Chicago White Sox at the break? It could be worse
The reality is the White Sox pulled into the all-star break Sunday with a 41-45 record, tying them with the Cleveland Indians for last place in the AL Central.
The perception in the Sox' cramped postgame clubhouse following a 3-1 loss to the Cubs at Wrigley Field?
Things aren't nearly as bad as they seem. Or nearly as bad as they were.
Two weeks ago, the White Sox led the Tigers 4-0 in the eighth inning at Detroit. They lost 5-4 and dropped 10 games under .500.
Even with the loss to the Cubs on Sunday, the Sox won 9 of 12 to close out the first half and are feeling pretty good about themselves.
“To take two of three from a team like that is pretty good,” center fielder Adam Eaton said. “Taking two from the Cardinals, (3 of 4 from the) Blue Jays. We're playing some good baseball and beating some good teams. I wish we didn't have the all-star break, to be honest with you.
“Continue to play good baseball on a roll, but we'll take the three, four days we have and rest up and hope to make a big push in the second half.”
The Sox' pitching staff — particularly the rotation — made a big push over the final two weeks, with the starters allowing just 20 earned runs in 84⅓ innings (2.13 ERA).
The overall defense, sparked by resurgent shortstop Alexei Ramirez, also has perked up.
“We played well the last two weeks,” manager Robin Ventura said. “We had a good run at it going into the break. We played well, we pitched well, we played defense and scored some runs when we needed to. Today, we just ran into a really good pitcher. We didn't get much going offensively.”
The White Sox managed just 1 run on 2 hits against Cubs right-hander Jake Arrieta, who pitched a complete game. Carlos Sanchez led off the sixth inning with a double, moved to third base on Jose Quintana's groundout and scored on Eaton's safety squeeze bunt.
That was it for the offense.
“(Arrieta) throws that cutter really well, throws the sinker really well, he throws any pitch in any count,” Eaton said. “He keeps guys off balance, works both sides of the plate and has some power stuff in mid to high 90s. That cutter-slider that he puts up there, I think it's a cutter.
“It's like low 90s and most of the time with good movement. It's tough on lefties, and when you can run it away from righties, that's pretty tough as well. On top of that, he hit a homer. He did it all today, so hats off to him.”
Once again, Quintana (4-9) kept the White Sox in the game and had nothing to show for it. The left-hander pitched 7⅓ innings and allowed 3 runs on 8 hits, including Arrieta's solo home run leading off the fifth.
“I'm not happy because we lost,” Quintana said. “I try to make a quality start, but it was a tough game and we lost, so it's not fun. Try to keep going and play for the next one.”
The Sox have scored 2 runs or fewer in 14 of Quintana's 18 starts this season.
“He always pitches good,” Ventura said. “He had the rough first inning and the homer to Arrieta, but other than that he always seems to give you a chance. He doesn't always cave in to the fact that we haven't scored much for him or the no-decisions. He just goes out and pitches.”
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