White Sox's power outage could end in Game 3
The White Sox boast a lineup with awesome power potential.
But during the ALDS, the Sox have shaped up as a singles-hitting club.
In two games, the Sox have 18 hits, all singles.
When asked about it, Manager Tony La Russa answered, "How many hits do they have out of the park?"
He continued, "When there's good pitching against you, it's hard to get the barrel on it."
Another disturbing trend is one that has surfaced throughout the season - runners stranded on base.
In just this series, the Sox have left 16 runners on base. During the season, the Sox finished sixth in the majors in that category with 1,111 left on base. Interestingly, the Astros finished third with 1,134, and during the ALDS stranded 13.
However, in the ALDS, the Astros have hit two key home runs and also had four doubles.
When the Sox have hit the ball hard enough for extra bases, they have come up empty.
La Russa said, "The one that crushed is the one Yasmani (Grandal) hit to right center that Tucker caught and had a nice play on."
So when will Sox begin to break out offensively?
Gavin Sheets thinks it will happen in Game 3.
"I think things will pick up (tonight)," he said after a Saturday afternoon hitting session in the cage at Guaranteed Rate Field. "This is a potent lineup, and obviously you got to give credit to their guys, (Framber) Valdez and (Lance) McCullers, for the way they threw the ball. They threw the ball great. Now it's our turn to turn it on here at home and get things going."
One thing that will help is playing at home.
"It's loud," he said. "The fans are rowdy. They're excited. They're passionate. And we absolutely love playing in front of them. We know that tomorrow night is going to be loud and it's something the fans have waited for and we have been waiting for a long time."
On facing McCullers, Sheets said, "He's got an unbelievable breaking ball and he had everything working in all situations. It's what aces are. Every team has an ace, and he was the ace of that club and he had great stuff."