White Sox finish 'make-or-break' stretch with a 10-9 record

Dylan Cease

The White Sox beat the Cleveland Guardians, 6-3, on Sunday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field to salvage a split in a four-game series.

Dylan Cease (10-4) got the win with six innings of shutout ball. Leury Garcia and AJ Pollock homered off Cleveland starter Shane Bieber (4-6) as part of a five-run second inning, and Eloy Jimenez also homered for the Sox.

The game completed what was described as a "crucial, make-or-break" 19-game stretch during which the Sox saw nothing but American League Central Division opponents.

Turns out, the Sox went 10-9 during those 19 games. When this stretch started, the Sox were 4.5 games behind the first-place Minnesota Twins. Today, they are 4.0 games behind the Twins. 

In other words, nothing has changed, really. That's on brand for this 2022 Sox team.

The Sox are neither "made" nor "broken" after this "make-or-break" stretch. They are simply stuck in neutral, spinning their wheels, as they have all season. They have been a .500 team, and they have the 48-48 record to prove it. 

And they've been a .500 team during these divisional games. They are doing enough to stay within striking distance of the division lead, but they haven't made anything resembling a strong push, either.

Cease, however, has been ridiculously good. Over his last 11 starts, he's allowed a grand total of three earned runs. 

Only twice in baseball history has a pitcher allowed only three earned runs in an 11-start span. Hall of Famer Bob Gibson did it in 1968, and now Cease. That's it. Nobody else.

Cease leads the AL in strikeouts with 154. His ERA is 2.03. If it said "New York" or "Boston" across his chest, he'd probably be getting more Cy Young hype. At the very least, he would have received an All-Star Game selection.