White Sox win three-game series against Philadelphia Phillies

Jose Abreu

The White Sox have won only two series since the All-Star break. Somewhat amusingly, both of them were on the road against playoff contenders.

The South Siders took two out of three from the Tampa Bay Rays (65-48) from July 19-21, and now, they took two out of three from the Philadelphia Phillies (58-53) in an interleague series over the weekend.

Going into the series, I thought the Sox (48-61) had a puncher's chance in two of the three games -- based upon pitching matchups -- and it turns out they won both those games in which I thought they had a chance.

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

Friday, Aug. 2
White Sox 4, Phillies 3, 15 innings: This was one of the most wild games you'll see. The Sox essentially outlasted Philadelphia, because the Phillies had an outfielder on the mound and a pitcher playing left field when the game ended.

That said, Philadelphia pitcher Vince Velasquez made three spectacular plays in left field. He threw out Jose Abreu at the plate to keep the Sox off the board in the top of the 14th. He made perhaps a better throw in the top of the 15th, but the speedy Leury Garcia was just barely safe at home on an single to left by Abreu.

Velasquez also made a diving catch on a liner off the bat of Eloy Jimenez. Two were on with two out at the time, so if that one falls in, the Sox score at least two more runs in that 15th inning. Alas, the 4-3 lead had to be enough, and it was.

Josh Osich (1-0) worked two innings of scoreless relief to earn the win for the Sox. Outfielder Roman Quinn (0-1) got through the 14th inning unscathed while pitching, but he took the loss after giving up the aforementioned run in the 15th.

The starting pitchers in this game were Ivan Nova and Jason Vargas -- mediocre at-best veterans. I figured this was anybody's game, and the Sox won it.

Saturday, Aug. 3
Phillies 3, White Sox 2: This was the game that I thought the Sox would lose, with Philadelphia ace Aaron Nola pitching against Ross Detwiler. And, in fact, Nola (10-2) won and Detwiler (1-2) lost, although we can give the Sox's left-hander credit for not making a fool out of himself.

The day after a 15-inning game, Detwiler chewed up 5.2 innings and gave up only two runs -- back-to-back home runs by Bryce Harper and Rhys Hoskins.

Down 2-1 in the seventh, the Sox had runners at second and third with only one out, but a ill-fated safety squeeze killed that rally. Yolmer Sanchez made a decent bunt, but Hoskins, the Philadelphia first baseman, obviously knew it was coming. He easily threw out Jimenez at the plate, from about 50 feet away.

Memo to Sox manager Rick Renteria: Please stop with the safety squeeze bunt. The opposition knows it is coming, and it is foolish to play for the tie on the road anyway. I know the Sox strike out way too much, but the excessive reliance on bunting isn't winning games for this team, either.

Sunday, Aug. 4
White Sox 10, Phillies 5: Coming into this game, the Sox had scored only 44 runs in their previous 22 games, so it was refreshing to see them put some runs up against Drew Smyly and the Philadelphia bullpen.

Garcia's grand slam highlighted a five-run second inning. Jimenez connected for a three-run homer, his 18th of the season and first since July 14, and Tim Anderson added a solo home run in the ninth.

I figured Reynaldo Lopez and Smyly was a fair fight in terms of the pitching matchup, and Lopez (6-9) survived some rough moments the third time through the batting order to pick up the victory.

He went 5.1 innings, allowing three earned runs on seven hits. That's where it helps to have the run support. Philadelphia cut the lead to 5-3 in the sixth and had two men on base, but Aaron Bummer entered and got an inning-ending double play to settle things down and end the Phillies best chance to tie or take the lead.