White Sox stage big rally in ninth to edge Indians
The White Sox are staying patient for the time being, but the clock is running.
"I think April's early, but at the same time you can see enough signs of concern without improvement that it becomes a problem even though it is still early," Sox general manager Rick Hahn said. "It usually takes a team 60 games or so to show its true identity. That doesn't mean you ignore what happens in the first 10, 20 or 30 games. But in terms of things all settling in, it usually does take a couple of months, That said, we want to see more signs of progress and fewer mistakes."
The White Sox looked very much like the same team that stumbled out to a poor start Monday night through 8 innings against the Indians at U.S. Cellular Field.
In the ninth, the Sox came alive and they rallied for a 4-3 win over Cleveland.
Trailing 3-0 entering the ninth inning, Alexei Ramirez hit a 2-run double and later scored on pinch-hitter Gordon Beckham's RBI single.
Melky Cabrera's one-out single with the bases loaded scored Tyler Flowers to complete the comeback.
Scoring runs has been a huge problem in the early going, and the Sox couldn't do much against Cleveland starter Trevor Bauer, who scattered 4 hits over 7 shutout innings.
Entering the first of three games against the Indians, the White Sox ranked 13th in the American League with 38 runs scored while batting .238 as a team.
"You'd like to have more (runs)," manager Robin Ventura said. "We have guys that really haven't got off to that great a start. The trust is in what you've seen them do before and as a collective group get in the groove and getting on base and doing the things you expect. As of right now, early on we haven't really seen the consistency."
Sox starter John Danks allowed 3 runs on 6 hits in 6 innings, including solo home runs to Ryan Raburn and Brett Hayes.
Check back later for more details on the White Sox' comeback win.