Oakland A's hold off White Sox rally, force Game 3

Liam Hendriks

Well, White Sox fans, here's the question: Should we be optimistic about the team's chances in a winner-take-all Game 3 after what we saw in the last two innings Wednesday, or should we be skeptical after what we saw through the first seven innings?

The Oakland Athletics evened the best-of-three series with a 5-3 victory over the White Sox in Game 2, but I think it was a little closer than the A's would have liked.

Oakland had a 5-0 lead through seven innings, as right-hander Chris Bassitt basically took the Sox's bats and shoved them straight where the sun doesn't shine.

However, the Sox rallied against Liam Hendriks, the Oakland closer who has been one of the best relievers in the American League this season.

Yasmani Grandal hit a two-run homer off Hendriks in the eighth to make it 5-2. And after two were out in the ninth, back-to-back singles by Nick Madrigal and Tim Anderson and a walk to Yoan Moncada loaded the bases.

Hendriks had recorded five outs, all on strikeouts, but he needed 49 pitches (!) to do it. He was clearly out of gas, so the A's summoned left-hander Jake Diekman, who walked Grandal to force in a run. 

5-3.

The stage was set for MVP candidate Jose Abreu, who hit a 96.4 mph two-hopper on the first pitch, right at Oakland second baseman Nate Orf. Game over. A's survive.

Abreu's ball had an xBA of .460, but it hard to curse the Sox's bad luck when they played poorly over the first seven innings.

They generated no offense against Bassitt, and Dallas Keuchel was just plain bad, allowing five runs (three earned) on six hits in 3.1 innings pitched. Keuchel allowed homers to Marcus Semien and Khris Davis, and his average exit velocity allowed was 97.4 mph. He got hit hard, plain and simple.

It's disappointing because games such as this are the ones Keuchel was signed to win. Alas, he couldn't close out this series, and the Sox face a do-or-die game at 2 o'clock Thursday. Who will pitch? As of 10 o'clock Wednesday night, we do not know.

We know the middle of the rotation is the Sox's weakness. After Lucas Giolito and Keuchel, they basically have three No. 5 starters. Do you trust Dane Dunning with the season on the line? Or do you just have a bullpen game?

Garrett Crochet, Matt Foster, Codi Heuer, Aaron Bummer, Evan Marshall and Alex Colome should all be available to pitch in Game 3. Heuer is the only man from that group to appear in Game 2, and he needed only eight pitches to work a tidy 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth.

I think trying to get through nine innings with those six relievers is the best way forward.

Meanwhile, Oakland also has not announced its starter, and it is insisting that Hendriks is available for Game 3. I'm not so sure. If he does appear, will he be effective? That could change the strategy for Oakland in this game.

In terms of the Sox lineup, Edwin Encarnacion played Wednesday. Eloy Jimenez did not. I'm not sure why Jimenez is on the roster if his sprained foot is preventing him from so much as DH'ing. 

Encarnacion was 0 for 2 before being lifted for a pinch hitter, none other than Nomar Mazara, who was 1 for 2 with a single and a strikeout in the late innings. Worth noting, Mazara was called out on a terrible pitch that should have been ball four. The quality of his ABs far exceeded those of Encarnacion, who grounded out to third and struck out swinging.

Even if Jimenez cannot play Thursday, I'd say it's time to give up on Encarnacion. If Oakland starts a right-handed pitcher, hell, just DH Mazara. Or put James McCann behind the plate and DH Grandal, as the Sox did in Game 1.

The margin for error is gone now, so there's no time left to mess around with struggling players, regardless of previous track record.

High-end players shine for White Sox in Game 1 win over Oakland

Lucas Giolito

My snap judgment of the Oakland Athletics: They have a solid and deep pitching staff, with a really good bullpen -- and several decent-to-good position players, but no real stars, especially with third baseman Matt Chapman out for the season after having hip surgery.

That's where the White Sox have an advantage on the A's: The South Siders have several guys performing at an all-star level in 2020. No, the Sox can't match Oakland's pitching depth, but they may not have to in a short series if their best players come up big.

We saw that happen Tuesday in Game 1, as Lucas Giolito, Jose Abreu and Tim Anderson led the Sox to a 4-1 victory in the opener of the best-of-three series.

Game 2 is Wednesday at 2 p.m. CDT.

Here are the stat lines for those three key players mentioned above:

Giolito: 7 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 8 Ks, 1 BB, 100 pitches, 65 strikes

Anderson: 3 for 4, double, 2 singles, run scored

Abreu: 2 for 4, 2-run HR, single

Yes, that's what you need from your best guys in the playoffs. And Yasmani Grandal, the Sox's big free-agent acquisition from last offseason, showed up with a solo home run in the eighth inning to give the team an insurance run.

Adam Engel also had a good game, 2 for 4 with a solo home run in the second inning to open the scoring. 

The Sox improved to 15-0 against left-handed starters this season by scoring three runs in 3.1 innings against Oakland's Jesus Luzardo.

But the story of the day was Giolito, who retired the first 18 batters he faced. He did not allow a runner until Tommy La Stella singled to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning. Giolito retired the next three batters in succession after that.

Only in the eighth did the Sox's ace stumble. He walked the leadoff batter and gave up a single to Jake Lamb, putting runners at first and third with no outs. However, Evan Marshall and Aaron Bummer combined to limit the damage to one run in relief, and closer Alex Colome worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning for the save.

Of note: Grandal served as the designated hitter, while James McCann was in his customary role as Giolito's personal catcher. That means struggling veteran DH Edwin Encarnacion took a seat on the bench.

Left fielder Eloy Jimenez is on the playoff roster, but he was not in the lineup Tuesday. He missed his fourth straight game with a sprained right foot. If he returns Wednesday, it could be as the designated hitter. We may have seen the last of Encarnacion, who is batting .157 for the season, despite 10 home runs. 

Leury Garcia returned from the 45-day injured list to start in left field Tuesday, and predictably, he went a rusty 0 for 4. Engel got the nod in right field against the left-handed Oakland starter, instead of Nomar Mazara, and that move obviously paid dividends for the Sox.

Oakland will start the American League Pitcher of the Month for September on Wednesday, former Sox right-hander Chris Bassitt. Will Mazara get an opportunity to get back in there in a more favorable matchup for him, or will we see Garcia again?

The guess here is Engel plays in Game 2 regardless. If Jimenez is able to DH, we could see Engel in left and Mazara in right. Or maybe Sox manager Rick Renteria sticks with Tuesday's winning lineup, and we once again see Garcia in left and Engel in right.

Left-hander Dallas Keuchel will be on the mound for the Sox, and we'll see if he can use his postseason experience to his advantage.

White Sox tumble to No. 7 seed, will play Oakland in first round

Luis Robert

2-6. 

That's all the White Sox needed to do in their last eight games in order to secure an American League Central Division championship.

Of course, they went 1-7. 

The Minnesota Twins are the division champions with a record of 36-24. They have the No. 3 seed in the AL playoffs and will get a favorable matchup against the sixth-seeded Houston Astros (29-31).

That spot could have belonged to the Sox, but they lost to the Cubs, 10-8, on Sunday and finished tied with the Cleveland Indians for second place. Both Chicago and Cleveland are 35-25, one game behind the Twins in the division.

The Indians hold the tiebreaker over the Sox by virtue of their 8-2 record in head-to-head matchups, so they get the 4 seed as the top second-place team and will host the No. 5 seed New York Yankees.

Come to think of it, I don't envy the Indians, because New York is probably better than its 33-27 record indicates.

That leaves the No. 7 seed for the Sox, and they will go on the road to face the No. 2 seed Oakland Athletics. The best-of-three series starts Tuesday night. The A's (36-24) are the only winning team in the AL West, and they coasted to the division title by seven games over Houston.

It was a real ugly finish for the Sox. After getting swept in Cleveland, they lost 10-0 to the Cubs on Friday. The Sox won, 9-5, on Saturday, but they fell behind 10-1 on Sunday before a furious rally in the last two innings to make the game look more competitive than it actually was.

However, what's done is done, and the Sox have to look ahead to Oakland. A few positives:

• Lucas Giolito and Dallas Keuchel were both effective in their last starts of the season, and after taking the weekend against the Cubs off, they should be rested and ready for Games 1 and 2.
• Aaron Bummer and Evan Marshall are healthy, fortifying the Sox's bullpen.
• Rookie Garrett Crochet is unscored upon through the first six innings of his pro career. He tossed two scoreless innings in the win Saturday.
• With Bummer, Marshall, Crochet, Matt Foster, Codi Heuer and Alex Colome all healthy and ready, the Sox have SIX relievers they can use in high-leverage spots. This weekend, the Cubs scored ZERO runs against those six men. That's saying something, given that the Cubs scored 25 runs in the series.
• The Cubs did the Sox a favor by blowing up Reynaldo Lopez on Sunday. The right-hander allowed six runs in 1.1. innings, showing that he is not qualified to make a playoff start for the Sox. It's better that we all discover that now than, say, next Thursday in a winner-take-all Game 3 against the A's.
• Luis Robert went 5 for 11 against the Cubs, showing signs that he's breaking out of an extended slump.
• Yoan Moncada, too. He was 3 for 8 with homer and two walks in his past two games.
• Even after being held hitless Sunday, Jose Abreu is still as good as he's ever been. His bases-loaded double put the Sox ahead to stay Saturday night. He totaled 60 RBIs in a 60-game season. He had 19 homers, a .317 average and a .987 OPS.

That's what we got. I think the Sox have two good starting pitchers and six good relief pitchers. As long as that group of eight does most of the pitching, the Sox should at least have a puncher's chance of upsetting the A's.

Carlos Rodon loses a game for the White Sox, but I'm not mad at him

Carlos Rodon

Carlos Rodon hadn't pitched in a game since Aug. 3. His career can best be described as "injury-riddled," and injuries have limited him to three appearances this season -- the third of which came in relief Thursday night.

And given that he hadn't pitched since Aug. 3, it was not fair to him to drop him into a bases-loaded situation in the seventh inning, trying to protect a 4-1 lead, in a game the White Sox really needed to win for the AL Central race.

Predictably, Rodon didn't get it done. He gave up a two-run single to Cesar Hernandez and a two-run double to Jose Ramirez. Indians win, 5-4, and they sweep the four-game series from the Sox.

I can't be mad at Rodon. He shouldn't have been placed in that situation, and I'm tired of pondering all the stupid things the Sox do to cost themselves. What else can you say?

The Minnesota Twins now lead the AL Central by one game over the Sox. The Indians are two back. Minnesota hosts Cincinnati this weekend. The Sox host the Cubs. The Indians have the easiest series of all, three against the 18-39 Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Sox led the division by three games with 10 to play just a week ago. Now, they've lost control of their destiny in this race. They need to sweep the Cubs and hope the Twins lose one in order to win the division.

Doubt it. As we've said many times, Sox brass doesn't know what the hell they are doing. The players need to overcome the bad decision-making, and that's hard to do. Oh well.

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

Add caption

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.

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.