3 Keys for the White Sox' Must-Win Series Against the Guardians
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The White Sox lead the AL Central by only half a game, and they now happen to be visiting the very team trailing them.
Beginning with Monday's game, the Sox will have three chances to prove to the Cleveland Guardians that they're the better team in the division. What happens over the next 48 hours will be key to where the season goes afterwards.
The Sox will need to focus on a few things if they want to leave Cleveland in good shape. Regrettably, a lot of it has to do with areas in which they have struggled either lately or throughout the season. Reality won't hide, though, so here's what to keep an eye out for in the coming days!
1. Timely hitting needs to improve
The White Sox have shown they can hit the ball, but you never would have known that lately, especially in clutch situations.
In the past 14 games, there have been 17 times when they've had the bases loaded but gotten only one hit and four walks out of it. The scoring overall has disappeared, as they have scored only 15 runs over their past six games. None of that exactly screams playoff contender.
During their last two series against the Cardinals and Pirates, the White Sox are a combined 5-for-41 with runners in scoring position. If this team isn't blasting home runs, they have had an extremely difficult time touching home plate. The sooner that changes, the sooner they can lock in some postseason games at Rate Field.
2. Get length from Rotation
This one might not be so easy with Sean Newcomb opening for Sean Burke in the series opener, as well as with no starting pitcher announced for the finale yet.
Still, Burke, Davis Martin, and whoever gets the ball for the last game would serve their team well if they went at least five innings, preferably longer. It's been a tough year for the rotation, as it has pitched far and away the fewest innings of any other MLB rotation. But this is what happens when Will Venable continually goes through openers, coupled with constantly shuffling players in and out of that rotation.
At the end of the day, if the White Sox want to be taken seriously come October, they are going to have to piece together a legitimate rotation. You can't lean on the bullpen this much and expect to go on a run.
3. Win at least once to clinch tiebreaker
While it would be nice for the White Sox to take at least two games from the Guardians, the big picture says they only need to win once.
Yes, a single victory in this series would mean they leave Cleveland in second place. But it would also clinch the season series with the Guardians, and thus the tiebreaker for the division should the teams finish with identical records. Therefore, the mission for this series is as simple as not getting swept, lest they return home Thursday feeling they have almost no shot left at the postseason.
For what it's worth, here are the final series for both the White Sox and Guardians after this one wraps up.
White Sox: vs. Tigers (4), @ Royals (3), vs. Rockies (3)
Guardians: vs. Athletics (3), @ Red Sox (3), @ Royals
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After nearly eight years on newspaper night desks, Geoffrey began a lengthy tenure with Fighting Irish Wire to cover Notre Dame athletics for USA TODAY. He continues covering the Irish and other college football stories for The Voice of College Football. He also covers prep sports for the Daily Herald and Chicagoland Soccer, writes about Chicago sports for Da Windy City and helps run Chicago Bulls Confidential. He received a bachelor's degree from North Central College in 2011 and a master's degree from DePaul University in 2016. He hosts a World Series history podcast and hopes to visit every MLB stadium, so far having checked off 20 current ballparks and four demolished ones.
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