White Sox sweep the Royals in a four-game set!
In back-to-back series against the Kansas City Royals, the Chicago White Sox have brought out the brooms!
The beginning innings
Dallas Keuchel was rolling, and Matt Harvey was not doing too shabby either. However, by the time the third inning rolled along, Yolmer Sánchez doubled to open the inning, progressing to third on a sacrifice fly. Yasmani Grandal singled Yolmer home for a White Sox 1-0 lead.
The middle innings
Nomar Mazara, finding himself in this series, decided to double the lead with a double to left field in the sixth. Luis Robert, who walked and stole a base, scored.
After using 49 pitches to record five innings pitched, Dallas Keuchel felt some discomfort during his warm-up pitches in the sixth.
He left, after it looked like he had a shot for a complete game. Afterward, Keuchel said he felt some pain on the Cam Gallagher comebacker to end the fifth, and he felt his back tightening up when he went out for his warmups in the sixth.
Jimmy Cordero, pressed into action once again, was able to pitch a scoreless sixth on short notice.
The later innings
In the seventh inning, Grandal walked to start the inning. José Abreu followed Yaz's walk with a single, marking 20 consecutive games with a hit.
Think he can beat Joe DiMaggio's 56-game streak? He won't do it this year, we know that much.
Edwin Encarnación, someone who either homers or produces an out, secured his eighth long ball of the season to extend the Sox's lead to 5-0.
Unfortunately, Steve Cishek came into the game with one on and no outs in the bottom of the seventh and gave up a first-pitch, two-run shot to tighten the game to 5-2.
It was OK, though. Yolmer doubled for a second time in the eighth. After an out, Grandal doubled Yolmer home to extend the lead to 6-2.
Edwin had a very rare double-hit (the pitch hit his bat twice) yet dribbled a grounder through the middle to bring home Yasmani and restore the five-run lead at 7-2. Jarrod Dyson pinch-ran for Edwin, and Eloy Jiménez found the left-center field gap to double home Dyson, settling the game up at 8-2.
Alex McRae made his White Sox debut in the ninth; he recorded the last three outs.
Concluding thoughts
At 26-15, the White Sox are in first place in the AL Central. They continue to win against the teams they are expected to snag the wins against during this shortened season. This team is a playoff team. Time to keep the momentum rolling through September and into October. The White Sox, though not official yet, will make the playoffs this year. It's just a matter of which seed, but hopefully, the seed will be based off of an AL Central division win.