move Sox fans had in mind.

The South Siders were rumored to be interested in starting pitchers, with Cleveland's Mike Clevinger, Texas' Lance Lynn, the Los Angeles Angels' Dylan Bundy and Arizona's Robbie Ray among the names mentioned.

As it turns out, Lynn and Bundy stayed put. Ray was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays, and Clevinger went to the San Diego Padres as part of a blockbuster nine-player swap.

Given the prospect haul the Padres gave the Indians, I do not believe the Sox could have matched that deal. And, frankly, I wouldn't have traded that much for Clevinger, who has had some injuries the past couple of seasons. I'm not convinced he is the "finishing piece" the Sox need.

I would have been interested in Lynn for the right price. The 33-year-old has a reasonably priced contract for 2021 ($8 million), and he could have helped the Sox in the middle of the rotation both this year and next. However, I was not willing to part with any of Michael Kopech, Nick Madrigal or Andrew Vaughn to acquire Lynn. If that was the asking price -- and none of us here knows that for sure -- then I believe Sox general manager Rick Hahn was right to pass.

It is somewhat disappointing the Sox didn't add to their bullpen, given the more reasonable asking prices for relievers, Aaron Bummer's status on the injured list, and the struggles we saw the Sox have over the weekend trying to bridge the gap between their starting pitchers and closer Alex Colome.

Right now, the middle reliever that Sox manager Rick Renteria seems to trust most is Evan Marshall. Beyond that, he's throwing darts, overusing Jimmy Cordero and lacking a left-handed reliever that can be used in high-leverage situations. (Garrett Crochet, anyone?)

When I saw David Phelps move from Milwaukee to Philadelphia and Archie Bradley move from Arizona to Cincinnati for reasonable prices, I thought to myself, "Damn, the Sox couldn't outbid those teams?"

Thinking back to SoxFest, we all knew at that time that the Sox had four great prospects -- Luis Robert, Madrigal, Vaughn and Kopech. But beyond that, the organizational depth was looking a little thin. I asked Hahn in January whether the Sox had enough prospect capital to swing midseason deals to patch holes in the roster for the playoff drive.

Of course, he gave a long-winded answer of "yes," but it turns out the answer was "no."

Too bad, because the Sox are certainly in good position with 25 games to play in the 60-game season. They stand at 22-13 after Monday's come-from-behind, 8-5 win over the Minnesota Twins. They lead Cleveland by one game in the AL Central. They are 2.5 games ahead of the Twins.