In just about every other season, racking up a majority of your wins against two teams would be a recipe for disaster. A club that pounded a couple of divisional rivals might top out at 75 wins. Barely win each season series, and it might be challenging the Cleveland Spiders for haplessness.
But in a 60-game season where only two of six divisions are on the schedule, a team can selectively pound its way into the postseason. The White Sox are following this path of least resistance all the way into October. After hammering the Royals for a 9-1 record in the 10-game season series, the White Sox did the same to Detroit. Throw in a 3-1 record against the equally overwhelmed Pittsburgh Pirates, and the White Sox are 21-3 against these three teams, and 9-13 against everybody else.
And that's fine! It's better than the alternative, which is beating the snot out of a team and not making the postseason. The Indians finished three games out of the second wild card spot despite going 18-1 against the Tigers last year. The checks still cash the same, so don't feel guilty about exchanging the money for goods and services.
Besides, the White Sox had a decade's worth of damage to make up for, as series against the Tigers had been largely unkind until Detroit decided to tear it all down.
| Year | Wins | Losses | RS | RA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 5 | 13 | 62 | 111 |
| 2012 | 6 | 12 | 69 | 84 |
| 2013 | 7 | 12 | 76 | 90 |
| 2014 | 9 | 10 | 80 | 85 |
| 2015 | 9 | 10 | 68 | 80 |
| 2016 | 7 | 12 | 80 | 101 |
| 2017 | 10 | 9 | 103 | 98 |
| 2018 | 7 | 12 | 78 | 92 |
| 2019 | 12 | 6 | 113 | 86 |
| 2020 | 9 | 1 | 70 | 28 |
| Total | 81 | 97 | 799 | 855 |
When the White Sox played Detroit for the first time in 2020, they were in fourth place, 1½ games behind the second-place Tigers. Patrick expended an unusual amount of energy in his preview and on Twitter labeling Detroit as "really bad" and "trash," never mind what the standings said.
After the end of the season series, it looks like time well spent. Some might argue that both the Tigers and Royals might be more competitive had they never played the White Sox, since both teams are .500 or better against everybody else. Alas, all the games count, and it's way better to be on the heavy side of the ledger for once.
THE GAMES
- Aug. 10: Tigers 5, White Sox 1
- Aug. 11: White Sox 8, Tigers 4
- Aug. 12: White Sox 7, Tigers 5
- Aug. 17: White Sox 7, Tigers 2
- Aug. 18: White Sox 10, Tigers 4
- Aug. 19: White Sox 5, Tigers 3
- Aug. 20: White Sox 9, Tigers 0
- Sept. 11: White Sox 4, Tigers 3
- Sept. 12: White Sox 14, Tigers 0
- Sept. 13: White Sox 5, Tigers 2
DEFINING HITTERS
*Tim Anderson: It's only a shame that Anderson missed one of the matchups due to injuries, but he made up for his absence with the other nine. Anderson finished the season series an astonishing 20-for-39 against Tiger pitching, which served up five of his seven home runs on the season. That's good for a line of .513/.548/.975. If Anderson wins the batting title, it might get the same scrutiny as the 1910 Chalmers Award. Also, let's not forget this neat little redirection.
*José Abreu: Likewise, if Abreu wins Major League Baseball's RBI title, we can look at his 17 RBIs over 10 games against Detroit, including three-run homers in consecutive innings during the 14-0 romp. If only he wasn't deprived of an opportunity to hit with the bases loaded for a chance at padding that total further...
*Eloy Jiménez: He made a late run at Anderson's OPS crown against Detroit with the final series. He went 7-for-12 a double and two homers, the first of which made Casey Mize's no-hit bid a moral victory. Considering Comerica Park was the site of some of his greatest professional struggles, he might have taken this personally.
*Jeimer Candelario: The Tigers posted a .567 OPS against the White Sox as a team,with Candelario the only one providing a well-rounded threat .He hit .270/.325/.514 against the Sox with four doubles, a triple, a homer and three walks over the 10 games. That comes after a .989 OPS against the Sox last year, so he's building a case for Most AL Central consideration.
*Miguel Cabrera: He commands enough respect to draw five walks over 10 games, but that's about all he could do. He went 5-for-34 with no extra-base hits, although he did steal his first base since 2015 against Lucas Giolito and James McCann.
DEFINING PITCHERS
*Lucas Giolito: He struck out 13 Tigers over seven shutout innings in the first of his two starts of this series, including nine consecutive changeups at one point. He needed the White Sox offense to bail him out of his attempt at an encore, but still -- nine consecutive changeups!
*Alex Colomé: As much as Colomé is known for overly dramatic ninth innings, he managed to record four saves in four tries without allowing a baserunner on his own. A Yolmer Sánchez is the only mark on his record.
*Reynaldo López/Dane Dunning/Jonathan Stiever: It's pretty clear by now that the White Sox see the Tigers as a soft (re)introduction for White Sox pitchers who need confidence.
*Matthew Boyd: The White Sox were never awestruck by Boyd's stuff, even during his brief peak as an analytic darling and a dark-horse Cy Young candidate. They took it up a notch by greeting him with back-to-back homers in both of his starts, which is a first.
*Casey Mize: He looked decent in his MLB debut against the Sox and carried a no-hitter into the sixth his second time around. He could be a problem around which the Sox need to plan over the next five years.
DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS
*Home runs: The White Sox outhomered the Tigers 20-7 over the 10 games, with both columns contributing to their league best totals in both columns (78-44). There's more to write about this, but I think I'm going to wait until after this four-game set against Minnesota, since the Bomba Squad has a way of correcting things.
*Bullpens: Nine different White Sox relievers pitched in the season series without allowing a run. Sure, you had some inconsequential garbage-time appearances from guys like Alex McRae and Bernardo Flores Jr., but Colomé, Jimmy Cordero, Matt Foster and Evan Marshall combined for 16 appearances without a run between them. Conversely, the White Sox scored 19 runs against Detroit's bullpen from the sixth inning onward.
*Dallas Keuchel: He didn't pitch all that well during a quality start, but his criticism of his club's lackluster effort against the Tigers on that day ensured that they wouldn't dare drop another game to Detroit the rest of the way.
