I concluded Thursday's blog by noting that the White Sox need to sweep some divisional opponents to get back in the AL Central race. Taking two out of three games isn't enough.
The Sox had an opportunity to sweep the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday at Guaranteed Rate Field, but they kicked away that chance, losing 3-1.
They lost despite having ace Dylan Cease on the mound. They lost despite Cleveland being without its two best run producers in Jose Ramirez and Josh Naylor. They lost despite loading the bases with no outs in the second inning -- a golden scoring chance that the Sox let go by the boards.
They lost because Tim Anderson couldn't execute a routine play at shortstop. With the score tied 1-1 in the top of the seventh inning, the Guardians placed runners on second and third with one out.
Cease induced a weak grounder off the bat of rookie infielder Brayan Rocchio. Had Anderson fielded it cleanly, he had Will Brennan -- the Cleveland runner on third -- dead in the water at home plate. Instead, the dribbler clanked off Anderson's glove for an error. Brennan scored to give Cleveland a 2-1 lead. The Guardians added another run in that inning and closed out the game from there.
The Sox are 16-29. The Guardians are 20-23. This game was the difference between being three games behind Cleveland and five games behind.
The Sox are five games behind. This is not how you get back in the race.
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