The White Sox know exactly what’s in front of them: the Guardians again, only this time with a trip to the American League pennant series on the line.
Chicago took the season series 7-6, and most of those games were tight. But the Sox also got walked off three times, including in the second game of the final regular-season set. That one ended on a Brayan Rocchio double that was nearly caught by left fielder Sam Antonacci, and it was the kind of finish that helped Cleveland catch Chicago in the division race and eventually win the AL Central.
So yes, there’s plenty of bad blood here. The Sox are looking for payback, and Guardians players were heard talking some mess about Chicago while celebrating the division title. Sox fans, and presumably Sox players, aren’t exactly eager to forget September either, when Chicago faded and a scorching Cleveland club went 24-10 over its final 34 games and 9-1 over its final 10 to grab the division again.
If the Sox are going to flip the script, they’ll need more of what worked in Houston.
Chicago’s best offensive stretch came from a patient, disciplined approach. The lineup put balls in play, cut down on chases, and kept stringing hits together.
The strikeouts were still too high, but the overall plan played. Hard contact found holes, Houston made some mistakes, and a team that leans heavily on slugger-type damage still managed 13 runs in two days with just two homers.
That kind of balance matters here.
The Sox also need to keep the foot on the gas. In Houston, there were spots where they could have done even more damage and didn’t.
If they’re sitting on a 4-0 lead with the bases loaded, that inning has to keep going. A double play is how momentum slips away.
There’s no such thing as too many runs in October.
Getting out in front early would help too. Chicago scored in the top of the first inning in both games in Houston.
That isn’t mandatory, but it sure makes life easier. It settles the dugout, gives the pitching staff a little breathing room, and can quiet a home crowd fast in the first two games in Cleveland.
The pitchers have a job as well: attack the zone. Walks are always dangerous, and Cleveland has already shown how quickly they can turn them into pain.
That Rocchio walk-off would only have tied the game if a hitter hadn’t walked ahead of him. The Sox can’t afford to nibble.
The assignment against Cleveland’s best bats is clear. Steven Kwan and Jose Ramirez have to be managed.
Ramirez brings the thunder; Kwan keeps finding ways on base. If Chicago can keep Kwan from setting the table and keep Ramirez from doing real damage, the same way it handled Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez in Houston, that puts the Sox in a strong spot.
Rocchio and the rest still matter, but it gets a lot easier when the top of the order is under control.
Defense has to hold up too. The White Sox were mostly solid in Houston, aside from a Game 1 error that led to a run and made the late innings a little tense.
Cleveland, though, is built to punish mistakes. The Guardians play smart, and that’s part of why a lineup that wasn’t especially scary for most of the year suddenly caught fire in September.
And above all, the Sox need to treat this like October, not a replay of September.
What happened last month is over. Cleveland’s hot streak could cool off.
Chicago’s swoon is already in the past, and the Sox did win 7 of their final 10, even if it came against bad teams. This starts at 0-0 for both sides in a best-of-five.
The Sox can use the late-season collapse as fuel if they want, but they don’t need to drag those two losses in Cleveland from the final regular-season series into the room with them. Focus on the moment, and Chicago gives itself a real shot.
In Other News...
White Sox Linked To A Dream Ace Fans Wont Fully Believe
The White Sox spent this season trying to show they could move from rebuilding to relevant, and that naturally puts the focus on the kind of arm that can change a franchises direction. ESPNs Kiley McDaniel, citing MLB insiders, has floated Chicago as a potential sleeper in the race for free agent Tarik Skubal, a name that would instantly transform the conversation around the club if it ever got serious.
There is obvious logic to the fit. Chicago needs help in the starting rotation, and the recent postseason success gives the front office a more believable pitch than it might have had a year ago. The question, of course, is whether ownership would ever be willing to chase a deal that could climb into a range this steep, which is why the idea feels intriguing for White Sox fans and hard to fully picture at the same time. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Are Trusting A Rookie With Their Biggest ALDS Gamble
The White Sox are leaning on Hagen Smith again as they open the ALDS, handing the rookie the Game 1 start against the Guardians after he already handled the Wild Card stage against the Astros. Smith gave Chicago three scoreless innings in that outing, and now he gets an even bigger assignment as the club turns the page to a Division Series that begins on the road.
Cleveland will host the first two games before the matchup shifts to Guaranteed Rate Field for Game 3, which only raises the pressure on Chicagos early choices in the series. For a team already willing to trust a rookie in a high-leverage spot, the opening stretch could set the tone for everything that follows. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Playoff Run Just Delivered A Chicago School Incredible Surprise
Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvales friendly playoff wager ended up turning into a big day for a Chicago school. After the Houston Astros fell to the White Sox in the American League Wild Card Series, the bet kicked in and brought an unexpected reward for St. Gabriels Catholic School, which sits near Rate Field and now gets to be part of the postseason atmosphere.
All 190 students, along with some chaperones, will attend Game 3 of the American League Division Series between the White Sox and Guardians. The principal delivered the news to the students, and the reaction was exactly what you would expect from a group suddenly handed a trip to a playoff game - a rare, memorable surprise tied directly to a White Sox run that has already reached beyond the ballpark. [Read more 🡒]