Jordan Luplow (who else?) sends the White Sox into second place

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The White Sox and Cleveland Indians were tied, 2-2, in the bottom of the ninth inning Wednesday.

There was one out, nobody on base, and Sox left-hander Gio Gonzalez was behind in the count, 3-0, to noted Sox killer and lefty masher Jordan Luplow.

I said to my girlfriend, "He better not lay one in here, because he's going to be swinging." Half a heartbeat after the words left my mouth, the Indians were 3-2 winners, and the Sox are in second place after their fourth consecutive loss.

Gonzalez tossed a 90.7 mph fastball over the heart of home plate. Luplow hit a no-doubter to left field. 

Why I knew he was swinging and the Sox did not, I'm not sure. Cleveland manager Terry Francona is not with the team because of health problems, but his influence remains -- Francona has always been a proponent of swinging at 3-0 pitches, dating back to his days in Boston. You have to be aware of that as an opponent.

And Gonzalez is just the sort of pitcher who keeps Luplow in the majors. Take a look at Luplow's career splits:

vs. LHP: .278/.384/.601

vs. RHP: .193/.278/.313

So, you're talking about nearly 400 points of OPS, .985 against lefties and .591 against righties. Eighteen of Luplow's 23 career homers have come against left-handed pitchers. That's a dangerous situation for Gonzalez, and being the veteran he is, he should have known better than to give in.

And, oh yeah, seven of those 23 home runs have come against the Sox. Both of Luplow's homers this year have come against Chicago. Enough of this guy, already.

It's too bad the Sox lost this one, because Lucas Giolito had a good outing. He worked six innings with 11 strikeouts and limited Cleveland to two runs. He came pretty close to matching Indians ace Shane Bieber, who gave up one run over five innings.

Garrett Crochet pitched on back-to-back days for the first time in his career, and he worked a spotless seventh inning with two strikeouts. Codi Heuer delivered a scoreless eighth, pitching around a Nick Madrigal error. I was impressed that Heuer was effective after pitching two innings in Tuesday's game.

These two rookie relievers have earned the right to pitch in high-leverage spots in the playoffs next week. That's the one positive we can pull from this stretch of bad ball that has seen the Sox drop five out of six and fall a half-game behind the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central.

Sox hitters were limited to four hits Wednesday. One was a triple by Yoan Moncada, who scored on a sacrifice fly by Jose Abreu to tie the game at 2 in the eighth inning. But even with that triple, Moncada has two hits in his last 33 at-bats.

And Luis Robert is now 0-for-his-last-28 with 15 strikeouts. James McCann was 0 for 4 with four strikeouts in this game. He is 6 for 37 with 15 strikeouts in September.

Cold bats all around.

Quit the World Series talk; the White Sox need to find a way to win a game

There's a headline on whitesox.com right now that reads, "White Sox vision: Win the whole thing." 

Good grief. 

Cleveland's offense stinks, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. The Sox are the best team in the AL Central, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. The Sox are legitimate championship contenders right now, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Just shut up. 

The Sox have won absolutely nothing so far, and I'm not convinced they will win anything. They've now lost four out of five games since they clinched a postseason bid last Thursday, and they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory Tuesday.

The Sox were one strike away from a 3-2 win against the Indians, but instead, Jose Ramirez hit a three-run homer off Jose Ruiz to lift the Indians to a 5-3 victory over the Sox in 10 innings.

Yes, you read that right. Ruiz, the 14th man on a 14-man pitching staff, a fringe player who has been at the alternate site in Schaumburg for most of the season, was the reliever summoned to try to get out Cleveland's best hitter with the AL Central title possibly at stake.

To the surprise of nobody, Ramirez launched a center-cut 2-2 fastball into the seats in right-center field to end the game.

If the Sox close that out, the Indians are five games out with five to go, and you could basically leave them for dead. Instead, they are three games out, and they have their two best pitchers -- Shane Bieber and Zach Plesac -- set to go against the Sox the next two days. We better hope Lucas Giolito and Dallas Keuchel can match them, or else the Indians will be within one with three to play by the time Thursday night rolls around.

Did we mention the Indians close the season with three games against the MLB-worst Pittsburgh Pirates?

Yes, Cleveland is still very much alive in the division race, and the Sox have nobody to blame but themselves. The Sox also have destiny in their own hands. They really just need to win one of the next two to turn the Indians away.

How about focusing on that instead of the World Series, boys?

And, oh yeah, the Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers, 5-4, on Tuesday night. That means the second-place Twins are only a half-game behind now. 

The Sox could be out of first place by Wednesday evening if they can't find a win against Bieber, the AL's best pitcher. 

What a mess. The Sox have played themselves into a dangerous position. Typical of this stupid organization that talks a much better game than it plays. 

Cleveland's offense is considered bad, but the White Sox couldn't stop them

Jose Ramirez

There's been a lot of discussion this season about how bad the Cleveland Indians' batting order is. And it's true that they've been held to three runs or less in 25 of their 54 games.

However, the White Sox couldn't slow them down Monday in a 7-4 loss. My take on Cleveland's lineup? They've got three guys who are dangerous, and those three guys combined to hurt the Sox in this game.

Jose Ramirez is one of those three guys, and he hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning on a 3-1 fastball from Dane Dunning to give the Indians a 3-0 lead. Earlier in the inning, Francisco Lindor (another one of the three guys you worry about) and Cesar Hernandez had singled.

Hernandez added an RBI single in the second to make it 4-0.

The Sox fought back to tie it at 4 with four two-out runs in the top of the fifth. Jose Abreu's two-run single made it 4-2. Abreu now has 55 RBIs in 54 games. Eloy Jimenez followed with a two-run homer to even the score.

Jace Fry relieved Dunning in the bottom of the inning, but he could not provide the shutdown inning the Sox were looking for. He walked Ramirez with one out, then gave up a two-run homer to Carlos Santana -- the third dangerous guy in the Cleveland order.

Santana is only batting .194 this year, but he's hit some big home runs against the Sox in the past, and I've learned to never sleep on him. On Monday, he gave the Indians a 6-4 lead, and that advantage stuck for the rest of the game. The Indians tacked on a run in the seventh to go up three.

The Sox got two runners on in the top of the ninth, so they got the tying run to the plate. And they didn't have bad hitters up there with a chance to tie. However, both James McCann and Abreu struck out looking to end the game against Cleveland closer Brad Hand.

The good vibes from last Thursday when the Sox clinched a postseason bid have faded a bit, as the club has lost three out of four and looked bad doing it. Their three-game lead in the division has been reduced to 1.5 games over the Minnesota Twins, who were idle Monday. Third-place Cleveland trails by four games.

Destiny remains in the Sox's hands. There are six games left, and a 4-2 record would win the division. It's very doable, but you gotta win one before you can win four.

White Sox lose two of three to Cincinnati Reds; AL Central lead at 2 with 7 to play

Dylan Cease

White Sox pitchers Dylan Cease and Ross Detwiler combined to pitch one of the worst innings I've seen at the big-league level in a long, long time Sunday.

The Cincinnati Reds scored five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning -- on six walks, a hit batsmen and a ground ball that found its way through a shifted infield. Talk about gift-wrapping a game. The Reds went on to win 7-3 and took two out of three in the weekend series.

Meanwhile, the Minnesota Twins took two out of three from the Cubs at Wrigley Field. That means the Sox's lead in the American League Central Division stands at two games with seven to play. Their magic number to clinch the division is four.

Probably the best thing to do would be to just go 4-3 in the remaining seven and not worry about the Twins, right? But the Sox will need to play better than they did this weekend. Let's take a look back at this series with the Reds:

Friday, Sept. 18

Reds 7, White Sox 1: Jonathan Stiever survived his first major-league start against the Detroit Tigers in decent shape, but he got lit up in his outing Friday against the Reds. He lasted only 2.2 innings and gave up six earned runs on five hits. He allowed four home runs, including three in a five-run third inning. 

Stiever had never pitched above High-A before this year, so struggles are to be expected. However, I'm a little concerned about his health. Reports last season had his fastball touching 95 or 96 mph. But after a forearm strain limited him in spring training during March, he doesn't seem to be back to that peak velocity. I'm seeing a lot of 91 and 92 mph fastballs.

The Sox managed only four hits Friday night, so it was a lackluster, day-after-clinching-the-playoffs sort of effort. One bright spot: 2020 first-round draft pick Garrett Crochet worked a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts in his big-league debut. His fastball touched 101 mph and showed good life. 

Saturday, Sept. 19

White Sox 5, Reds 0: Stiever was optioned back to the alternate training site after his rough outing Friday, so that Dallas Keuchel could be activated from the 10-day injured list and make the start. 

It was a weird outing for Keuchel. He went four scoreless innings with seven strikeouts, which is good, but he didn't get a single groundball out. Not what you normally see from the game's most extreme sinkerballer. Keuchel uncharacteristically walked three, too, but that could be chalked up to rust. At least he got up to 75 pitches. At least he got through the outing without a recurrence of his back problem, and he'll get one more start Thursday to tune up for the postseason.

The Sox hit five solo homers to win this one. Nomar Mazara hit his first dinger of the season in the fifth off Trevor Bauer. Tim Anderson also homered in the fifth. In the eighth, Anderson, Yasmani Grandal and Jose Abreu hit back-to-back-to-back homers off Robert Stephenson to put the game out of reach.

Four relievers cleaned up the last five innings after Keuchel left. Matt Foster (5-0) retired all six men he faced with two strikeouts to earn the victory.

Sunday, Sept. 20

Reds 7, White Sox 3: Cease, Detwiler and Steve Cishek combined to walk 11 batters and hit three others in this game -- and that was just the first five innings. Meanwhile, Sox batters struck out 14 times. It was so terrible to watch that I don't really want to talk about it.

It was 7-3, but it felt like 13-3. Let's just flush it down the toilet and move on.

Up next for the Sox: a four-game series in Cleveland starting Monday night. The Indians are five games out in the AL Central, so they are still in the hunt and looking to move up the standings. It should be a playoff-level series, and the hope is the Sox got all their bad play out of their system Sunday in Cincinnati.

White Sox clinch first postseason trip since 2008

Eloy Jimenez

Was Thursday the biggest win for the White Sox since the Blackout Game in 2008? You can make the case. Thursday's 4-3 victory over Minnesota sends the Sox to the playoffs for the first time since, well, 2008. 

And there's a huge difference between a three-game lead or a one-game lead in the American League Central Division with 10 games to play. The Sox have that three-game cushion over the Twins now as a result of Thursday's win.

Three times, the Twins took the lead with solo home runs, and three times, the Sox came back. The South Siders scored two runs after two men were out in the bottom of the seventh inning, with Jose Abreu hustling to beat out an infield single to tie the game, and Eloy Jimenez delivering an RBI double to put the Sox ahead to stay.

While Minnesota relievers Tyler Clippard and Sergio Romo failed to get the job done, Codi Heuer and Alex Colome slammed the door for the Sox. Heuer recorded five outs -- three on strikeouts -- to earn the win and improve to 3-0. Colome got four outs for his 12th save in 13 chances.

Abreu increased his MVP chances by going 2 for 3 with his 17th home run of the season and two more RBIs. He now has 51 RBIs in only 50 games. Edwin Encarnacion also homered for the Sox.

And I would be remiss if I didn't give some credit to Sox starter Reynaldo Lopez. He gave up three solo homers, two to Byron Buxton and one to Josh Donaldson, over 5.1 innings. But the key word there is "solo." Lopez struck out six and walked only one. He has a habit of pitching himself into trouble with free passes, but that did not happen Thursday.

Sure, nobody likes to give up home runs, but if they're solo shots, it's not the end of the world. Those home runs did not beat Lopez, nor did they beat the Sox. Given that Lopez was 1-6 with a 6.44 ERA lifetime against the Twins, I was not optimistic coming into his outing Thursday. But he did his job well enough. No complaints.

Next up for the Sox is a three-game road series against the Cincinnati Reds. The Twins are headed 8 miles north to play the Cubs. It will be strange to cheer for the Cubs this weekend, but the truth is, the Sox have their fate in their own hands. They don't need any help. They've got a playoff spot in hand, and they can win the division if they simply win the majority of their remaining 10 games.

Can any left-handed batter on the White Sox get a hit this week?

Yasmani Grandal

The White Sox missed an opportunity to put some distance between themselves and the Minnesota Twins in the American League Central Division race on Wednesday.

Chicago's ace, Lucas Giolito, had a mediocre outing, allowing three earned runs over six innings, and the Sox managed only two hits in a 5-1 loss to Minnesota.

The Sox (32-17) could have increased their division lead to four games, but instead, the Twins (31-20) are within two games of the lead with 11 games to play. The fourth and final game of this series is at 1 p.m. Thursday.

Giolito gave up a solo home run to Eddie Rosario in the second inning, and a two-run homer to Byron Buxton in the fourth. Miguel Sano tacked on a two-run homer for the Twins in the eighth off Matt Foster.

Jose Abreu's home run in the fourth accounted for the only Sox run. Aside from that, the South Siders managed only a leadoff single from Tim Anderson in the first inning.

But here's what bothers me about the Sox offense right now: They have gotten nothing from the guys who swing from the left side of the plate -- Nomar Mazara and switch hitters Yasmani Grandal and Yoan Moncada.

We all know the Sox are undefeated against left-handed starters this year, so the Twins are wisely stacking up right-handed starters in this four-game series. We can't say that strategy has worked, because the Sox have won two of the first three. However, they've done it solely with contributions from right-handed hitters.

Here's how the lefty and switch hitters have fared through the first three games:

Grandal: 0 for 11, 4 Ks, 1 BB, 1 run scored

Moncada: 0 for 9, 4 Ks, 3 BBs, 2 runs scored

Mazara: 0 for 6, 2 Ks

Thank goodness for those walks, huh? That's 0 for 26 with 10 strikeouts.

The Twins will throw their best right-handed starter at the Sox on Thursday, Kenta Maeda (5-1, 2.43 ERA). The Sox will counter with Reynaldo Lopez (1-2, 5.52 ERA). 

Maeda has been tough on right-handed batters throughout his career, holding them to a .194/.244/.333 slash line. He's been even more effective this season. Right-handers are slashing .127/.138/.241 against him.

Lefties have fared better: .179/.238/.308 this season, and .250/.322/.424 career.

In other words, it would really help the Sox to get something out of Grandal, Moncada or Mazara on Thursday.

Dane Dunning should be No. 3 starter for White Sox in playoffs

Dane Dunning

With a 32-16 record with only 12 games left to play, we know the White Sox will make the American League playoffs in 2020. And we know that, ideally, Lucas Giolito and Dallas Keuchel will start Games 1 and 2 of the postseason.

But what about that No. 3 starter? It has to be either Dylan Cease or Dane Dunning, and I looked at these first two games against the Minnesota Twins this week as a huge test for these two young starters. Here's how they fared:

Cease on Monday: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 Ks, 5 BBs, 99 pitches, 58 strikes

Dunning on Tuesday: 7 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 7 Ks, 2 BBs, 102 pitches, 62 strikes -- WIN

Dunning improved to 2-0 as the Sox beat the Twins, 6-2, and I think he clearly showed he is the young pitcher most prepared to start a playoff game at this time.

It wasn't that Cease was terrible. He pitched into and out of trouble. He didn't get blown up, and he kept the Sox close in a game the team ultimately won. But his inefficiency created a situation where the bullpen needed to cover 13 outs.

Dunning, in contrast, did not walk people. He used an economy of pitches, and he left the bullpen with only six outs to cover. His slider is getting swings and misses, his fastball command is good, and I'm not seeing any signs that this is a fluke.

Maybe we shouldn't be surprised. Dunning had made four previous starts -- all Sox wins -- and he had a 2.70 ERA, a 1.00 WHIP and 31 strikeouts against only three walks in 20 innings. However, those games were against the Detroit Tigers, the Kansas City Royals (twice) and the Pittsburgh Pirates -- all bad teams.

The Twins were Dunning's first big test, and he passed it with flying colors.

The Sox now possess a three-game lead over the Twins in the American League Central entering Wednesday's play. The Cleveland Indians have fallen six games behind. They dropped their seventh straight game Tuesday night, losing 6-5 to the Cubs.