The Chicago White Sox needed a sweep to have a realistic chance at surpassing the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central.
Instead, they were swept.
And now a team that had World Series aspirations is on the verge of missing the postseason.
The Sox entered Friday’s series opener against the Detroit Tigers trailing the Guardians by seven games — eight considering the Guardians own the tiebreaker — with 12 remaining after losing three straight at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Tuesday had a playofflike buzz, with the Guardians winning 10-7 in 11 innings. That victory secured the important tiebreaker edge for the Guardians.
The Sox never recovered, falling 8-2 in an uninspiring performance Wednesday and seeing a late rally come up short Thursday in a 4-2 loss.
The players looked at the larger picture.
“We’ve had our spurts of playing really good baseball, but it just wasn’t consistent enough,” right fielder Gavin Sheets said after Thursday’s loss. “It doesn’t come down to these three games for sure. I think we all would agree that we should have played better baseball, and it’s frustrating.”
The Sox have been consistently inconsistent for much of the season.
But they had a chance to get within one game in the division heading into the Guardians series if they would have won all three. And they didn’t get the job done.
Here are three reasons why the series got away from the Sox.
Whether it was an outfielder taking a spill, as was the case for Sox left fielder AJ Pollock on Tuesday, or an infielder not being able to complete a potential inning-ending double play, as was the situation for Sox third baseman Yoán Moncada on Wednesday, the Guardians were ready to cash in on chances.
Andrés Giménez made it to third for a triple in the second inning Tuesday after Pollock fell while going after the ball. Giménez scored on a one-out sacrifice fly.
The Sox scored three in the sixth to take a 3-1 lead, only for the Guardians to tie the game in the seventh with back-to-back walks issued by Jimmy Lambert at the start of the inning coming around to score.
The Sox rallied in the 10th, matching the Guardians’ two runs with two against top-notch closer Emmanuel Clase. But the Guardians pulled away in a five-run 11th, with the team’s final run coming when Amed Rosario stole third and scored on catcher Seby Zavala’s throwing error.
Acting manager Miguel Cairo blamed himself after the game, but Pollock was quick to say that wasn’t the case.
“I had a funky (defensive) play in the (second),” Pollock said. “Trying to make an aggressive play and got caught in a weird spot, and it was probably a double and it ended up being a triple, and the run that ended up scoring was a big run.
“A couple missed opportunities throughout the game. A couple defensive miscues. It was execution on our end for sure.”
Rosario set the tone Wednesday, grounding to third and beating Moncada’s throw to first. Rosario didn’t score, but it was an example of the pressure the Guardians apply on each play.
“You have to be very alert on every ball that they hit because they have very good speed,” Moncada said through an interpreter after Wednesday’s game. “You have to try to attack because you know they have speed and they can…
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