Last year, the White Sox had a chance to knock Cleveland out of the running with a late-September series in Progressive Field, only to get swept in four games. That set the course for a third-place finish and a first-round exit in the expanded 2020 postseason.
This time, the White Sox only had to win one game to settle matters, and they wasted no time taking care of business. For the first time since 2008, the White Sox are AL Central champs, and it's so much easier this time. Here's hoping this foreshadows further successes.
Tim Anderson gave the White Sox the lead three pitches into the game with a leadoff homer off Aaron Civale. He added another big fly as part of a three-homer second that gave the Sox 7-0 lead through two. Reynaldo López stranded a leadoff double for the appreciated shutdown inning, and the clinching was on.
The White Sox told Civale how little he had. While he limited the damage to Anderson's solo shot in the first, he had no escape in the second. Luis Robert greeted him with a leadoff homer, and he'd come to the plate a second time. In between, Eloy Jiménez made it back-to-back, followed by a Leury García single. After Gavin Sheets struck out, César Hernández followed with his own single to right to bring the top of the order back around.
That's when Anderson went deep for the second time. He rode Civale's high fastball out to right field for a three-run dinger and a 6-0 lead that basically settled matters. The Sox just refused to let Civale off the hook, drawing two walks and a Luis Robert wall-banging single for the seventh and final run.
López pitched to the score, giving up solo shots in the third and fourth. But he only gave up two other hits, he didn't walk anybody, and he threw 40 of 65 pitches for strikes over 3⅓ innings. He looked a little miffed when La Russa pulled him after Bobby Bradley's homer in the fourth, but the proactive course paid off. Garrett Crochet ended the inning with a double play, and Aaron Bummer threw a perfect fifth.
Craig Kimbrel had an adventure in the sixth, one that might've wracked some nerves had Bradley Zimmer's leadoff HBP not been erased with an ill-advised stolen base attempt, courtesy of Yasmani Grandal. He issued two other walks and didn't get a strikeout, but he still had a zero to show for his toil.
Liam Hendriks pitched the seventh, but only out of ceremony. He worked around a one-out single, capping the game with a strikeout and a scream. The on-field celebration was relatively muted, whether because there's still a lot of (post)season left, or because there's a Game 2 in a couple of hours. If it's the latter, at least they can take it easy.
Bullet points:
*The Sox didn't need Yasmani Grandal for power, which was good since he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
*Hernández went 3-for-3 at the bottom of the order, which paired well with Anderson's 3-for-4 at the top of it.
*Hernández and Yoán Moncada bobbled potential double-play balls in the sixth and seventh inning, but settled for one out to avoid errors.
*The White Sox are AL Central champs.
