Dallas Keuchel might be the White Sox's highest-paid starter, but it's probably best to think of him as the team's No. 5.
That's not the insult the label usually conveys. In this case, the White Sox have four starters who are all having good-to-great seasons. Keuchel got Cy Young votes last year, but he's merely middling in 2021. Such is life.
Anyway, if a No. 5 starter can get you into the sixth inning with a lead, you need nothing more -- especially when the previous day's starter went eight innings to rest the bullpen. Like most back-end starters, Keuchel is vulnerable to the Times Through the Order Penalty, giving up a .316/.387/.495 line to hitters in their third plate appearance against him.
Keuchel indeed took a one-run lead into the sixth tonight, overcoming a three-walk, two-run first inning to post four scoreless afterward. He opened the sixth by getting Mitch Garver to line out, followed by a weak groundout by Luis Arraez. Up came Miguel Sanó, and with Keuchel approaching the century mark, facing a guy with such immense power seemed like an unnecessary risk.
Keuchel trod carefully and walked him, bringing Willians Astudillo to the plate with Keuchel at 100 pitches. It still would've been a good time to go to that rested bullpen, but Keuchel stayed in and gave up a two-run homer to Astudillo that ended up deciding the game.
Now, one could argue that it shouldn't have decided the game. The White Sox were once again stifled by Griffin Jax, outside of back-to-back homers by Adam Engel and José Abreu that gave the Sox a 3-2 lead in the third. The Sox couldn't make a mess of his third time through, as Abreu led off the sixth with a double and didn't advance. Subsequent attempts to rally against John Gant, Tyler Duffey and Alex Colomé all fizzed. Tim Anderson created the White Sox's best chance when he drew a leadoff walk against Duffey in the eighth, but he strayed too far on Abreu's line drive to third and was doubled off.
But there are going to be games like this, and with a stacked bullpen that has Garrett Crochet doing mop-up work, Tony La Russa shouldn't feel bad about going to the bullpen in the sixth. Perhaps this is the kind of outing that brings quicker hooks down the line.
Bullet points:
*The White Sox struck out 11 times against just one walk, while Keuchel only struck out one against four free passes.
*César Hernández continues to impress defensively, turning a quick double play and making easy snags on hard-hit balls on both sides of second.
*Cleveland lost, so the White Sox still lead by 10½ games. They have not lost ground on any day in August.
