White Sox blow opportunity to sweep Guardians

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.

Evan Marshall stabilizes White Sox bullpen by escaping sixth-inning jam

Evan Marshall

The White Sox scored a run in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-3, on Monday night. The run was scored on a throwing error, and the Sox will take it, but the most importance sequence of the game came in the top of the sixth inning.

The Sox were leading, 3-2, when starter Dallas Keuchel fell apart. He walked the No. 9 hitter to start the inning, then gave up a single and a walk to load the bases with nobody out.

Worse, Cleveland's best player, Jose Ramirez, was the next batter up. If you're playing the Indians, you want to avoid putting yourself in a situation where Ramirez can hurt you. This was the opposite of that. Keuchel boxed the Sox into a corner where they had no choice but to pitch to Ramirez.

Manager Tony La Russa summoned Evan Marshall from the bullpen. Marshall had struggled in his previous outings this season, but he did a masterful job in this case against the 3-4-5 hitters in the Cleveland batting order.

After falling behind 2-0 on Ramirez, he rallied to strike him out on a fastball up and out of the zone. Franmil Reyes managed a sacrifice fly to tie the game, and then Eddie Rosario -- who had homered earlier off Keuchel -- flied out weakly to left field for the third out.

You could not have asked for better from Marshall in that sequence. Sure, the lead was lost, but given the hitters that were due up, only one inherited runner scoring out of bases-loaded, no-outs situation is excellent work.

Marshall, Aaron Bummer and Codi Heuer kept the Indians off the board the last three innings. Heuer worked 2.1 innings, retiring seven of the eight batters he faced with four strikeouts. He earned the win.

The Sox offense failed to score after loading the bases with no outs in the sixth, after Yermin Mercedes struck out and Yasmani Grandal hit into a 3-6-1 double play.

But, those two players redeemed themselves in the ninth. Mercedes reached on an infield single with one out. Grandal walked, advancing pinch runner Nick Madrigal to second base.

Nick Williams followed with a chopper to Cleveland first baseman Yu Chang, who tried to get Grandal at second for the force. But, his errant throw hit Grandal in the helmet and bounded away. Madrigal raced around third to score the winning run on the play.

The Sox broke a six-game losing streak against the Indians dating back to last season, and evened their season record at 5-5. The Indians are now 5-4.

Should be an interesting game Tuesday night, with Sox ace Lucas Giolito going up against the reigning Cy Young award winner in the American League, Cleveland's Shane Bieber.

White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu wins American League MVP

Jose Abreu

For only the fifth time in franchise history, a White Sox player has won the American League Most Valuable Player award.

First baseman Jose Abreu received the 2020 MVP honor Thursday night, joining a short list in team history that includes Nellie Fox (1959), Dick Allen (1972) and Frank Thomas (1993-94).

Abreu has been a pillar of excellence his entire career. In five of his first six seasons with the Sox, he hit 25 or more home runs and had 100 or more RBIs. Those contributions went mostly unnoticed, as Abreu toiled for some truly terrible Sox teams.

But in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, the Sox turned things around. Abreu was part of a winning team for the first time, and the Sox qualified for the playoffs for the first time in his career -- that no doubt made MVP voters more likely to cast their ballot for him.

During the 60-game season, Abreu led the American League in hits (76), RBIs (60), slugging percentage (.617), total bases (148) and bWAR among position players (2.8). 

Abreu is only the fourth player in American League history to lead the league in BOTH hits and RBIs. His .317/.370/.617 slash line features career bests in all three categories. He finished with a team-best 19 home runs.

And I should add that Abreu appeared in all 60 White Sox games this season -- not a small consideration considering the injuries and illnesses that hit teams hard around the league in 2020.

For his efforts, Abreu was first on 21 of the 30 MVP ballots. Jose Ramirez of the Cleveland Indians got eight first-place votes and finished second. DJ LeMahieu of the New York Yankees got one first-place vote and finished third.

Among other Sox players, Tim Anderson finished seventh. He got one third-place vote. Pitcher Dallas Keuchel received one 10th-place vote.

Will Jose Abreu have to take bullets for White Sox on Tony La Russa mess?

The Most Valuable Player awards for 2020 will be announced Thursday. White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu is a finalist in the American League, along with Jose Ramirez of the Cleveland Indians and DJ LeMahieu of the New York Yankees.

All three of these men had excellent seasons and played for teams that qualified for the playoffs. The race for this honor is too close to call, frankly, and whichever one of these players wins will be deserving. I have no prediction.

But what if Abreu wins and needs to hold a press conference Thursday?

It's worth noting that no high-profile member of the Sox organization has spoken to the media since manager Tony La Russa was charged with DUI in Arizona earlier this week.

Jerry Reinsdorf, the man who created this mess by hiring La Russa, has remained silent. Nothing from general manager Rick Hahn, either, and certainly nothing from La Russa himself.

It's unfortunate that circumstances are set up to where Abreu -- who has been nothing but a good player and has represented the organization with class and pride during his seven years with the Sox -- might have to be the one who faces the media firing squad first to answer questions about the La Russa debacle.

If Abreu wins this award, he would be only the fourth Sox player in team history to achieve the honor -- and the first since Frank Thomas in 1994.

It would be one of his career highlights, and a historic moment in the history of the franchise. But it would be soiled because of this La Russa mess, and because the cowardly 85-year-old billionaire who owns the Sox doesn't feel he needs to answer for his decision-making.

This whole thing just stinks.

Jose Abreu, Luis Robert, Rick Renteria among finalists for postseason awards

Jose Abreu

White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu is a finalist for American League Most Valuable Player. Center fielder Luis Robert is a finalist for Rookie of the Year, and former manager Rick Renteria is a finalist for Manager of the Year.  

The BBWAA award finalists were announced on MLB Network on Monday night. 

Abreu seems to be the most likely of these three people to win. The other MVP finalists are Cleveland Indians third baseman Jose Ramirez and New York Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu.

Here's a side-by-side comparison of these three players: 

LeMahieu: .364/.421/.590, 10 HRs, 10 2Bs, 27 RBIs, 3 SBs 

Abreu: .317/.370/.617, 19 HRs, 15 2Bs, 60 RBIs, 0 SB 

Ramirez: .292/.386/.607, 17 HRs, 16 2Bs, 46 RBIs, 10 SB 

Abreu led the league in hits with 76. His RBIs and slugging percentage also were league-leading totals. LeMahieu led the league in both batting average and on-base percentage. Ramirez topped the AL with 45 runs scored. 

Robert's competition for the Rookie of the Year award includes Seattle Mariners outfielder Kyle Lewis and Houston Astros pitcher Cristian Javier. 

Here's a side-by-side comparison of these three players: 

Lewis: .262/.364/.437, 11 HRs, 3 2Bs, 28 RBIs, 5 SBs 

Robert: .233/.302/.436, 11 HRs, 12 2Bs, 31 RBIs, 9 SBs 

Javier: 5-2, 3.48 ERA, 12 games (10 starts), 54.1 IP, 36 H, 54 Ks, 18 BBs 

I think what hurts Robert here is his ice-cold September. He was hitting .298 when August ended, but then he hit .136 the rest of the season. Lewis might very well win because he didn't have a prolonged slump like that. 

Renteria is a finalist for Manager of the Year along with Charlie Montoyo of the Toronto Blue Jays and Kevin Cash of the Tampa Bay Rays. Cash led his club to a 40-20 record and an AL pennant. Montoyo's team got into the playoffs despite having to play its home games in Buffalo. Renteria went 35-25, but got fired after the Sox blew the AL Central the last week of the season and made a quick exit from the playoffs. 

I'm assuming Renteria finishes third.

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.

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.

When 'settling for a split' feels like the best possible outcome ...

Jose Ramirez

If you read or listen to recaps of this week's four-game series between the White Sox and the Cleveland Indians, someone may note that the Sox "settled for a split."

The phrase is commonly used when a team wins the first two games of a series, only to lose the last two. And that's precisely what the Sox did in this case.

Jose Ramirez hit a two-run homer off Kelvin Herrera in the bottom of the ninth inning Wednesday, lifting the Indians to a 5-3 win. Cleveland also won Thursday, 5-0, in a game that was shortened to five innings by rain.

Truthfully, the rain was a blessing for the Sox. Their bullpen didn't get have to pitch another three innings in a game that was a lost cause. Sox hitters, as is their custom, could do nothing with Carlos Carrasco. And Manny Banuelos is a long reliever (at best) being asked to be a starting pitcher on this team.

Predictable results ensue.

And that's pretty much the problem here. If you had asked me Sunday night if I would take a Sox split of this four-game series, I would have said, "You bet."

We've reached a point of hopelessness to where two wins out of four games is considered a rousing success. Let's not pretend the Indians are a juggernaut -- they are 20-16; they aren't going to win 102 games like they did two seasons ago.

It shouldn't be completely implausible for the Sox to take three out of four from this Cleveland team, and while they had two opportunities to do so, there was never any real feeling that they'd actually pull it off.

That's a reason why I refer to Sox fandom as being like a second job these days. The absolute best you can hope for is for the team to not embarrass itself. The Sox didn't embarrass themselves in Cleveland, so we gleefully "settle for the split" and get ready to watch a weekend series against Toronto.

Mookie Betts, Christian Yelich win MVP awards

Christian Yelich

The MVPs this season are both first-time winners, and neither of them is a surprise: outfielder Mookie Betts of the Boston Red Sox in the AL and outfielder Christian Yelich of the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL.

At the halfway point of the season, Yelich was not the front-runner for the award. But from July 8 on, he hit .367 with a .444 on-base percentage. His .770 slugging percentage after the All-Star Game was baseball's best in 14 years, and over 74 games, he totaled 25 home runs, 22 doubles and a 1.171 OPS.

The Brewers overtook the Cubs in the NL Central in a Game 163 and finished with a league-best 96 wins. Obviously, they do not accomplish that without Yelich's red-hot second half.

Yelich won the batting title with a .326 average. He finished tied for third in the league with 36 home runs, and his 110 RBIs ranked second.

Really, he was darn close to a Triple Crown, which made this vote obvious.

Yelich earned 29 of the 30 first-place votes -- the other went to New York Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom. The Cubs' Javier Baez had 19 second-place votes and finished second. Colorado's Nolan Arenado, who led the NL with 38 home runs, placed third.

As for Betts, he became the first player in MLB history to win a batting title in the same season in which he also had at least 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases. The right fielder's slash line was .346/.438/.640, and simply put, he was the best player on the best team -- the 108-win and World Series champion Red Sox.

Betts finished with 47 doubles, 32 home runs, 129 runs scored and 30 stolen bases. He's also the best defensive right fielder in the game, earning his third consecutive Gold Glove at the position this season.

Twenty-eight of the 30 first-place votes went to Betts. Runner-up Mike Trout appeared first on one ballot, and he got 24 second-place votes. Cleveland infielder Jose Ramirez placed third.

Perhaps Michael Kopech really does need more Triple-A time

Up until now, I've been a proponent of Michael Kopech getting an opportunity to continue his development at the major-league level.

However, the White Sox's top pitching prospect gave me pause with a poor performance Thursday night.

In Charlotte's 6-4 loss to the Norfolk Tides, Kopech walked eight, threw five wild pitches, hit two batters and threw only 35 of his 86 pitches for strikes. He struck out two and gave up two hits.

He only lasted three innings, and somehow, he only gave up five runs.

The control problems continue a trend for Kopech, who has had three uneven outings in row. Here is his composite pitching line from his past three starts:

11 IP, 12 H, 14 R, 14 ER, 17 BB, 14 K, 3 HBPs

OK, I'll relent and say general manager Rick Hahn is doing the right thing by keeping Kopech at Charlotte a little longer. However, I still believe Eloy Jimenez should have been promoted from Birmingham to Triple-A by now.

Indians 5, White Sox 2

I can't say Carlos Rodon's second start back from the disabled list Thursday was a bad one -- he didn't lose -- Chris Volstad took the loss in relief.

But Rodon was not sharp, so let's call the outing "laborious."

The left-hander went five innings, allowing two runs on two hits. He struck out four, walked three and hit two batters. A low point came in the third inning when he walked Yan Gomes with the bases loaded to force in the tying run.

We'd all like to see Rodon get deeper into games, but the score was tied at 2 when he left the game after five, so he gave the Sox a chance to win.

The Indians won, however, after Jose Ramirez broke the tie with a two-out, two-strike, two-run home run off Volstad in the top of the seventh. Volstad had a first base open, and he just got too much of the plate with his pitch.

I was frustrated with that outcome, because Edwin Encarnacion was the on-deck hitter for Cleveland in that situation. Although Encarnacion is an accomplished hitter, he is mired in a 2-for-19 slump.

I'd rather take my chances with him, righty-on-righty, than let Cleveland's most dangerous hitter (Ramirez) beat me.

Ramirez, in this case, burned the Sox, who settled for a split of the four-game series.

Chris Beck is terrible all the time, but especially against the first batter he faces

Full disclosure: Chris Beck is probably my least favorite 2017 White Sox player. I cringe every time he comes in from the bullpen. You're never going to hear me say a nice word about him.

And there's really no arguing with the fact that he's a bad relief pitcher. He's made 51 appearances for the Sox this year, and he's got a 6.42 ERA. Somewhat remarkably, he had a 3.41 ERA as recently as July 5, but he's allowed at least one earned run in 16 of his past 20 relief outings.

That's remarkable incompetence, given that relief pitchers often are asked to pitch only one inning. You would think a major league reliever would be able to provide a scoreless inning more often than four times out of 20, but Beck's horribleness defies logic.

Here's the thing that really bothers me about Beck: He cannot retire the first man he faces to save his life. In Monday's 5-3 loss to the Cleveland Indians, the first man he faced was Jose Ramirez.

Ramirez homered.

In Tuesday's 9-4 loss to the Indians, the first man Beck faced was Yan Gomes.

Gomes hit a three-run homer.

This is not a new trend. Beck has allowed 14 home runs in 54.2 innings this season. Seven of those homers have been surrendered to the first man he faces.

In 51 games, Beck has allowed the first man he faces to reach base 25 times. Those 51 hitters have gone 15 for 40 with the aforementioned seven home runs, eight walks, two HBPs and only three strikeouts.

The slash line for those 51 hitters: .375/.490/.950. That's a 1.440 OPS!

This is not an acceptable level of performance for any reliever, even one on a rebuilding team.

Cubs get away with two egregious mental mistakes, stave off elimination in Game 5

Anthony Rizzo

The 2016 Major League Baseball season will continue for at least another day, after the Cubs defeated the Cleveland Indians, 3-2, on Sunday night at Wrigley Field in Game 5 of the World Series.

Cleveland's lead in the series is cut to 3-2. Game 6 is Tuesday night in Cleveland.

The Cubs got this win with quality pitching. Jon Lester did what he is paid to do -- pitch well in big games. He limited the Tribe to two runs on four hits over six innings. He struck out five and didn't walk anybody. After a brief relief appearance by Carl Edwards in the seventh, Cubs closer Aroldis Chapman recorded eight outs to pick up the save.

It was not easy for Chapman. The Indians got the tying run to second base in the seventh inning, and they got the tying run to third in the eighth. Both times, Chapman turned them away. The hard-throwing lefty then worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning, striking out Jose Ramirez to close out the game.

The Cubs got three runs in the fourth inning off Cleveland starter Trevor Bauer, highlighted by a solo home run from Kris Bryant. Addison Russell had an RBI on an infield single, and David Ross added a sacrifice fly.

That said, I thought the Cubs were fortunate to get away with two egregious mental mistakes that just can't happen at this time of the season. One miscue was made by Anthony Rizzo in the fourth, the other by Chapman in the eighth.

After Bryant's home run tied the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth, Rizzo was the next hitter. He put a good swing on a pitch from Bauer and drove it to deep right field. He stood there, watched the ball, admired it, then slowly started to jog toward first base. Too bad the ball wasn't gone. It hit the wall, and Rizzo suddenly had to hustle to get into second base for a double.

The Cubs are fortunate Cleveland right fielder Lonnie Chisenhall made a poor throw back into the infield. Any kind of decent throw to second base and Rizzo would have made an embarrassing out. Rizzo later scored the go-ahead run in that inning on the Russell single, so if he's out at second base two plays earlier, that three-run inning doesn't happen, and it's anybody's guess whether the Cubs are still in the hunt today.

This isn't an isolated incident, either. Throughout these playoffs, we've seen Javier Baez, Willson Contreras, Jorge Soler and now Rizzo not hustle out of the box after making contact. That's embarrassing for your team, even if you don't get thrown out, when you're competing for a championship. It's also a poor reflection on manager Joe Maddon. If one guy pulls that crap, it's the player's fault. But when it's a team-wide thing, the manager better do something. The Cubs can't afford that sort of mistake if they hope to win two games in Cleveland. Next time, Chisenhall might make an accurate throw.

Chapman nearly cost himself the lead, too, when he failed to cover first base on a grounder to the right side of the infield by Rajai Davis. Rizzo made a terrific stop on the play, preventing the ball from getting down the right-field line for extra bases. But when he got up to make a feed to first base, Chapman was nowhere to be found and Davis was easily safe.

Davis led the American League with 43 stolen bases this season, and he predictably swiped second and third base after Chapman gifted him the infield single. From Day 1 of spring training, pitchers work on getting over to first base on grounders to the right side. For Chapman to fail to get a good break off the mound in that spot is inexcusable. It's inexcusable in any situation, let alone in the eighth inning of Game 5 of the World Series, with a one-run lead, in an elimination game with everything at stake. That miscue cost the Cubs three bases. It could have cost the game.

Fortunately for Chapman, he did have his best stuff on the mound, and he got Jason Kipnis to pop out weakly and struck out Francisco Lindor looking to strand Davis at third.

Again, though, that's a mistake the Cubs better not make once they get to Cleveland. I think the Cubs need to play not one but two clean games Tuesday and Wednesday in order to win this series.