White Sox Leaving Way Too Many Runners on Base at Pivotal Point in Season

The Chicago White Sox have struggled heavily on offense over the last handful of days, and it's opening a door in the AL Central.

Aug 22, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago White Sox right fielder Braden Montgomery (24) reacts after striking out during the ninth inning against the New York Mets at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The story most White Sox fans will take away from the team's 11-2 loss to the Texas Rangers is the rough outing from Jose Urquidy,

Making his first MLB start in three years, Urquidy threw 93 pitches in only three innings while giving up five runs. It was the complete opposite of the six shutout innings he threw to beat the Cubs in the finale of this year's crosstown series.

But in order to paint a bigger picture, one must also look at the timely hitting that has gone completely by the wayside. Over the past three games, the Sox are a combined 1-for-17 with runners in scoring position and have left 25 runners on base. The result is that they've lost two of their past three games, and that easily could have been one more win if the offense was able to come through just a little more often.

White Sox Offense Continues to Sputter

Aug 23, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago White Sox center fielder Tristan Peters (29) hits a single during the seventh inning against the New York Mets at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The White Sox have not had a single hit with runners in scoring position in either of their past two games. They were able to get away with that and win their last game because the New York Mets were no better at driving in runs. That was not the case with the Rangers, who are fighting for first in a putrid AL West and perhaps are miffed about the Sox recently winning the teams' series at Globe Life Field.

In the case of the Rangers' loss, there was no bigger instance of this problem than when the Sox loaded the bases with one out in the third inning of what was then a 5-2 deficit. But instead of getting a little bit closer, Colson Montgomery and Chase Meidroth both struck out, and Meidroth failed to trigger an ABS challenge on ball three that would have been overturned and walked in a run.

Maybe the Sox are just fatigued in the final days of a 16-game stretch without a break. Over the past seven days, they have been hitting only .202 as a team, which is the fourth-worst batting average in MLB during that span. While that doesn't paint a full picture of how they've done with runners on base, it nonetheless describes their offensive struggles in general of late.

It's hard to tell what will get the Sox out of their offensive funk, but they'd better figure it out quickly. The Cleveland Guardians are suddenly only 2.5 games out of first place in the AL Central after winning five in a row. If history tells us anything, that's one team you never want to give hope to.