If the White Sox only win the AL Central, does that qualify as a good season?

Tim Anderson

The White Sox's performance in Tampa Bay over the weekend didn't exactly convince me that this team is bound for October glory.

Admittedly, winning one out of three on the road against the team with the best record in the American League is hardly a disaster. In fact, it was probably an expected result.

However, watching these three games, I just didn't like *how* the results unfolded in this three-game series.

The Sox made it difficult on themselves in the one game they won -- a 7-5 victory in 11 innings Friday night. They got seven quality innings from Lucas Giolito and took a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the eighth.

That's when the super bullpen that is supposed to help carry the Sox in the playoffs is supposed to appear, right? 

Nope. Not this time. Craig Kimbrel and Aaron Bummer combined to give up three runs and send the Sox into the ninth inning facing a 5-4 deficit.

That's when Tim Anderson put on his Superman cape. He homered in the top of the ninth to tie it. Then he singled in the go-ahead run in the top of the 11th and scored an insurance run to make it 7-5.

Anderson went 3 for 6 with four runs scored and basically won the game for the Sox. Great for him, but I would have preferred to see the bullpen lock up a nice, clean 4-2 win.

On Saturday, Dallas Keuchel made a start in his personal house of horrors. Lifetime at Tropicana Field, he's 0-5 with a 6.44 ERA in six starts. In this game, he gave up six runs on nine hits over five innings. He dug the Sox a 6-1 hole in an eventual 8-4 loss that was only somewhat competitive.

Keuchel's approach of throwing sinkers to induce ground balls just doesn't work on the turf in Tampa Bay. Those grounders were shooting past the Sox infielders all afternoon.

But if you thought Saturday was noncompetitive, you should have seen Sunday, when the Sox lost 9-0. Tampa Bay starter Chris Archer left after two innings with a hip injury, but four Rays relievers covered the last seven innings with astonishingly little difficulty. It took the Sox until the sixth inning to get a runner to second base.

Sox starter Reynaldo Lopez was mediocre -- he allowed three runs over four innings -- but he would have had to give up negative runs to have any chance of winning this game. It was ugly in all facets.

So, where does this series loss leave the Sox? Well, they are 72-53, still 9.5 games ahead of the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central.

Barring a historic collapse in the final 37 games of the season, the Sox will win their division and go to the playoffs. And if they do, the achievement is not insignificant -- the Sox haven't won their division since 2008.

The question is, if the Sox win the AL Central, then make a quick exit in the AL Division Series, does that still qualify as a good season? 

It seems as though that's the most likely outcome. The Sox are certainly better than the Cleveland Indians or anyone else in their division, but they would be clear underdogs in a five-game playoff series against Tampa Bay, the Houston Astros or the New York Yankees.

I mean, two or three years ago, every Sox fan would have killed for the opportunity to win the division and go to the playoffs. So, if you're happy about the way the season is going, you have every right to that joy.

But is that enough for this team? I'm going to say no. I'm not going to be happy if this team fails to win a playoff round, and it's because of the comments we've heard coming from the White Sox themselves, and others affiliated with the team.

The players, the front office, the broadcasters, they have all basically indicated that anything less than the World Series would be a disappointment. Hell, the GM said as much on the first day of spring training.

The Sox didn't hire Tony La Russa as manager to bow out in the first round of the playoffs, nor did they make a major move to acquire Kimbrel at the trade deadline to make a quick October exit.

This team expects to compete for a championship, and you cannot blame fans who hold them to that standard.

Unfortunately, the Sox are 7-15 on the road against winning teams this season, and this latest series against Tampa Bay was a kick-to-the-groin reminder that we're still waiting for the Sox to make that step forward from being a nice little team to being a legitimate title contender.

White Sox drop series finale vs. Oakland; tough road trip awaits

Andrew Vaughn

It wasn't so long ago when everyone was talking about how the White Sox own left-handed starting pitchers. But you don't hear that narrative so much anymore.

Oakland lefty Cole Irvin didn't exactly shut down the Sox on Thursday afternoon, but he did enough to pick up the victory as the Athletics salvaged the final game of a four-game series, beating the South Siders, 5-4.

Irvin went six innings, allowing three runs on seven hits. The Sox let him off the hook twice, stranding the bases loaded in both the first inning and the third inning.

Andrew Vaughn was in the middle of the action, both for good and for bad in this game. First for the good, his two-run homer in the fifth inning gave the Sox a 3-2 lead. It was Vaughn's 15th home run of the year in what has become a very respectable rookie season.

Unfortunately, Matt Chapman homered off Dylan Cease to tie the game at 3 in the sixth, and a Vaughn defensive misplay in the seventh ended up costing the Sox two runs.

In fairness to Vaughn, he's been playing outfield for most of the season. On Thursday, he started at first base to give Jose Abreu a day as a DH, and Vaughn's inexperience at the position showed.

Elvis Andrus hit a grounder to the right side of the infield to start the top of the seventh. Vaughn ranged far to his right, well away from the bag, to field the grounder. He then rushed his throw to pitcher Michael Kopech, who was racing over to cover first. The toss was errant and eluded Kopech, and Andrus reached safely.

The thing about this play ... the ball was far enough to Vaughn's right that if he had let it go, second baseman Cesar Hernandez would have made the play. The correct thing for Vaughn to do there was just go to first and wait for Hernandez to field and throw. Instead, he made a misplay. Learning experience for the rookie.

Kopech (3-2) got the next two batters out, but ultimately could not pitch over the mistake. He hung a slider to Matt Olson, who hit his 31st homer of the season to give Oakland a 5-3 lead. 

The Sox got one run back in the ninth, but Eloy Jimenez lined out to center field with the tying run on second to end the game.

The Sox are 71-51. They own a 11.5-game lead in the AL Central.

Next up, perhaps the toughest road trip of the season: three in Tampa Bay and four in Toronto.

One of the big criticisms of the Sox this season has been their inability to beat good teams. I've made that criticism myself, in fact, and the numbers say the Sox are 20-25 against teams above .500 in 2021.

But when you look a little deeper, the real issue here is the Sox's inability to beat good teams on the road. At home, the Sox have more than held their own. This series win against Oakland brings them to 13-9 against winning teams at Guaranteed Rate Field.

However, they are 7-16 on the road against winning clubs. Tampa Bay and Toronto are both winning clubs. Here's an opportunity for the Sox to answer their critics.

Reminder: Liam Hendriks is still the White Sox closer

Liam Hendriks

A closer controversy on the South Side of Chicago? Give me a break.

The White Sox closer is Liam Hendriks. And he reminded everyone of that Wednesday, retiring all five men he faced to secure a 3-2 win over the Oakland A's.

Newly acquired Craig Kimbrel was not available for Wednesday's game, and Aaron Bummer got into a jam in the top of the eighth inning.

Bummer gave up back-to-back singles with one out. Hendriks entered and cleaned up the mess, retiring Mitch Moreland on a grounder to first base and Mark Canha on a routine fly to center field.

Hendriks then had a dominant ninth inning, striking out Starling Marte, Matt Olson and Jed Lowrie in succession. That's not an easy save -- those are the 2-3-4 hitters in the Oakland batting order, and the A's are a contending club.

I've seen a lot of chatter online about Kimbrel possibly supplanting Hendriks as the Sox closer, and Hendriks did not help himself with back-to-back poor outings against the New York Yankees last week.

However, Hendriks leads the American League with 28 saves, and a couple of bad games doesn't erase four months of effective relief work.

Not to mention, the Sox are committed to Hendriks for at least three years. He chose to sign with the Sox last offseason when he could have gone elsewhere. There's a long-term commitment made by both parties there, and I think that matters. Hendriks isn't going to lose his job that easily.

There's also this: Kimbrel hasn't pitched that well since joining the Sox. He has a 4.70 ERA in 7.2 innings and eight appearances since coming over from the Cubs. I wouldn't say he's forcing the Sox's hand here.

That said, I wouldn't be surprised if Kimbrel is used in a closing opportunity if one arises Thursday. Hendriks probably isn't going to work back-to-back days after recording five outs Wednesday. But make no mistake, he's the closer.

The Sox are 71-50. They have a 12-game lead in the AL Central.

Chris Bassitt struck by line drive; White Sox trounce A's

Chris Bassitt

It's probably the scariest thing that can happen at a baseball game: The batter hits a screaming line drive right back up the middle, and the pitcher doesn't have enough time to get his glove up or get out of the way.

That happened to Oakland ace Chris Bassitt on Tuesday night at Guaranteed Rate Field. Sox outfielder Brian Goodwin's 100-mph liner struck Bassitt in the face in the bottom of the second inning.

The right-hander was bleeding profusely, and medical personnel took him off the field on a cart. Fortunately, Bassitt never lost consciousness, and he was taken to the hospital for further evaluation. After the game, Oakland manager Bob Melvin said Bassitt had suffered some cuts, and the team was awaiting word on possible fractures. Melvin added that he believed the pitcher had escaped any injury to his eye, which is good to hear.

Bassitt, 32, made his big league debut with the Sox in 2014 before being traded to Oakland as part of the Jeff Samardzija deal. He is a 12-game winner for the A's this season, and earlier this year, he was selected to the American League All-Star team for the first time.

There's no question Bassitt has turned himself into a very good pitcher. He has always spoken highly of the White Sox organization, and folks in Chicago have always had nice things to say about him. The baseball world prays that his injuries are not serious, and that his stay in the hospital will be a short one.

After that injury, the Oakland team understandably didn't show much life the rest of the game. The Sox went on to score five runs in that second inning -- two on a single by Andrew Vaughn and three on Jake Lamb's sixth home run of the season. The South Siders cruised to an easy 9-0 victory.

Jose Abreu added a 3-run homer, his 25th of the season, in the fourth inning. Abreu now has 89 RBIs and is tied for the AL lead with Boston third baseman Rafael Devers.

The Sox also got a good spot start from Reynaldo Lopez (2-0), who is temporarily taking Carlos Rodon's rotation spot. Lopez allowed only one hit over five shutout innings. He struck out four and walked two.

Relievers Ryan Burr and Mike Wright each threw two shutout innings to close out the game for the Sox. But again, Oakland was probably happy just to get this one over with after seeing what happened to Bassitt.

The Sox are 70-50 and hold an 11-game lead over Cleveland in the AL Central.

Tony La Russa wisely gives Dallas Keuchel hook after five innings

Dallas Keuchel

Dallas Keuchel has an 11.77 ERA in the sixth inning during the 2021 season. 

White Sox manager Tony La Russa finally discovered the solution for this problem: Give Keuchel the hook after five innings.

The result? A 5-2 White Sox winner over the Oakland Athletics on Monday night at Guaranteed Rate Field.

In this game, Keuchel had a hiccup in the second inning, when he gave up two runs. But he settled in after that and got through five innings with a 3-2 lead. To be honest, that's all you can expect from Keuchel at this point in his career.

The Sox bullpen has been shaky lately. Liam Hendriks got lit up twice in the last week by the New York Yankees, and Craig Kimbrel hasn't lived up to the hype since he was acquired from the Cubs.

But this time, the relief pitching was excellent. Michael Kopech worked two scoreless innings, striking out three. Kimbrel pitched out of a second-and-third, one-out jam and recorded three strikeouts in the eighth inning. Hendriks struck out the side in the ninth for his 27th save in 33 opportunities. 

Keuchel is 8-6 on the season. His ERA stands at 4.48.

Luis Robert continues to look good since returning from the injured list. He went 3 for 4 with three runs scored, a stolen base and his third home run of the season in Monday's win. He's batting .328 with an .880 OPS.

Seby Zavala went 2 for 3 with two singles, a run scored, two RBIs and a successful safety squeeze that scored Robert. 

The Sox are 69-50 this season.

Dylan Cease strikes out 11 in win over Kansas City

Dylan Cease

To this point in the season, it has been assumed that the White Sox playoff pitching rotation will include Lance Lynn, Carlos Rodon, Lucas Giolito and Dallas Keuchel, in some order.

And it has been assumed that Dylan Cease will move to the bullpen when October rolls around. 

I'm not so sure.

Cease (8-6) is pitching better than the veteran Keuchel right now, and he had one of his best outings of the season Tuesday night. The right-hander went six innings in a 7-1 win over the Kansas City Royals. He allowed no runs on one hit -- a bloop single -- with 11 strikeouts and two walks. He was absolutely overpowering.

You could say that the Royals (45-60) are a weak opponent, and you would be correct. Keuchel will get his chance Thursday to face this same Kansas City lineup, and we'll see whether he can put up six quality innings.

That has been a problem for Keuchel as of late. He made five starts in July and went 1-2 with a 6.26 ERA. Worse, he gave up nine home runs in those outings. He's going to have to show more over the final two months of the regular season for the Sox to trust him in October. 

Cease is making his case, and he kept the Royals off the board Tuesday until the Sox bats were able to break the game open late.

The Sox had only three hits off Kansas City starter Kris Bubic (3-5), but two of them were home runs. Andrew Vaughn hit a solo shot in the second inning. Tim Anderson's two-run homer followed a Seby Zavala walk in the third to give the Sox a 3-0 lead.

The score remained the same until the top of the seventh, when the Royals nicked Sox reliever Michael Kopech for a run.

But with Bubic gone after six innings, the Sox blew it open with four runs in the seventh. The inning began with four consecutive walks, the last of which gave Zavala an easy RBI. As the inning progressed, Anderson delivered an RBI single, and a two-run single by Jose Abreu put the game out of reach.

The Sox are 63-44, and they have a 9.5-game lead in the AL Central.

Eloy Jimenez is back ... but the White Sox continue to slump

Eloy Jimenez

After missing the first 99 games of the season, Eloy Jimenez was back in the White Sox lineup Monday night. 

Jimenez batted fourth and served as the designated hitter. And he went 0 for 4 and swung at some bad pitches as the Sox lost, 4-3, to the Kansas City Royals.

I'm not overly surprised that Jimenez didn't produce immediate results, nor am I particularly worried. You expect a guy who has missed that much time to struggle at the outset.

The rest of the Sox batters have no excuse, however, as they were baffled by Kansas City starter Mike Minor (8-8), who entered Monday's game with a 5.45 ERA.

Alas, Minor allowed only one hit -- a double by Adam Engel -- through the first five innings of the game. The Sox were trailing 3-0 at that point, before they finally broke through in the sixth on a two-run single by Andrew Vaughn.

The Sox have scored only eight runs during the first four games of this seven-game road trip, but it's not Vaughn's fault. He's 7 for 16 with three doubles, a home run and three RBIs in the past four games.

Monday's loss, however, was well-earned by Sox starter Dallas Keuchel. Just after the Sox got him back in the game with those two runs, he gave up a solo homer in the bottom of the sixth to Andrew Benintendi.

Keuchel also gave up two solo home runs to Jorge Soler, who entered Monday's game with a .193 batting average. Keuchel (7-4), who is known for his sinker, needs to start doing a better job of keeping the ball in the park. He is allowing 1.41 home runs per nine innings. That's the worst rate since his rookie season. His ERA is 4.32, and he looks the part of No. 5 starter at this point.

The Royals (43-55) are in fourth place in the division, but they are good at closing out games -- 36-1 when leading after eight innings this season. And they led 4-2 after eight innings in this game.

Scott Barlow worked the final two innings for his sixth save, but the Sox almost got to him in the ninth. After Jimenez popped out, Yoan Moncada doubled and scored on a single by Engel that made it 4-3.

Pinch-hitter Brian Goodwin had an atrocious call go against him -- a pitch that was both low and outside was called a strike -- but he managed to work the count full. With Engel running on the 3-2 pitch, Goodwin lined out to second base, and Engel was hung out to dry -- easily doubled off first to end the game.

The Sox (59-41) are 1-3 on the road trip and have lost four out of five overall. I guess this is why you get a big lead in the division, right? The division lead in the AL Central is 8.5 games. That's still comfortable. You'd just like to see the Sox swing the bats better against less-than-spectacular pitching.