Some more free agent signings to catch up on ...

Here's a look at some recent free agent signings:

• Michael Conforto, San Franciso Giants, 2 years, $36 million
• Nathan Eovaldi, Texas Rangers, 2 years, $34 million
• Corey Kluber, Boston Red Sox, 1 year, $10 million
• Jean Segura, Miami Marlins, 2 years, $17 million
• Drew Smyly, Cubs, 2 years, $19 million
• Taylor Rogers, San Francisco Giants, 3 years, $33 million

Segura's signing takes the most prominent remaining free agent option at second base off the board, which caused White Sox Twitter to melt down for approximately the 23rd time this offseason.

You can't really blame the fans, though, since the internal "options" being sold to them by the front office include Romy Gonzalez, Lenyn Sosa and ... gulp, Leury Garcia.

Gonzalez has not shown that he's good enough to start for a team that expects to contend. Sosa has promise, but he's simply not ready yet. The big fear is this road leads back to Garcia. Again.

San Francisco's signing of Rogers had a ripple effect, too, as the Giants designated second baseman Tommy La Stella for assignment to make room for the veteran pitcher on the roster.

Thus, La Stella is a free agent, and some Sox fans are talking about him as a possible option. Buyer beware. 

Injuries limited La Stella to 60 games last season, when he accumulated -0.7 WAR. He's entering his age-34 season, and it's not unreasonable to believe his days as a useful player are past. He doesn't merit anything other than a minor league contract, if that. There's a reason the Giants let him go.

Corey Kluber headed to Texas; Madison Bumgarner signs with Arizona

Corey Kluber

Two big-name pitchers changed teams Sunday. The Cleveland Indians traded two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber to the Texas Rangers, while longtime San Francisco Giants ace Madison Bumgarner agreed to a five-year, $85 million deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Kluber was limited to seven starts in 2019 because of a broken right forearm and a strained oblique muscle, but despite those injuries, the return in this deal seems underwhelming for the Indians.

Texas gave up outfielder Delino DeShields Jr. and relief pitcher Emmanuel Clase. DeShields, 27, has played 106 or more games in four of the past five seasons with the Rangers, and he's a speedy player and solid defender in center field. However, he's never become much with the bat. Last season, he batted .249/.325/.347 with four home runs and 32 RBIs in 118 games. Not impactful.

Clase, 21, appeared in 21 games with Texas last season and went 2-3 with a 2.31 ERA in 23.1 innings pitched. I had never heard of him until Sunday.

I like the deal for the Rangers, even though Kluber is 33 and coming off an injury-plagued year. He joins a Texas rotation that includes Lance Lynn, Mike Minor, Kyle Gibson and Jordan Lyles. The latter two were signed as free agents this offseason.

Credit the Texas front office for moving to fill the holes in its pitching staff. I wish a certain team that plays on the South Side of Chicago would do something similar. The Rangers have five big league-caliber starters now, and that gives them a chance.

Meanwhile, Bumgarner is staying in the NL West and joining the Diamondbacks. The 30-year-old is a three-time World Series champion with a career record of 119-92 with a 3.13 ERA. He's known for his postseason excellence; he's 8-3 with a 2.11 ERA in the playoffs, including 4-0 with a 0.25 ERA in five career World Series games.

He joins Robbie Ray, Luke Weaver, Mike Leake and Zac Gallen in the projected Arizona rotation, although Ray is entering the last season of his contract and could be traded before the offseason is over.

The price for Bumgarner seems reasonable in this market, five years and $85 million. The top two remaining free agent pitchers are Hyun-Jin Ryu and Dallas Keuchel, neither of whom should command as good a contract as Bumgarner got.

Maybe the White Sox should sign one of these guys, no? It would be better than starting the season with Dylan Covey and Carson Fulmer in the rotation, you know?

Now isn't a good time to face Houston ace Justin Verlander

Justin Verlander

Justin Verlander has started 45 games in his career against the White Sox. He's won 22, lost 13 and been more good than bad against the South Siders during his 15-year career.

But I'm not sure he's ever had a better start against the Sox in all those years than the one he had Tuesday night.

Verlander took a no-hitter into the seventh inning. He ended up working eight innings, allowing one run on one hit in the Houston Astros' 5-1 win over the Sox.

The right-hander struck out 12, walked only one and induced 28 swinging strikes from Sox batters -- 14 on sliders, 10 on fastballs and four on curveballs. For context, 28 swinging strikes is the most against a pitcher in any Major League game this season. He was dominant.

Verlander is now 8-1 with a 2.24 ERA this season. Over his past three starts, he's allowed only four hits in 22 innings -- all wins. He's struck out 29, walked five and allowed two runs (both on solo home runs) during that same span.

The Sox got their lone run and lone hit on a solo home run Tuesday on a blast by Jose Abreu, who strangely has Verlander's number.

In 41 career at-bats coming into Tuesday, Abreu had a .366/.435/.780 slash line with five home runs against Verlander. Make it six home runs. Abreu has homered against Verlander more than any other pitcher in his career. (Corey Kluber is second; Abreu has taken him deep five times).

But in the context of his career numbers, maybe Abreu's 1-for-4 night against the Houston ace wasn't that great of a game.

Verlander has 212 wins in an accomplished career, but at age 36, I'm not sure he's ever been tougher to beat than he is right now.

White Sox beat Corey Kluber for first time in almost four years

Corey Kluber

White Sox fans are conditioned to believe any game against Cleveland Indians ace Corey Kluber is an automatic loss.

Admit it, did you think the Sox were going to win Wednesday? I sure didn't.

After all, the Sox had not beaten Kluber since July 24, 2015. And it isn't for lack of opportunity. The Indians are a divisional opponent, and the Sox have faced Kluber 11 times in those almost four years.

Kluber went 9-0 with a 1.81 ERA in those 11 starts. In 2018 alone, he was 4-0 with an 0.96 ERA in four starts vs. the Sox.

So, of course, the Sox torched him Wednesday. They got three in the first inning and one more in the second. Kluber didn't make it through the fourth inning, allowing six runs (four earned) on eight hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

The Sox won, 8-3, as Carlos Rodon tossed six innings of one-run ball, Yoan Moncada connected for his second home run of the season, and Jose Abreu went 2 for 5 with three RBIs.

Go figure. You just never know. That's why we watch.

Covey optioned; Anderson back from paternity list

Sox shortstop Tim Anderson missed both games in Cleveland after being placed on the paternity list. He's back for Friday's home opener against Seattle, and to make room on the roster, Dylan Covey has been optioned to Triple-A Charlotte.

Covey had made two appearances, covering 1.1 innings. He allowed two runs on two hits with two walks. His success from spring training did not carry over, and he could not consistently throw strikes.

Jose Ruiz is now in the Sox bullpen. He was recalled when Anderson went on the paternity list.

White Sox make baffling trade for Yonder Alonso

Yonder Alonso

Yonder Alonso is Manny Machado's brother-in-law.

I've heard at least two dozen people point that out since the White Sox acquired Alonso on Friday from the Cleveland Indians in exchange for minor league outfielder Alex Call.

However, I'm not sure what that has to do with anything. Do we really think Machado is going to sign with the Sox because his brother-in-law is on the team?

I don't.

I think Machado will sign with the Sox if they offer more money than all the other suitors, and to this point, we have no reason to believe the Sox are going win a bidding war for any free agent -- let alone those at the top of the market.

This Alonso trade is baffling. First off, it's a trade that helps division rival Cleveland. The Indians save at least $9 million in this deal -- Alonso's $8 million salary for 2019, followed by a $9 million club option for 2020 or a $1 million buyout.

Moving Alonso along clears space for Carlos Santana to play first base for Cleveland -- the Indians reacquired Santana earlier this month in a three-team deal with the Tampa Bay Rays and Seattle Mariners.

The salary savings also might allow the Indians to keep their starting rotation together. Maybe those Corey Kluber trade rumors won't come to fruition now. I think we all can agree it would be great news for AL Central teams not based in Cleveland if Kluber were sent elsewhere.

While I see clear benefits for the Indians here, I see few benefits for the Sox.

Alonso slashed .250/.317/.421 in 574 plate appearances in 2018, which is nothing special for a first baseman. He hit 23 home runs from the left side of the plate. That's nice, but Alonso only had 19 doubles last season.

Personally, I prefer guys who play corner positions and get 500-plus at-bats to provide at least 50 extra-base hits over the course of the season. Alonso failed to do that last season, so I'm unimpressed.

Jose Abreu, in a down season, provided 59 extra-base hits for the Sox in 128 games -- 36 doubles, 22 home runs and one triple.

Oh, yeah, that's right. The Sox still have Abreu as an incumbent first baseman. Both Abreu and Alonso don't play any positions other than first base. Alonso bats left and Abreu bats right, but other than that, aren't these guys redundant on the roster? I think so.

Are the Sox going back to having a set DH? I guess so, and if that's the case, Alonso doesn't provide the power you want from that position, or from the first base position. What is the point of this move?

I'm honestly struggling to figure out what the Sox are doing so far this offseason. The Ivan Nova trade, that one I get, and I'm OK with it.

However, the signing of a subpar catcher such as James McCann and this trade for Alonso are confusing decisions.

Jacob deGrom, Blake Snell win Cy Young awards

Jacob deGrom

Here's a fun fact, courtesy of Sarah Langs' Twitter account, on NL Cy Young award winner Jacob deGrom:

"deGrom: MLB-best 1.70 ERA. Mets went 14-18 in his starts & he went 10-9

Lucas Giolito: 6.13 ERA, worst in MLB. He went 10-13 & White Sox were 14-18 in his starts

That’s the same number of pitcher wins and same team record ... for the best and worst pitchers in MLB."

How about that? If that doesn't show you that wins is a lousy way to evaluate a pitcher, I don't know what does.

No pitcher has ever won a Cy Young with fewer than 13 wins until now, but New York's deGrom is deserving despite having only 10 victories in 2018.

He is a true ace, having made all 32 of his starts, throwing 217 innings and striking out 269 against only 46 walks. In those 32 starts, deGrom allowed three runs or less in 31 of them -- there was one start in April where he allowed four runs.

He set records for quality starts and consecutive starts allowing three runs or fewer. It was a dominant season for deGrom, and he totaled 29 of a possible 30 first-place votes, win-loss total be damned. He had one of the best seasons I've ever seen from a starting pitcher in my lifetime. Too bad he played on a crummy team. He pitched well enough to win 25 games, at least.

Washington's Max Scherzer got the other first-place vote, and he was listed second on the other 29 ballots. Philadelphia's Aaron Nola received 27 third-place votes and finished third.

On the American League side, Tampa Bay's Blake Snell got the honor on the strength of a 21-5 record.

Snell is interesting, because he pitched only 180.1 innings, or 33.1 innings less than the second-place finisher in the voting, Houston's Justin Verlander. A good case can be made for Verlander because he, like deGrom, shouldered an ace workload for his team.

But, ultimately, voters liked Snell's 1.89 ERA and 221 strikeouts pitching in the offense-heavy American League East.

We can say this for Snell: He was really, really good against top teams. In 12 starts against the five AL playoffs teams (Boston, New York, Cleveland, Houston and Oakland), Snell went 9-2 with a 2.00 ERA.

Snell was not getting fat on crummy competition, and that most have impressed voters, who gave him 17 of the possible 30 first-place votes. The other 13 first-place votes went to Verlander. Cleveland's Corey Kluber finished third.

Hey, the White Sox scored against Corey Kluber! (But they still lost)

Corey Kluber

Coming into Tuesday night's game, Cleveland Indians ace Corey Kluber had faced the White Sox twice before this season.

On May 30, he tossed six shutout innings, allowing three hits, while striking out 10 and walking none in a 9-1 Indians victory.

On June 20, he pitched seven shutout innings, allowing only one hit. He struck out seven and walked one in a 12-0 Cleveland win.

So, I guess we can take it as progress that the Sox only lost 5-3 to Kluber and the Indians on Tuesday.

It looked as though it was going to be another debacle through five innings. Kluber kept the Sox off the board and had seven strikeouts, and the Indians cuffed around Carlos Rodon to take a 5-0 lead into the sixth.

Surprise, surprise, but the Sox got back into the game. Daniel Palka and Omar Narvaez became the first pair of hitters to homer off Kluber in the same inning all season. Both hit solo shots in the sixth inning to make it 5-2. Doubles by Ryan LaMarre and Yolmer Sanchez in the seventh cut the Cleveland lead to 5-3.

However, the Sox could get no closer. Kluber stranded two runners in the eighth, and Indians reliever Andrew Miller stranded two Sox runners in the ninth to earn his second save of the season.

Kluber (19-7) finished with 11 strikeouts over eight innings. But perhaps there's a moral victory in there that the Sox got three runs on eight hits off him, although I hate moral victories.

For once, I'd like to see the Sox get an actual victory in Cleveland. The South Siders are 3-11 against the Tribe this season, including 0-7 at Progressive Field.

I'll give credit to the Indians for this: They have pounded the weak American League Central all summer long. Cleveland is a combined 44-23 against the Sox, Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals -- including 26-9 at home.

The Indians are 14.5 games up in the division; they've already clinched it. That is not a surprise or an accident.

Indians starting pitchers dominate White Sox in three-game sweep

Corey Kluber

Should we be surprised the White Sox got swept (again) by the Cleveland Indians? Probably not, but it still is pretty frustrating to see the South Siders put a noncompetitive product on the field.

Wednesday was one of "those days," as the Indians took a 3-0 lead three batters into the bottom of the first inning and went on to crush the Sox, 12-0.

Cleveland is 40-33 overall, including 8-2 against the Sox, which means the Tribe is a mediocre 32-31 against teams that do not play home games at 35th and Shields. I don't think Cleveland is the 102-win juggernaut it was last season, but the bottom line is the Sox are going to continue to struggle against this team until they find a way to score against the Indians starters.

Look at the lines posted by the three men who started for Cleveland in this series:

Trevor Bauer: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 8Ks, 2 BBs
Mike Clevinger: 7.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 10 Ks, 2 BBs
Corey Kluber: 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 7 Ks, 1 BB

So, in 21.1 innings, Indians starters gave up one run on nine hits, while striking out 25 and walking only five. That is domination.

I'm tired of seeing the Sox get dominated like this.

Yankees rally from 0-2 series deficit, upset Indians

Didi Gregorius

The Cleveland Indians once had a 22-game winning streak. They finished the season winning 35 of their final 42 games.

None of that means much now, does it?

The New York Yankees are in the ALCS after winning Game 5 of the ALDS, 5-2, at Cleveland on Wednesday night.

I felt as though the Yankees would be a dangerous opponent for Cleveland, just because New York is the one team that can match the Indians' bullpen arm for arm. However, I never expected the Yankees to pull this thing off, especially after Cleveland won the first two games of the five-game series.

New York rallied to win the final three games of the series, and sure enough, strong bullpen work was essential in the Game 5 victory.

That said, we would be remiss if we did not point out that Yankees starter C.C. Sabathia outpitched Corey Kluber, the Cleveland ace and likely Cy Young Award winner in the American League this year.

Didi Gregorius touched Kluber up for two home runs, a solo shot in the first inning and a two-run blast in the third. Kluber lasted only 3.2 innings and left the mound in the top of the fourth inning with his team trailing, 3-0.

Sabathia, meanwhile, allowed no runs on only one hit through the first four innings. He ran into trouble in the fifth, when he gave up two runs on four hits.

The Indians cut the New York lead to 3-2, and had runners on first and second with only one out. But former White Sox reliever David Robertson came in and slammed the door, inducing Francisco Lindor to hit into an inning-ending double play.

Sabathia struck out nine over his 4.2 innings pitched, and that's all the Yankees needed from him with Robertson and Aroldis Chapman coming out of the bullpen.

Robertson played the role of super reliever perfectly, navigating a scoreless 2.2 innings. He did not allow a single hit and protected that one-run lead through the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.

That got the ball to Chapman, who struck out four and did not allow a hit while recording a six-out save.

The Yankees got a little breathing room in the top of the ninth inning, when Brett Gardner's single on the 12th pitch of an at-bat against Cleveland closer Cody Allen produced two runs to make it 5-2. Gardner fouled off five consecutive 3-2 pitches before getting the base hit. Credit him for a terrific job against one of the better relievers in the AL.

In Game 5, the Yankees' starter outpitched the Indians' starter, and the New York bullpen was better than the Cleveland bullpen. Add in a big-time performance from Gregorius, and there's your upset.

The Yankees are headed to Houston to open the ALCS on Friday night.

Nationals force Game 5

So, I guess sending Stephen Strasburg to the mound worked out OK for the Washington Nationals, huh?

Strasburg struck out 12 over seven shutout innings Wednesday, and the Nationals beat the Cubs, 5-0, to tie the NLDS at 2-all. I don't think Tanner Roark gives you that performance, Washington fans.

We probably wouldn't be talking about a Game 5 back in Washington on Thursday night if Roark had started that game.

The Nationals are at home for this decisive game, which can only help them. But I still think the Cubs have the advantage pitching-wise. Kyle Hendricks was brilliant in Game 1, and he'll start Game 5 on regular rest. Can the Washington offense solve him?

Washington will have to go with either Gio Gonzalez or Roark, but Max Scherzer should be able to give them a couple innings of relief, if necessary.

Still, I'd give the edge to the Cubs. But don't listen to me. I thought the Cubs would close out the Nationals in four. I also thought the Indians would beat the Yankees.

The only thing I know is that I know nothing about baseball.

'Why Todd Frazier can't hit anymore'

Todd Frazier (21)

One of the mildly interesting things about blogging on Google: You can look at the analytics and find out how people are hitting your website.

For example, somebody hit this blog this week by Googling the phrase "Why Todd Frazier can't hit anymore."

I chuckled to myself, knowing it was probably a frustrated New York Yankees fan who is just now finding out what White Sox fans already know -- Frazier is in severe decline and pretty darn close to being done at age 31.

Since the seven-player trade between the Sox and Yankees on July 19, Frazier has appeared in 14 games for New York and made 53 plate appearances. He has a grand total of one extra-base hit. (It was a homer.) That's not what you were hoping for, is it Yankee fans?

Frazier has compiled a slash line of .182/.321/.250 with the Yankees. I know, the usual caveats about small sample sizes apply, but I hate to tell you New York folks that this really isn't unusual for Frazier. His slash line for the season is .204/.327/.407, so while I think Frazier still will hit a few home runs between now and the end of the season, if you're waiting for more consistent production, none is forthcoming.

This isn't really a slump for Frazier. Rather, it's a continuation of struggles that have occurred ever since the veteran third baseman moved from the National League to the American League. He's slashing .218/.311/.444 since he was traded to the White Sox from the Cincinnati Reds before the start of the 2016 season.

Last year, I looked by Frazier's .225 batting average to some extent, because he clubbed 40 home runs and drove in 98 runs for the Sox. Sure, he didn't have a lot of hits, but at least there were some big hits, and there was some decent run production.

This year, I didn't feel as though many of the 16 home runs Frazier hit for the Sox mattered much, and obviously, he will not be reaching the 40-homer plateau this season.

It's too bad Frazier stinks now. I've heard good things about the kind of guy he is, and my impressions of him from SoxFest the past couple years were positive. They say he's good in the clubhouse, and I have no reason to doubt that's true.

However, Frazier's on-field performance was disappointing during his tenure with the Sox, and I expect that to continue in New York.

I saw the Yankees held him out of the lineup Thursday in their 5-1 loss to the Cleveland Indians. Probably smart, because Frazier can't hit Corey Kluber worth a damn anyway (2 for 23 lifetime). But the sad reality is Frazier can't hit most guys anymore, and it's for the best that the Sox have moved on from him.

Weekend in review: White Sox lose two of three to Indians; Melky Cabrera traded to Royals

The view from the Guaranteed Rate Club on Sunday

Hey, at least the White Sox won one out of three over the weekend against the first-place Cleveland Indians. At this point, could we have expected better? I don't think so.

I made it out to two of the three games, and fortunately, the one that was a real snooze was the one I did not attend, a 9-3 loss Friday night.

The Sox also lost Saturday, 5-4, but I enjoyed having dinner at the Stadium Club before the game, and I got a sweet 1917 Sox replica jersey for my trouble. And it wasn't a terrible game to watch. The Sox were in it the whole way, even though they blew it in stupid fashion -- with the score tied at 4 in the top of the ninth and the bases loaded with two outs, Sox reliever Gregory Infante plunked Cleveland's Brandon Guyer to force in the winning run.

Still, I've seen enough 10-2 losses this year that losing 5-4 doesn't seem so bad anymore. It's all a matter of perspective.

And, on Sunday, my friend and I were named StubHub fans of the game or some damn thing, and we had our seats upgraded to the Guaranteed Rate Club right below the press box behind home plate. We got all we could eat and drink for free, plus a free T-shirt, in exchange for our willingness to be on the Jumbotron and smile and wave for the camera during a mid-inning promotion for StubHub, which we learned is the official fan-to-fan ticket marketplace of Major League Baseball or whatever.

In any case, that deal was way too good to pass up, and we gleefully took advantage of it. As an added bonus, Carlos Rodon pitched 6.2 innings of one-run ball, and Matt Davidson hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Sox to a 3-1 victory over the Indians.

We'll take it.

Cabrera dealt to Kansas City for two prospects

When I got to the ballpark Sunday, I looked at the Sox lineup on the scoreboard and noticed Leury Garcia was leading off and playing left field. Garcia was just coming off the disabled list, so I knew immediately another roster move had taken place.

I also noticed that Melky Cabrera was not in the lineup, so I checked my phone and learned the veteran outfielder had been traded to the Kansas City Royals for pitching prospects A.J. Puckett and Andre Davis.

Cabrera is a defensive liability, so I doubt the Royals are too excited about him patrolling the spacious outfield at Kauffman Stadium. But, the soon-to-be-33-year-old does have a little something left with the bat. He's hitting .295/.336/.436 with 13 home runs and 56 RBIs this year, and his high-contact, gap-to-gap approach should fit in that Kansas City lineup.

The Royals enter Monday's play as the second wild card team in the American League, and they sit two games back of Cleveland in the AL Central. In his final game with the Sox on Saturday, Cabrera got four hits off Cleveland ace Corey Kluber. Perhaps that was what the Royals needed to see to finalize the deal. Cabrera can get hits off good pitchers.

As for the prospects coming back, Puckett, 22, is a right-hander who was the Royals' second-round pick in the 2016 draft. He was 9-7 with a 3.90 ERA with 98 strikeouts in 108.1 innings and 20 starts with Class-A Wilmington. His fastball sits at 92-93, and his best pitch is reportedly a changeup.

Davis, a 23-year-old left-hander, was 5-4 with a 4.83 ERA with 87 strikeouts in 85.2 innings and 18 starts with Class-A Lexington.

Puckett is likely the better of the two prospects, and we'll see how he does in the Winston-Salem rotation that already features Dane Dunning and Alec Hansen.

Cabrera is owed $5.1 million for the rest of this season, and given the money involved, it's not a big surprise the return in this trade did not involve elite prospects. But these two guys are at least somewhat interesting, so it's OK. The Sox will be paying half of the remaining dollars owed to Cabrera.

Cubs rough up Indians starter Josh Tomlin, force Game 7 in World Series

Addison Russell

Well, Game 6 of the World Series sure was boring, wasn't it? The Cubs trounced the Cleveland Indians, 9-3, on Tuesday to even the series at 3.

This one was lopsided from the outset. So lopsided that I don't have anything nuanced to say about it. (Not that I ever do.) It was a strong performance by the Cubs, and a poor performance by the Indians. How's that for analysis?

Game 7 is Wednesday night in Cleveland.

You could tell that Cleveland starter Josh Tomlin just did not have it pitching on short rest from the very start of this game. Sure, he retired the first two hitters, but he hung a sloppy 0-2 curve to Kris Bryant, who deposited it in the left-field seats for a 1-0 Chicago lead.

Tomlin then hung a curve to Anthony Rizzo and left a changeup high in the zone to Ben Zobrist. Those two at-bats resulted in singles for the Cubs, and placed runners on first and third. The Indians' defense then failed Tomlin as center fielder Tyler Naquin and right fielder Lonnie Chisenhall stood and looked at each other as a lazy fly off the bat of Addison Russell fell in for a "two-run double."

Just like that, it was 3-0 Cubs. The game was essentially over there, but for good measure, the Cubs blew it open with four runs in the third inning

A walk and two singles to load the bases ended Tomlin's night, and Russell cleared 'em off with a grand slam off Cleveland reliever Dan Otero. 7-0. No drama on this night. Jake Arrieta worked 5.2 innings of two-run ball to get the win.

I did think it was interesting that Cubs manager Joe Maddon used Aroldis Chapman in the seventh inning. The Chicago closer entered with two on and two out in a 7-2 game, and finished that inning by inducing a groundout by Francisco Lindor.

Chapman also pitched a scoreless eighth. After the Cubs got two in the ninth on a Rizzo home run, Chapman returned to the mound in the bottom of the ninth and walked the leadoff man before departing. He threw 20 pitches and was charged with Cleveland's third and final run, which came across after he left the game in the ninth.

I'm certain Chapman will be available for Game 7. It's all hands on deck in these situations. But it's worth noting that Chapman threw 42 pitches in an eight-out save in Game 5, plus the 20 pitches in Game 6. That's a greater workload for him than usual. Will it matter? We'll see.

You can't really blame Maddon, because you can't win Game 7 if you don't get to Game 7, and I've never faulted a manager for going to his best reliever in a must-win situation. I do think there is some chance fatigue will catch up to Chapman, if he pitches Wednesday -- and I assume he will.

Momentum is on the side of the Cubs at this point. They've won the past two games. This victory in Game 6 was an overwhelming one. The Indians will now be forced to go to their ace, Corey Kluber, on short rest for Game 7. Kluber won Games 1 and 4 for Cleveland in this series, and like Chapman, we also have to wonder how much he has left in the tank. His mound opponent will be Cubs right-hander Kyle Hendricks.

Two things that could help the Indians: 1) They are playing at home. Cheering fans don't win games, but all things being equal, you'd rather be at home than on the road in Game 7. And 2) Cleveland's top three relievers -- Andrew Miller, Cody Allen and Bryan Shaw -- did not appear in Game 6. They will be rested and ready to go. Indians manager Terry Francona could turn the game over to them as early as the fifth inning, if necessary.

So far this series has featured two epic games -- Games 3 and 5. Each team won one. The other four games have been lopsided, with each club taking two one-sided victories. Here's to hoping Game 7 is a close one, and not another snoozer.

Indians push Cubs to the brink with dominant Game 4 win

Corey Kluber

First things first: Can we please stop with the narrative about Cubs pitcher John Lackey being great in the postseason?

Yes, Lackey has had some good playoff moments, such as this game, but he's also gotten his butt kicked in some playoff games, such as this one that is fondly remembered by all White Sox fans.

I keep hearing from both local and national media that Lackey is an awesome playoff pitcher, but frankly, at age 38, it looks like his best days are past. The right-hander has been nothing but mediocre for the Cubs in the postseason. He hasn't worked past the fifth inning in any of his three starts, and he's posted a pedestrian 4.85 ERA in only 13 innings.

Lackey was once again so-so Saturday night, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits over five innings in the Cubs' 7-2 loss to Cleveland in Game 4 of the World Series.

The Indians now enjoy a 3-1 series lead and have three chances to close out the Cubs. Game 5 is Sunday night at Wrigley Field.

Lackey was outpitched by Cleveland ace Corey Kluber, who allowed one run on five hits in six innings. He struck out six and walked one, while improving to 4-1 with 0.89 ERA in five postseason starts. Kluber pitched on three days' rest, and will be prepared to pitch again in Game 7 if the Cubs somehow extend this series that far.

Kluber left the mound after the sixth inning with a 4-1 lead, and the Tribe broke the game open moments later in the top of the seventh on a three-run homer by second baseman Jason Kipnis. Cleveland got Lackey out of there after five, then capitalized for four runs off Chicago middle relievers Mike Montgomery, Justin Grimm and Travis Wood.

The Cubs had somewhat of a moral victory in the eighth when Dexter Fowler homered off Andrew Miller, thus proving the Cleveland relief ace is mortal. Miller already has set a record for playoff strikeouts in a single season with 29, and that Fowler homer was the first run he has allowed in 17 postseason innings.

Having a 7-2 lead allowed the Indians to rest closer Cody Allen for a night. Dan Otero closed out the ninth inning with no difficulty.

We can't count the Cubs out of this yet, as they have the edge in the pitching matchup in Game 5. Ace Jon Lester is going for the North Siders, and he'll be opposed by the one Cleveland pitcher who has not been doing his job in these playoffs, right-hander Trevor Bauer.

We'll see if the season ends Sunday, or if there will be a Game 6 on Tuesday in Cleveland.

The World Series Game 1 hero is ... Roberto Perez?

There are three players in Cleveland Indians franchise history to have a multi-homer game during the playoffs: Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome and, of course, Roberto Perez.

Cue Cookie Monster and his famous song, "One of These Things Is Not Like the Other Things":

Indeed, Thome has 612 career home runs. Ramirez has 555 career home runs. Perez has, well, 11 career home runs. But the career .220-hitting catcher managed to go deep twice Tuesday in Game 1 of the World Series, becoming the unlikely hero in Cleveland's 6-0 victory over the Cubs.

Perez also became the first player in World Series history to have a multi-homer game while batting in the No. 9 spot in the order. Not bad for a guy who is "Plan C" for the Indians behind the plate. Perez is only playing because Yan Gomes has been a combination of injured and bad all season, and because Jonathan Lucroy rejected a trade to Cleveland at the deadline and went to play for Texas instead.

In the biggest game of his life so far, Perez clubbed a solo home run off Cubs ace Jon Lester in the fourth inning to increase Cleveland's lead to 3-0. The home run had an exit velocity of 112.9 mph, making it the hardest-hit ball off Lester all season, according to Statcast.

Perez capped his night by hitting a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning on a hanging slider from Cubs reliever Hector Rondon. That made the score 6-0 and took all the drama out of the ninth inning.

Cleveland pitching was good again in this game, with Corey Kluber, Andrew Miller and Cody Allen combining to strike out 15 Cubs hitters. Kluber had eight strikeouts through three innings and finished with nine Ks in six innings. Miller pitched out of a bases-loaded, no-outs jam in the seventh, striking out Addison Russell and David Ross to close the inning. He also struck out Kyle Schwarber with two on and two out to end the eighth and snuff out the Cubs' last legitimate chance to get back in the game.

Game 2 is Wednesday night, and the start time has been moved up an hour to try to avoid a weather delay. Rain is in the forecast for Cleveland. The Cubs will try to even the series behind right-hander Jake Arrieta. The Indians will counter with right-hander Trevor Bauer.

The best news for the Cubs right now is the fact that Kluber won't pitch in Game 2. And, Miller might be limited, as well, after throwing 46 pitches over two innings of work in Game 1.

Blue Jays better start scoring some runs against the Indians' starting pitchers

Jose Bautista

Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista believes "circumstances" are favoring the Cleveland Indians thus far in the ALCS.

The Indians have taken each of the first two games, by scores of 2-0 and 2-1, and the Toronto hitters apparently are getting frustrated.

“All you gotta do is look at the video and count how many times (Cleveland pitchers) throw pitches over the heart of the plate,” Bautista said Sunday, as reported by Mike Vorkunov. “They’ve been able to do that because of the circumstances -- that I’m not trying to talk about because I can’t. That’s for you guys to do, but you guys don’t really want to talk about that either.”

It sounds as if Bautista believes the umpiring is going against Toronto, and perhaps he's trying to get some calls to go his way and his teammates' way in Monday night's Game 3. Some have suggested the Blue Jays believe the series is "rigged" in favor of the Indians. That's a reach.

I personally don't think MLB rigs games, and I don't buy into the notion of curses or conspiracies. What motivation would MLB have to tell umpires to make calls favoring the Indians? Cleveland is a small-market team, and it isn't like the league stands to get a big ratings bump if the Indians advance.

All of this is foolishness, and the only circumstance working against the Blue Jays right now is their inability to hit the quality pitching being run out there by the Indians. Toronto is a dead fastball hitting team, and Cleveland has a bunch of pitchers -- both starters and relievers -- who can make quality pitches with their breaking balls.

The Indians' bullpen has been nothing short of spectacular. As a group, they've allowed just two earned runs in 16.1 IP this postseason, and they've been facing good offenses, too -- Boston and now Toronto. That will pencil out to a 1.10 ERA. And, oh, Cleveland relievers have struck out 27 men in those 16-plus innings.

Left-hander Andrew Miller, of course, has been the main reason for that. He's struck out 17 and is unscored upon in 7.2 postseason innings this season. He's formed an unhittable bridge between the Cleveland starters and closer Cody Allen, who has pitched four scoreless innings in the playoffs.

Manager Terry Francona has shown he's not afraid to go to Miller as early as the fifth or sixth inning. He can do that because he has another dominant option in Allen, and two other pretty good middle relief options in Bryan Shaw and Dan Otero. Cleveland has the deepest bullpen of the remaining four teams, for sure.

As we've mentioned before, the Indians' shortcoming is the injuries to their starting pitchers. Corey Kluber is the ace, and he's been tremendous: He's allowed nothing in the postseason. But with Danny Salazar and Carlos Carrasco sidelined, Cleveland is forced to rely more upon Josh Tomlin and Trevor Bauer than it would like.

But Tomlin was really good in Game 2, allowing just one run in 5.2 innings. He's a breaking ball pitcher, and he used that pitch effectively against the Toronto hitters. He's not overpowering, and he sure as heck wasn't going to give Toronto too many fastballs to hit. Smart pitching.

The Blue Jays will face Bauer in Game 3, and I'd recommend they think less about the umpiring and figure out a way to score early -- before Miller, Shaw and Allen, et al., become involved in the game. Wouldn't hurt, either, if someone from that lineup could do some damage against a curve ball or a slider. The Indians are going to keep throwing them until the Blue Jays show they can hit them.

It will be Cleveland vs. Toronto in the ALCS

Corey Kluber

Expect the unexpected in the MLB playoffs. How many of you had both Cleveland and Toronto advancing to the ALCS this year? Be honest. I sure didn't. I think most people picked Boston and Texas. Guess what? Both the Red Sox and Rangers got swept, and everything we assumed about the American League going into the playoffs was wrong.

Cleveland finished off a three-game sweep with a 4-3 win Monday at Fenway Park. The Red Sox had their chances, but they left two men on in both the eighth and ninth innings. Indians closer Cody Allen was able to shut the door in both innings.

I didn't like Cleveland's chances coming into the playoffs because its starting rotation was beat up. Two of its top three pitchers -- Danny Salazar and Carlos Carrasco -- are on the disabled list. The Indians' ace, Corey Kluber, had a groin strain that kept him out the final week of the regular season and caused him to not be able to make a Game 1 start in the ALDS.

Kluber proved he was healthy, however, with a brilliant performance to win Game 2. In Games 1 and 3, the Tribe got just enough out of back-of-the-rotation starters Trevor Bauer and Josh Tomlin, and manager Terry Francona used his underrated relief corps brilliantly to secure those two wins.

Francona brought relief ace Andrew Miller in during the fifth inning of Game 1 and the sixth inning of Game 3. He's got three good high-leverage relievers in Miller, Bryan Shaw and Allen, and he showed he's not afraid to use them for the last four or five innings of a game to protect a precarious lead.

When your starting pitching is beat up, but your bullpen is strong, that's precisely what you have to do to chart a course for victory. Give the Indians credit for pulling this off. They knocked out the team that many perceived as the favorite in the American League.

David Ortiz's brilliant career with the Red Sox is now over, but spare me the stuff about how he "deserved a better ending." Ortiz has three World Series rings, and he had many fine moments with Boston. No one is promised the chance to go out on top, and most athletes do not. He'll get over this loss, I'm sure.

In the other ALDS, how about Toronto knocking the stuffing out of the 95-win Rangers? The Blue Jays scored 22 runs in the three-game sweep, and if you buy into the theory that the "hot team" wins in the playoffs, well, the Blue Jays look like the hot team.

Two things to look for in the ALCS: First, will Kluber be healthy enough to make three starts? He should be in line for Game 1. With all the other injury problems, does he start Game 4 and Game 7, if necessary, as well? In my opinion, he should.

Secondly, can the Blue Jays overcome the fact that the Indians have a far superior bullpen? Toronto closer Roberto Osuna is good, and he toughed it out through some shoulder discomfort in the ALDS, but I don't know that I trust Jason Grilli, Brett Cecil, Joe Biagini and the other assorted mediocre options the Jays have in the bullpen.

If games are close in the late innings, it should be advantage Tribe.

Of course, the first round of the American League playoffs taught us that things that should be aren't necessarily so. The more you watch, the more you realize that you really know don't much of anything.

Here's why Boston might not beat Cleveland in the ALDS

Rick Porcello

Most of the experts are anticipating a Boston-Texas ALCS this year, so of course, Cleveland and Toronto both won Thursday in their respective ALDS Game 1s.

The Red Sox have become the popular pick to win the AL pennant going into the playoffs. Maybe it's just sentimental -- I think media members root for the story -- they want that Cubs-Red Sox World Series; they want that "David Ortiz retires on a high note" narrative.

But picking Boston is not without merit. The Red Sox have the best lineup in baseball. They scored 878 runs this season, the most in MLB. The second-highest run total in the AL belongs to Boston's first-round opponent, Cleveland, which scored 777 runs.

Here's the problem with the Red Sox: Their top two pitchers have a track record of stinking it up in the playoffs.

Rick Porcello is a Cy Young candidate this year. He went 22-4 with a 3.15 ERA. It was the best year of his career by far. Nobody can take that away from him.

But, he was awful in a 5-4 Game 1 loss to the Tribe on Thursday. He allowed three home runs in the span of nine pitches in the bottom of the third inning. Roberto Perez, Jason Kipnis and Francisco Lindor all took him deep. Porcello pitched just 4.1 innings, allowing five earned runs on six hits. He put the Red Sox in a hole their powerful offense could not quite escape.

Porcello has no track record of postseason success. He's 0-3 with a 5.66 ERA lifetime in nine playoff games. Granted, only three of those nine appearances are starts, but he's yet to show he can do the job when the bright lights come on.

Boston's No. 2 starter, David Price, is in a similar boat. His regular-season numbers this year were quite respectable, 17-9 with a 3.99 ERA. But in the playoffs, he's 2-7 with a 5.12 ERA in 14 games. And, oh yeah, both his two wins came in relief. In eight playoff starts, Price is 0-7 with 5.27 ERA.

These two guys have got to come through for the Red Sox if they have hopes of winning their fourth World Series title since 2004, and it needs to start Friday when Price takes the ball for Boston against Cleveland ace Corey Kluber in Game 2.

Also, maybe we should be taking the Blue Jays more seriously. They throttled the Rangers, 10-1, on Thursday, and while Marco Estrada is not a household name, he's starting to build a resume as a clutch pitcher. He tossed 8.1 innings of one-run ball for Toronto in Game 1, and he's 3-1 with a 1.95 ERA in four playoff starts over the past two seasons.

Chris Sale's loss to Philadelphia costly to his Cy Young chances

Chris Sale

In case you were wondering -- and I'm sure you are -- the White Sox are 49-70 in their last 119 games. That is not a small sample size: This team stinks, and it has stunk for a long time.

The Sox dropped their fifth consecutive game Wednesday, an 8-3 loss to the lousy Philadelphia Phillies, and they've been outscored 36-17 during this losing streak.

The South Siders (72-80) are just two losses away from clinching their fourth consecutive losing season, and they'll need to win at least four more times just to equal last year's 76-86 record. They have the schedule to do it -- Tampa Bay and Minnesota are coming to town for the last week of the season -- but it remains to be seen whether the Sox can muster enough energy to care about these final games.

This late-season misery continues to hammer home the point that the organization needs numerous changes -- in the front office, on the coaching staff and most of all on the field. We've highlighted all those things on this blog at different points during the year, and we're still waiting for some sign that team brass has noticed problems that seem so obvious to us as fans.

Maybe when the season ends ...

In any case, even ace Chris Sale caught the suck bug in Wednesday night's game. The All-Star lefty has had a good second half of the season, although his outstanding pitching has not often been rewarded in the win column.

Unfortunately, this outing against Philadelphia will not go down as one of his finer moments. He gave up six runs over four innings and hit three batters. It was ugly, and the poor performance ended his stretch of six straight outings where he pitched eight innings or more.

Sale had averaged 118 pitches per start over the stretch, so maybe the heavy workload has started to catch up with him. His velocity seemed to be down a touch last night, and he was all over the place with his slider to right-handed batters (causing the three HBPs). Fortunately, Sale only threw 72 pitches Wednesday, and there's an off day Thursday, so that lesser workload and extra day in between starts could allow him to recharge before he faces Tampa Bay on the next homestand.

This bad game lifted Sale's ERA to 3.23. He trails the other two major Cy Young award contenders in that category now. Boston's Rick Porcello is at 3.08, and Cleveland's Corey Kluber is at 3.11. While Sale's 16-9 record is fairly impressive pitching for a bad team, his odds of winning the award are not good considering he's going up against two pitchers on likely playoff teams. Kluber is 18-9 for the Indians, and Porcello is 21-4 for the Red Sox.

A lot of people like to talk about how wins are a poor measure of a starting pitcher, and I agree, but at lot of those old-school voters don't. They want to see a pitcher who wins for a good team get the Cy Young. And, hey, if Porcello gets it, who am I to say he doesn't deserve it? He's 10-2 with a 2.40 ERA the second half, and he just had an 89-pitch complete game in a critical win over Baltimore in his last outing.

I think Sale is going to settle for third in this year's Cy Young vote. There's still time, I suppose. If he is awesome in his last two starts, and Kluber and Porcello both falter like Sale did Wednesday night, things could still change. But I wouldn't bet on it.

It's hard to justify postseason awards for anyone on this White Sox team.