Remember when Mike Trout got called up late in the season?

Mike Trout

Here is some food for thought for the "7 > 6" segment of the White Sox fan base -- those folks who apparently believe manipulating service time and not calling up Luis Robert in September is a stroke of genius.

Remember when the Los Angeles Angels called up Mike Trout late in the season? I'll bet you don't, because he did make much of an impression.

Trout played in 40 games and had 123 at-bats at the tail end of the 2011 season. He batted .220/.281/.390 with only five home runs and 16 RBIs. He struck out 30 times and generally took his lumps.

But you know what happened the next year? Trout learned from the ass-kicking he received in 2011 and came back strong in 2012. He won the American League Rookie of the Year, batting .326/.399/.564 with 30 home runs, 83 RBIs, a league-best 49 stolen bases and a league-best 129 runs scored.

Trout made the All-Star team that year, something he's now done for eight consecutive years. Do you suppose Trout learned anything from those 123 struggling at-bats in 2011? I'm going to go out on a limb and guess he did.

This does not mean Robert will become Trout, but I think this example is just one that defeats the whole notion of "Robert won't learn anything if you call him up for 30 games in September."

Really? Who says?

If Robert were to be called up (he won't), I wouldn't even care if he struggled, because it would teach him what he needed to do in order to hit the ground running for the 2020 season.

Unfortunately, the Sox are going to sit on their hands and make Robert go through struggles next season, much the same way they sat on their hands last year and made Eloy Jimenez go through struggles this season.

This will kick the rebuild can down the road another year, and we'll have to listen to another year of general manager Rick Hahn's crap about "patience." After seven consecutive losing seasons and 11 years with no playoffs, I've waited long enough, thank you very much.

We all know the main reason the Sox will stash Robert in the minors is so they keep the extra year of service time, which means they don't have to pay him until after the 2026 season.

As a fan, I don't know why I should care about 83-year-old Jerry Reinsdorf's 2026 payroll. In fact, I don't care about Reinsdorf at all. He has more money than I'll ever see in my life.

What I do care about is the Sox putting good players on the field, and winning more baseball games than they lose for a change. Sadly, I don't see it happening anytime soon.

The front office's defenders tell me I'll be "happy" about all this in 2026 when Robert is still on the team.

But, here's the thing: If Robert is called up now, why does that mean he won't be on the team in 2026?

You know who Mike Trout plays for? He's still with the Angels. You want to know why? It's because the Angels' ownership group paid Trout fair market value -- before he ever reached free agency. Trout is the best player in the sport, and he's paid as the best player in the sport. There was never any thought that Trout would leave the Angels, because the team showed him the respect he has earned.

See how that works. That's how it is supposed to work, no?

If Robert does what all Sox fans hope he will do, eventually the team will have to pay him. And they should pay him. What do I care if that day comes in 2026 or 2027?

Most of the rebuild proponents seem thoroughly convinced that the Sox will be contending for the World Series by 2021. (Wishful thinking, if the organization is going to continue to bury talented players in the minors, draft poorly and not spend on the best free agents.)

But if the Sox truly do have a championship window from 2021-25, there should be more than enough revenues to keep the players who brought the city and the fan base those hypothetical championships.

It's time to stop defending these lame strategies by the Sox front office. Remember, Yoan Moncada and Lucas Giolito only have four years left of team control after this.

The clock is already ticking, whether we like it or not.

Series sweep by Twins shows the White Sox aren't close to contention

Is anyone else glad they missed Thursday afternoon's game because they were at work? Because I sure am.

The Minnesota Twins have outscored the White Sox, 110-51, in the 16 meetings between the two teams this season. In that context, it's a miracle the Sox have won five of 16.

However, none of those five wins came this week at Guaranteed Rate Field, as the Twins left town with an emphatic three-game sweep.

Poor defense by Tim Anderson, the inability of Ross Detwiler to pitch over that poor defense and garbage relief pitching by Jace Fry led to an 8-2 loss Wednesday night.

Thursday was arguably worse, as Dylan Cease (3-7) wasted no time in erasing the optimism his previous start against the Texas Rangers generated.

Cease allowed hits to the first five batters he faced, and six of the first seven, putting the Sox in a 4-0 hole before they had a chance to bat. The rookie right-hander gave up two more runs in the second inning and allowed two solo home runs to start the third inning before mercifully being removed from the game, which ended in a 10-5 Twins victory.

Final line on Cease: 2 IP, 10 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 3 Ks, 1 BB.

His season ERA now stands at 6.92. Ugh. This is reminiscent of the first halves we saw from Reynaldo Lopez and Ivan Nova.

In this series, Lucas Giolito was the only Sox pitcher who seemed capable of retiring Minnesota batters. And even he lost, because he gave up two runs on a night when the Sox could only muster one.

The Twins are the leaders in the AL Central with a 82-51 record, and they have proven beyond any shadow of a doubt that they are significantly better than the Sox.

The gap is so wide, in fact, that it's hard to see the Sox making up the difference in just one offseason. I would go as far as to say general manager Rick Hahn needs not one but two big offseasons to get this team into contention by 2021. This Chicago roster has holes in it like Swiss cheese.

Frankly, I think the Sox have overachieved at 60-73. They have benefited from having two even more dismal teams in their division -- the Kansas City Royals (47-88) and the Detroit Tigers (39-92). Not that Minnesota doesn't benefit from playing those teams, too. They clearly do, but the 22-game edge they own on the Sox, and the run differential in head-to-head meetings, doesn't lie.

And let's not forget the Sox are 48-0 when leading after eight innings this year. That's great, but it's probably not going to be duplicated next season. You have to assume there will be more blown leads in 2020, just because of the law of averages in baseball. The Sox bullpen is protecting leads with ridiculously good efficiency, and as nice as that is, it can fool us into believing the team is closer than it really is.

Looking at the 25-man roster, you've got eight to 10 players who belong with the Sox. The rest of the group needs to be overhauled, and not all of that is going to come from within.

Hahn is going to need to pull a rabbit out of his hat to make the optimists in the fan base correct in their belief that the contention window opens next year.

White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito records 200th strikeout of the season

It's remarkable that right-hander Lucas Giolito has 14 wins in 26 starts this season, pitching for yet another terrible White Sox team.

Giolito's record dropped to 14-7 with a 3-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night, but very little of the blame for this defeat falls on him.

Sure, Giolito failed to duplicate the three-hit shutout he tossed against the Twins on Aug. 21 in Minneapolis, but his line in this latest start was still quite good. He went six innings, allowing two earned runs on only four hits. He struck out nine and walked three.

Giolito did give up two home runs in the second inning, one on a high fastball to Marwin Gonzalez and the other on a hanging slider to Jonathan Schoop. However, two runs allowed over six innings is good enough to win a lot of nights -- just not this night.

The Sox offense managed six hits -- five of them singles -- against Minnesota starter Michael Pineda (10-5) and four Twins relievers. A solo home run by Tim Anderson, his 14th of the season, provided the only run the Sox could muster.

So, Giolito suffered the loss despite pitching well, but on the bright side, he added his name to a short list of Sox pitchers who have recorded 200 or more strikeouts in a season. His strikeout total for 2019 now stands at 203 after Tuesday night.

Here are the other Sox hurlers to achieve this milestone:

Ed Walsh (1907-08, 1910-12)
Gary Peters (1964, 1967)
Wilbur Wood (1971)
Tom Bradley (1972)
Alex Fernandez (1996)
Esteban Loaiza (2003)
Javier Vazquez (2007-08)
Chris Sale (2013-16)

Giolito's accomplishment is remarkable when you consider he had only 125 strikeouts last season in 173.1 innings. This season, he's at 203 strikeouts in 157.2 innings.

This is just the latest benchmark that shows Giolito is perhaps the most improved player in all of baseball in 2019. Can you think of another player in the game who has taken this big of a step forward? I can't.

Some photos from my recent trip to PNC Park in Pittsburgh

Hadn't had the chance to write about it until now, but we stopped in Pittsburgh on our way back from Cooperstown in July, and we took in a Pirates game at PNC Park on July 25.

The Cardinals beat the Pirates, 6-3, and we came away impressed with the ballpark experience there. They did it right when they built that place, and it was a good value too.

I got pretty good seats for $20 a ticket, and each ticket came with $10 "loaded" onto it for concessions. When I bought my lunch, the price was $13.50. I presented my ticket, and they took $10 off and charged me $3.50.

Good deal, huh?

We went to a game on a Thursday afternoon, but we got there the Wednesday night before. There was a night game going on, and it's awesome that you can see into the ballpark from the other side of the river.

Just for proof that I was actually there, here I am.

They have a really large statue of Willie Stargell outside one of the gates.

And, of course, the great Roberto Clemente also is honored with a statue.

Here's the view from behind home plate, with the skyline of Pittsburgh out beyond the right-field wall.

As I said, pretty good seats for $20.

One more shot that I took from my seat at the game. Nice view of the city, great sightlines, friendly people, reasonable prices ... if you have a chance to take in a game in Pittsburgh, I would recommend it.

White Sox take three out of four from Texas Rangers

Yoan Moncada

The White Sox need two victories this week to clinch a winning month, as they improved to 14-11 in August by taking three games out of four from the Texas Rangers over the weekend at Guaranteed Rate Field.

The series featured Yoan Moncada's return to the Sox lineup -- and effective starting pitching from Sox hurlers not named Lucas Giolito, whose turn in the rotation did not come up.

The Sox (60-70) will have an off day Monday before continuing the homestand Tuesday, when they open a three-game series against the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins. But here's a look back at the Texas series:

Thursday, Aug. 22
White Sox 6, Rangers 1: Moncada rejoined the Sox and went 2 for 4 with a two-run homer and a double. The home run highlighted a four-run third inning, which also featured a solo shot by James McCann and a RBI single by Tim Anderson.

Left-hander Ross Detwiler (2-3) had his best outing as a member of the Sox, if not the best outing of his career. He struck out a career-high eight over six innings, allowing only one run on three hits. He did not walk a batter. Sox relievers Jimmy Cordero and Kelvin Herrera combined for three innings of hitless, scoreless relief.

It was a weird night for Texas starter Ariel Jurado (6-10), who tossed a complete game but also got knocked around for six runs on 10 hits.

Friday, Aug. 23
White Sox 8, Rangers 3: Will we look back on this as the night when Dylan Cease turned the corner? We can only hope. Cease (3-6) got off to a terrible start, giving up a 3-run homer to Willie Calhoun in the first inning. But the Sox rookie gave up nothing after that. He pitched six innings, striking out nine and walking only one.

The Sox got to Lance Lynn (14-9), who has been one of the better pitchers in the league -- just not on this night. Lynn surrendered seven runs on 11 hits over 5.2 innings. He did strike out 10, but he took the loss.

Moncada once again was 2 for 4 with a two-run homer and a double. Anderson, Leury Garcia and Jon Jay also had multi-hit games. Eight of the nine players in the Sox lineup had at least one hit.

The Sox bullpen, again, was spotless over three innings. Evan Marshall, Aaron Bummer and Alex Colome combined for four strikeouts and no hits or walks allowed.

Saturday, Aug. 24
Rangers 4, White Sox 0: This is the Sox, so there has got to be one clunker in every bunch, right?

Sox starter Ivan Nova (9-10) cruised through five innings, but Anderson booted a grounder off the bat of Elvis Andrus with one out in the sixth, and moments later, Calhoun homered into the right-field stands to put the Rangers up 2-0. Danny Santana added a two-run homer off Cordero in the seventh, and that was that.

The Sox managed eight hits off Kolby Allard (2-0) and two Texas relievers, but seven of them were singles. Ryan Goins doubled with two outs in the ninth for the Sox's lone extra-base hit of the game.

Sox batters finished 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

Sunday, Aug. 25
White Sox 2, Rangers 0: It's too bad Reynaldo Lopez (8-11) had to leave this game after five innings with dehydration and flu-like symptoms. He allowed no hits and struck out six while tossing 80 pitches during his outing.

Fortunately, the Sox bullpen covered four innings and finished off a one-hitter. Bummer, Marshall, Jace Fry and Colome each worked a scoreless inning, with Colome earning his 25th save in 26 chances.

Jose Abreu reached 100 RBIs for the fifth time in his six seasons with the Sox. He knocked in both Chicago runs, one with an RBI single in the third, and the other on a fielder's choice in the seventh.

Sox batters couldn't do much with Texas rookie left-hander Brock Burke (0-1), who allowed only one run over six innings. But much like Nova on Saturday night, Burke forgot to throw a shutout and ended up getting beat.

White Sox reinstate Yoan Moncada from injured list

White Sox third baseman Yoan Moncada was reinstated from the injured list Thursday before the South Siders opened a four-game weekend series with the Texas Rangers at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Moncada, who has been on the injured list since Aug. 1 with a strained right hamstring, played five rehab games with Triple-A Charlotte. He went 9 for 22 with two home runs, a double, six runs scored and six RBIs.

Based on those numbers, there's no reason to think he isn't ready. Hopefully, the Sox lineup won't look so anemic now, because Moncada has been the best position player on the team this season.

He's hitting .301/.358/.535 with 20 home runs, 59 RBIs, 21 doubles, three triples, 58 runs scored and seven stolen bases in 97 games. What are the odds he finishes the season with a .300-plus batting average? Not sure, but the fact that he has a chance to do that is amazing given the struggles we saw from him in 2018.

To make room on the roster for Moncada, the Sox optioned outfielder Ryan Cordell to Triple-A Charlotte.

Cordell is hitting .227/.284/.356 this season with six home runs, seven doubles and 20 RBIs in 81 games. I feel as though I've seen enough of Cordell to confidently say he is not a major-league player moving forward, but somehow, I sense that we'll see him back on the South Side when rosters expand in September.

It would be nice if Moncada had brought Luis Robert along with him from Charlotte, but that's not how the Sox roll. We're likely to see more of guys such as Cordell, Daniel Palka and Dylan Covey down the stretch.

It was a bad day for the 'Lucas Giolito can't beat good teams' crowd

The Minnesota Twins had scored 84 runs in their first 12 games against the Sox this season -- that's an average of almost 7.5 per game -- so shutting them out is quite a feat.

Lucas Giolito was the man to do it Wednesday, as he turned in one of his best performances of the season. He improved to 14-6 with a complete-game, three-hit shutout as the Sox beat the Twins, 4-0, to secure a series win.

Giolito struck out 12 and walked nobody, and his performance came the afternoon after the Sox got crunched, 14-4, by Minnesota on Tuesday night.

It was Giolito's third complete game and second shutout of the season, and both shutouts have come against division-leading teams (Houston and Minnesota). It's odd that I still see comments on social media claiming that Giolito "can't beat good teams."

I'm pretty sure that stems from two of Giolito's six losses being against the Cubs, but if you look at his numbers carefully, you'll see that both of his starts against the North Siders just happened to occur during his roughest stretch of the season -- a period during which he was bad against almost everybody.

Let's take a look at Giolito's numbers:

Before June 15: 10-1, 2.22 ERA in 13 starts
From June 15 to July 25: 1-4, 6.38 ERA in 7 starts (including two vs. the Cubs)
Since July 25: 3-1, 2.12 ERA in 5 starts

Yes, Giolito had a cold streak, but now he's hot again. He's struck out 11 or more men in each of his past three starts, totaling 36 strikeouts against only four walks over 21 innings.

Who have those starts come against? Oakland, the L.A. Angels and Minnesota. The A's and Twins would be playoff teams if the season ended today. The Angels were three games below .500 entering Wednesday's play, so they are neither great nor terrible, but they do have the best player on the planet in Mike Trout.

So, I would say Giolito is good against everybody right now. He's not just bum-slaying. He's got two wins over the Yankees, two wins over the Twins and a win over the Astros this season.

He's good, and I'm optimistic that this breakout is for real. The Sox are 16-9 when Giolito pitches, and this is a team that is 57-69 overall. What does that tell you?

Trivia time at the National Baseball Hall of Fame

So, I might have mentioned in a previous post that I played a trivia game at the Hall of Fame.

Here's how it worked: There was an auditorium of people at the Hall in Cooperstown, N.Y. -- the room was maybe 40 percent full -- and the first person to answer a trivia question was invited down "into the hot seat" to play the game.

The first question thrown out to the audience was, "Who was the Orioles starting pitcher the day Cal Ripken Jr. broke Lou Gehrig's consecutive games streak?" I correctly answered "Mike Mussina," and into the hot seat I went.

I was asked to pick a partner, and my girlfriend, Jen, did not want to play. So I asked for a volunteer, and fortunately, a Dodgers fan who really knew his stuff said he would join me.

The game consisted of nine "innings," each featuring one multiple choice question. As the innings progress, the question get increasingly difficult.

The question you see in the picture is the "first inning," and as you can see, that one was a layup. We answered easily. It obviously got more difficult. The toughest question I answered was, "Name the only player in baseball history to go 7 for 7 in a nine-inning game."

The answer is Rennie Stennett, but it was tricky, because the other choices were great players, such as Wade Boggs. You may think a player such as Boggs would have had seven hits in a game at one point, but he did not. Stennett did Sept. 16, 1975, against the Cubs, despite his modest .274 career batting average and .665 career OPS.

At any rate, this Dodgers fan and I advanced to the eighth inning before we got tripped up. We did not know who holds the record for most doubles in a single season. We thought it was Joe Medwick. It was Earl Webb, who had 67 doubles in 1931.

It's too bad, because we would have won had we gotten that question right. The "ninth inning" question was about the 1959 World Series, which was White Sox vs. Dodgers. Both the White Sox fan (me) and the Dodgers fan (my playing partner) knew that Larry Sherry had won two games and saved two games for Los Angeles in that six-game series.

I collected my parting gift, a program from the 2019 Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

There were two other people who got to play after me. A father-and-son combination, both of whom were Mets fans, made it through all nine innings and won the big prize -- a bat autographed by the 2019 Hall class. Had I had the same group of questions, I would have won -- I knew all nine that they correctly answered.

The third pairing was a couple of Yankees fans, and they lost in the fifth inning because they did not know that John Wathan owns the single-season record for stolen bases by a catcher.

At least they did a lot worse than me.

Ivan Nova is pitching well, but let's not get hasty here

Ivan Nova

Let's start by giving credit where credit is due. While I'm not an Ivan Nova fan, the man is pitching extremely well for the White Sox.

Over Nova's past six starts, he's 5-0 with a 0.85 ERA. He allowed only four earned runs over 42.1 innings, and he's doing more than just bum-slaying, too.

Sure, he has beaten the lowly Miami Marlins and Detroit Tigers during this stretch. But he's also beaten the AL West-leading Houston Astros and the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins -- twice.

Nova bent but did not crumble Monday night. He allowed two runs on 10 hits over 5.1 innings vs. Minnesota, but he did enough to earn the win as the Sox defeated the Twins, 6-4.

The South Siders broke a seven-game losing streak at Target Field, winning there for the first time since Aug. 20, 2018.

There's no question Nova deserves praise for a strong second half, but I'm starting to hear rumblings from some fans and media that the Sox should consider bringing him back for 2020.

Let's not get hasty here.

Nova is 9-9 with a 4.47 ERA over his 26 starts this season. Those numbers are an accurate reflection of who he is: He's a league-average starter at best; he's a back-end guy at best on a contending team. His career ERA is 4.28.

We all need to understand Nova is better than the guy who had a 6.01 ERA on June 18, yes, but he's also not as good as the guy who we've seen over the past six starts. There's a long-term track record established that tells the tale.

Is he really the "veteran presence" to fill out the 2020 rotation? Keep in mind that Nova will be entering his age-33 season. Shouldn't the Sox be aiming higher?

While Gerrit Cole is likely a pipe dream, the Sox should make a run at him. If Cole is out of reach, the market still has several pitchers better than Nova. Why not sign Zack Wheeler?

General manager Rick Hahn told Sox fans that we can "have nice things." Let's try for something "nice" before we settle for another year of mediocre Nova in the starting rotation.

Why is Yoan Moncada still in Charlotte? Zack Collins? Luis Robert?

White Sox third baseman Yoan Moncada started a rehab assignment with Triple-A Charlotte at the end of last week. Through three games with the Knights, he was 4 for 12 with a home run.

Then, he didn't play Sunday night, so I figured he was flying to Minnesota to join the team for its three-game series with the Twins starting Monday night.

After all, the Sox lost three out of four over the weekend to the Los Angeles Angels. They could use the help.

But no, Moncada is playing for Charlotte (again) on Monday night. Why? Who knows?

In other news from the farm, Zack Collins was named International League Batter of the Week. The left-handed slugger hit .538 (14 for 26) with eight runs scored, three doubles, four home runs and nine RBIs over seven games this week.

This is terrific news, as Collins has been swinging a hot bat since his demotion to Charlotte. Whatever adjustments he is making are working, and I'm in favor of his return to Chicago. Alas, it hasn't happened yet.

Given the Sox's struggles against even mediocre right-handed pitching of late, perhaps the lineup would look better with Moncada and Collins in it. Manager Rick Renteria continues to resort to Jon Jay batting cleanup against right-handed pitchers. This cannot continue.

And then there's Luis Robert, who homered twice Sunday night and homered again in Monday's game for Charlotte. Robert was batting .306 and slugging .639 in 33 games coming into Monday night, and this latest home run is his 12th since his promotion from Double-A Birmingham.

I just don't see what Robert has left to prove in Triple-A. I hope we see him -- and Collins -- in Chicago sooner rather than later. It's time to get ready for 2020, and those two men need to be part of it. 

Sox brass, unfortunately, seems more content to kill time with Jay, Ryan Cordell and Adam Engel all on the big league roster, not to mention Matt Skole, Welington Castillo and Ryan Goins. Well, I guess Goins is making a case to be around in 2020, but the rest of these guys are just filler.

At what point does this rebuild move on from roster filler?

Harold Baines Day at Guaranteed Rate Field

In the American League, a team needs good production from its designated hitter. The 2019 White Sox don't get anything from their DHs, who have combined to post a .178/.264/.301 slash line this season.

That makes you appreciate the career of Harold Baines a little more, doesn't it? Baines was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame this year, and the Sox honored him for his achievement this past Sunday before a game against the Oakland A's.

Baines prepares to speak at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Humble as always, Baines spoke softly, for four minutes and 43 seconds, thanking his family, former teammates, the Sox organization and its fans.

The ceremony also featured speeches by Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa and two of Baines' closest friends and former teammates, Ron Kittle and Ozzie Guillen.

Other Sox Hall of Famers were on hand, including Frank Thomas, Tim Raines, Jim Thome and Carlton Fisk.

Among the other former Sox players present were Robin Ventura, Dan Pasqua, Ron Karkovice and John Cangelosi.

I was pleased to have the opportunity to attend this game, because the highlights of Baines' career shown on the scoreboard took me back to my childhood in the 1980s. Baines' best years with the Sox were from 1982-89, when he made four All-Star teams. Sure, the Sox weren't very good in those years -- except for 1983 -- but Baines was the best player on the team during the days when I was becoming a Sox fan and learning about baseball.

Baines' election to the Hall has been shrouded in controversy. Some people don't think he belongs, and to be honest, if I had a vote, I'm not sure I would have voted for him. That said, as a Sox fan, I refuse to apologize for being happy for Baines and his family. He was an outstanding player, and he's well-respected by any person he has ever been around.

And when I went to the Hall of Fame this summer, I enjoyed some of the Baines memorabilia on display. Take this locker of stuff:

Here's the bat Baines used to hit that famous home run in the 25th inning on May 9, 1984, against the Milwaukee Brewers:

Check out this old-school edition of Baseball Digest. I subscribe to this magazine, and did so when I was a kid, as well. I'm pretty sure I received this edition in the mail as a youngster:

Here's the poster next to the Baines' locker, detailing his career highlights:

And, of course, here's the plaque that will hang in Cooperstown, N.Y., forever. Not a replica, folks:

Congrats, Harold, and thanks for the memories!

James McCann's grand slam gives White Sox series win over Houston Astros

James McCann

James McCann hit a two-out, two-strike grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning Wednesday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field, lifting the White Sox to a 13-9 win in a wild slugfest against the Houston Astros.

With the victory, the Sox took two out of three in the series and won the season series from the American League West-leading Astros, 4 games to 3.

So much for my concern about the Sox pitching staff needing to cover 27 innings in about 24 hours against a powerful Houston offense.

The Sox caught a break in the second game of Tuesday's doubleheader, when Houston pitcher and Cy Young candidate Gerrit Cole could not make his start after straining his hamstring warming up in the bullpen.

To the Sox's credit, they took advantage and won that game, with their own starting pitcher (Ivan Nova) tossing a complete game. It is always a boost for a team when a pitcher steps up and throws all nine innings of a game on a day where you're playing a doubleheader. Bullpen saved.

Here's a look back at the Sox's surprising and satisfying series win:

Tuesday, Aug. 13
Astros 6, White Sox 2 (Game 1): It was a mixed bag for Sox starter Dylan Cease, who threw a quality start. He worked six innings, allowing four runs (only two earned) against a good team, and when he left the mound after facing one hitter in the seventh inning, the Sox were only down 3-2. He absolutely gave his team a chance to win.

And the third and fourth (unearned) runs on his tab were both the fault of catcher Welington Castillo, who had three passed balls, two of which allowed runs to score.

On the down side, Cease (2-5) walked five and struck out two, and you can only pitch around walks for so long until the opposition scores runs. I don't think Cease had the fairest strike zone from the home plate umpire, and he got no help from his catcher, but he can pitch better.

The Sox managed only two runs off Houston's Zack Greinke (12-4), who pitched six innings to earn the win.

Tuesday, Aug. 13
White Sox 4, Astros 1 (Game 2): Nova was the story. He needed only 104 pitches to complete the game. He allowed four hits, all singles, and did not walk a batter. He retired 17 of the last 18 men he faced in a game that took two hours, 21 minutes to play.

Over his past four starts, Nova (8-9) is 4-0 with a 0.49 ERA. Obviously, regression is coming, but in the meantime, I'll enjoy this Nova hot streak while it lasts and pray management doesn't reward him with a multiyear contract extension. This was his best start in a Sox uniform, bar none.

As mentioned, Cole was unable to make his start, and the Sox victimized emergency Houston starter Chris Devenski (1-2) for three runs in the bottom of the second inning. All the runs came with two outs, one on a single by Adam Engel and two more on a single by Ryan Goins.

The Sox added a fourth run in the fourth on a two-out RBI double by Ryan Cordell. Nova took it from there, and it was nice to see the Sox come through with some two-out hitting.

Wednesday, Aug. 14
White Sox 13, Astros 9: Speaking of two-out hitting, McCann was down 0-2 in the count when he drove a slider from Ryan Pressly into the right-field bullpen for a grand slam that broke a 9-9 tie in the eighth inning.

Pressly (2-3) is one of the Astros' better relievers. He entered the day with a 1.94 ERA, but he gave up singles to Yolmer Sanchez and Tim Anderson, and walked Jose Abreu, ahead of the big hit by McCann.

It is good to see the Sox catcher using right field again, something he wasn't doing throughout a monthlong slump in July.

This was a wild, back-and-forth game. Houston was up 2-0. The Sox went ahead 4-2. Houston tied it at 4. The Sox went ahead 7-4, and then 8-5. The Astros made it 8-7. Then Eloy Jimenez homered for the Sox to make it 9-7. Jose Altuve answered with a two-run blast to tie it for the Astros.

But the last big hit of the day went to McCann. For a change, the Sox hitters picked up the relief pitchers, who struggled in this game. Jimmy Cordero, Aaron Bummer and Evan Marshall combined to give up five runs over 2.2 innings.

But Alex Colome (4-2) got five outs for the win. He extricated the Sox from a bases-loaded situation in the eighth, and then worked a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts to close it out.

Expect the White Sox to get off to a cold start in 2020 (literally)

So, here's the White Sox's 2020 schedule.

You know what stands out the most? The first nine games are all in cold-weather cities -- between March 26 and April 5.

The Sox have their earliest home opener ever, March 26 against the Kansas City Royals. After that three-game home series, they go on a six-game road trip. They will face the Cleveland Indians from March 30 to April 1, and the Boston Red Sox from April 2 to 5.

Brrrrrr.

How many of those nine games do you suppose will get rained out, snowed out or colded out? Hopefully, the Sox get those three home games in against Kansas City. They may win two out of three in that series, but it shapes up as a tough start to the year with Cleveland and Boston on the first trip -- both in terms of weather and strength of opponent.

But here's some good news about the schedule: The crosstown home games are on weeknights (July 7 and 8), so hopefully they won't be part of my 20-game ticket plan next season! Unfortunately, the Sox are playing the Cubs on my birthday for the second straight year (July 7), so that means I won't be watching the game. Now that I don't work for a newspaper any longer, and don't have to care about the Cubs, I generally ignore them -- even when they play the Sox.

Other interleague games are against the National League West. And, of course, the Field of Dreams game against the New York Yankees on Aug. 13 is intriguing. 

It begs the question, will Sox fans drive all the way to Iowa to watch their team get overmatched by New York?

Three games against the Houston Astros in about 24 hours ... hmmm ...

It's a rainy Monday night in Chicago. The game between the White Sox and the Houston Astros has been postponed, and it is the correct decision.

The rain is falling outside my window in Wheeling as I type, and the forecast for the rest of the evening is abysmal -- especially south of here, where Guaranteed Rate Field is located.

The game will be made up at 3:40 p.m. Tuesday as part of a straight doubleheader. Game 2 will start 30 to 40 minutes after the conclusion of Game 1, but not before 7:10 p.m.

Monday's pitching matchup -- Dylan Cease vs. Zack Greinke -- carries over to the opener of the doubleheader. Game 2 will feature Ivan Nova vs. Gerrit Cole.

There's nothing that can be done about this poor weather, but it's a bad break for the Sox (52-64), who will have to play three games against the league-best Astros (77-41) in about a 24-hour span. Remember, the conclusion of this three-game series is a 1:10 p.m. start Wednesday.

The Sox pitching staff would be challenged no matter the configuration of this series, but having to cover 27 innings in a condensed time period against a powerful Houston offense is a lot to ask.

This series could be a painful one for the Sox and their fans. I realize that I might have said that, too, before the Sox played at Houston in June. Despite my negativity, the Sox managed to split that four-game set. But remember, George Springer and Jose Altuve were on the injured list at that time, and the Astros had not yet called up Yordan Alvarez, who has quickly moved to the front of the line in the race for American League Rookie of the Year.

This is an explosive Houston team. The Sox will be facing the odds-on favorite to win the 2019 World Series in these three games, in my humble opinion.

Reason to celebrate: White Sox don't play Oakland again this season

Mike Fiers

The White Sox played six games against the Oakland Athletics this season, and they were outscored 32-8. Yes, that's right: The Sox scored only eight runs in six games against Oakland pitching. In that context, it's a miracle they won one -- and that came Saturday night.

Here's a look back at the weekend series at Guaranteed Rate Field, during which the A's won two out of three games.

Friday, Aug. 9
A's 7, White Sox 0: Friday was one of those days when I looked at the pitching matchup and said, "The Sox have no chance today." They've never hit Mike Fiers well, and I never have high expectations for any Ross Detwiler start.

In fairness to Detwiler (1-3), there's was nothing wrong with his outing -- even though he took the loss. He went 5.2 innings and allowed two earned runs (both on solo home runs) on four hits. Matt Chapman homered in the first inning. Stephen Piscotty homered in the second.

That was plenty for Fiers (11-3), who struck out eight, walked nobody and allowed only three hits over seven shutout innings. The Sox finished the game with four hits, all singles.

The game got out of hand in the eighth inning, when the A's scored five runs off the combination of Jace Fry and Josh Osich. Fry failed to retire a hitter and was charged with four runs after he allowed two walks and two hits, including a home run by Chad Pinder.

Good job, good effort.

Saturday, Aug. 10
White Sox 3, A's 2: It was Eloy Jimenez bobblehead night, and the rookie left fielder marked the occasion by hitting his 19th home run of the season. The Sox scored their other two runs with speed. Leury Garcia stole third base and scored a run when the throw by Oakland catcher Chris Herrmann squirted away into shallow left field. Tim Anderson, while running on a 3-2 pitch, scored from first base on a single by Welington Castillo.

That backed a nice effort from Reynaldo Lopez (7-9), who navigated around six hits allowed and three walks to toss 6.1 shutout innings. Lopez did not have swing-and-miss stuff -- he struck out only three, but he benefited from three double plays.

The Sox bullpen was shaky, as Oakland stranded eight runners over the last three innings. The A's loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh, when Jon Jay made a nice running catch in right field to save a potential bases-clearing double off Pinder's bat.

Oakland placed runners on first and second with two out in the eighth, and Anderson made a nice play to his left to throw out Piscotty for the third out.

The Sox led, 3-0, going into the ninth, but the A's scored two unearned runs against Alex Colome, who struck out Khris Davis with two outs and the bases loaded to earn his 23rd save of the season.

Sunday, Aug. 11
A's 2, White Sox 0: The Sox honored newly inducted Hall of Famer Harold Baines with a ceremony before the game (more on that later), and frankly, the team might as well have allowed the 60-year-old Baines to take an at-bat -- he couldn't have done any worse than the current Sox hitters did against Chris Bassitt (8-5) and three Oakland relievers.

The South Siders managed only five hits (four of them singles) and didn't have a man reach third base after the second inning.

Too bad because Lucas Giolito (12-6) struck out a career high 13 and walked only one in six innings pitched. Unfortunately, he had one bad inning where he allowed a two-run homer to Oakland's Matt Olson, and given the way Sox hitters handle Oakland pitching, that was enough to get him beat on this day.

In Giolito's previous outing, he wasn't sharp at all in allowing three runs over six innings to the lowly Detroit Tigers. But, he won that start. On Sunday, I thought he was impressive, but he lost. That's baseball for you; it's a funny game.

And we can only speculate why Oakland has seemingly owned the Sox for decades.

A Hall of Fame shout-out to Yaz

If you've ever been to Cooperstown, N.Y., perhaps you're aware that Yastrzemski Sports is located on Main Street, one block away from the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

For years in Chicago, we joked about Ken "Hawk" Harrelson's frequent references to Carl Yastrzemski, or YAZ!, on White Sox TV broadcasts.

I could retire if I had a dollar for every time Harrelson reminded us that Yaz was "the American League's last Triple Crown winner." That occurred in 1967, in case you weren't aware.

Then Miguel Cabrera had to go and win the Triple Crown in the American League in 2012, sending Yaz's accomplishment to the background and spoiling the joke.

In any case, any reference to Yaz is enjoyable for me, so I had to take a few pictures when I saw his name attached to what is essentially a baseball card shop.

Here's the picture of Yaz that hangs on the window:

Besides the numerous baseball cards, the shop is filled with baseballs signed by all sorts of players, including quite a few Hall of Famers. There are a few other rare finds, too, and I had to laugh at this one:

After all, who doesn't want a nice, Albert Belle White Sox pennant? For the record, no, I did not buy it.