There was a great meme on the White Sox's Reddit that summed up a lot of series during this period of little competition.
The White Sox completed the first two legs of the journey over the first two games of the series, opening with a resounding victory and then sagging to a one-run loss. With a 7-8-9 of Romy González, César Hernández and Zack Collins, nobody would've been surprised if the Sox dropped yet another series.
Thanks to a five-run fourth and a stout 5⅓ innings from Lucas Giolito, the White Sox didn't need Cleveland to help reduce their magic number, which is now down to 4.
Fortunately, the Sox only needed their customary one time through to figure out Jordan Lyles, who didn't survive the fourth. Yasmani Grandal kicked open the door with a solo shot for the game's first run to start the inning, and he'd come back around to draw a walk before the inning ended.
In between, Gavin Sheets slashed a double inside the left-field line, and Leury García's failure to bunt him over on his first two attempts merely opened the possiblity for a two-strike bunt single. García then took second on a wild pitch, which took the double play out of order and brought the infield in, which Hernández exploited with a two-run single through the left side and a 3-0 lead.
Zack Collins lined out, but Tim Anderson kept the inning alive with a single to right, and after Yoán Moncada loaded the bases with a walk, José Abreu dropped a single where Anderson did, and both middle infielders came around to score. When Grandal came to the plate again for the aforementioned walk, that was enough to send Lyles to the showers.
The lead was never really threatened, because while Giolito gave up six hits over his portion of the afternoon, five of them were singles, and he only issued one walk. He forced the Rangers to make him pay, and they went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. His pitch approach was balanced, and while he didn't really dominate with any one offering, he also kept the contact fairly light throughout.
The White Sox turned it into a true low-leverage affair in the seventh after the Rangers blew what should've been a fairly simple 3-6 double play on a Yasmani Grandal smash to first. Nathaniel Lowe's throw to second was late and wide, and too late to get José Abreu. He remained in scoring position, Gavin Sheets drew a walk, and after Tony La Russa replaced him with Billy Hamilton, both runners came around to score on Leury García's smash just inside the left-field line for a 7-1 game.
That made it a Mike Wright game as he appeals his suspension, and while Wright had stumbled in previous attempts to establish long relief, he survived a couple early singles to finish the last two innings with just one run allowed.
Bullet points:
*Moncada made a great play over third base by charging a chopper that hugged the line and making a quick, on-target throw.
*The White Sox lineup had more walks (five) than strikeouts (four).
*The White Sox finished the season series against Texas 5-1, and with a run differential of 19.
