'Heart and soul' Anderson comes through in clutch again
If this was a playoff preview, October is going to be a lot of fun for the White Sox.
It's also going to be stressful, but Tim Anderson is here to ease anxiety.
"He's so clutch," Sox starting pitcher Lucas Giolito said. "The heart and soul of our team. We can always count on him in any situation, especially a situation like that.
"He lives for the spotlight. He lives for those moments and he delivers."
Giolito could have been describing last year's playoffs, when Anderson was 9-for-14 in the White Sox's opening round loss to the A's.
He could have been describing last weeks's "Field of Dreams" game in Iowa. After closer Liam Hendriks coughed up a 7-4 lead over the Yankees in the top of the ninth, Anderson walked it off in the bottom of the inning with a 2-run homer into the cornfields beyond the right-field fence.
Updating the list, Giolito was lauding Anderson Friday night at Tropicana Field after the Sox's star shortstop sparked a 7-5 win over the Rays in 11 innings.
Much like winning the first major-league game ever played in Iowa, the White Sox had to recover after blowing an early lead.
"The game's never over," Anderson said. "We always play to the end."
Up on Tampa Bay 4-2 in the eighth inning in a matchup of two American League heavyweights, Craig Kimbrel was pulled with a runner on third and two outs.
Aaron Bummer relieved Kimbrel and the Rays pounced on the lefty for 3 runs to take the lead.
Lifting Kimbrel was a curious move by manager Tony La Russa, who was trying to take the pressure off a star arm who missed Wednesday's game against Oakland to attend his grandfather's funeral.
"At that time, as the inning was getting away, when it didn't work, I knew when I made the change that this was not something that was a good message to Craig," manager Tony La Russa said. "I knew it then. We won a great game. I'm being honest and telling you why I made the move in the end. Sending him that message was a mistake. So you can take it and run with it. I'm being honest and accountable."
Anderson was being his usual self. He hit a solo home run to tie the game in the ninth inning and put the Sox in front for good with an RBI single in the 11th.
"I trust my work," Anderson said. "I believe in my work and in those moments, the confidence is at an all-time high, always, that's from the work that you guys don't see. All you guys do is see me play, you don't see the work that we put in every day.
"That's definitely a huge confidence builder. So in those moments, it's game on. The moment is never too big, you just dumb it down and try to get the job done."