Two strikes on White Sox in ALDS after falling 9-4 to Astros in Game 2
HOUSTON - There aren't many positives for the White Sox to take home after playing the first two games of the American League Division Series against the Astros at Minute Maid Park.
Tim Anderson did his best to find a few.
"Our backs are against the wall right now," Anderson said after the Sox lost to Houston 9-4 in Game 2 on Friday. "We know what we've got to do, we've got to take care of business. We have to keep fighting and keep pushing.
"We competed. We competed at a high level. We know things will get better."
That is very possible, because they can't get much worse.
The White Sox went through the motions while losing to the Astros 6-1 in the ALDS opener Thursday.
On Friday, they took the field with much more urgency.
Unlike Lance Lynn in Game 1, Sox starter Lucas Giolito was sharp early and the offense came to life and staked the right-hander to a 4-2 lead in the fifth inning.
That's when it all started falling apart.
In the bottom of the fifth, Giolito walked two of the first three Astros hitters he faced and was pulled.
Both runners came around to score after Garrett Crochet relieved Giolito and Houston regained the momentum after tying the game at 4-4.
"Maybe trying to do too much," Giolito said after pitching 4⅓ innings and allowing 4 runs on 3 hits and 5 walks. "I had a good idea it (the fifth) was probably my last inning and we had just put up runs. I wanted to get the shut down.
"It's a different environment here than what I'm used to, so I got some valuable experience today, just kind of reining it in and making sure the focus is on the target. I had too many waste pitches."
In the seventh inning, Houston erupted for 5 runs against White Sox relievers Aaron Bummer and Craig Kimbrel, again showing off baseball's best offense.
The big blow was Kyle Tucker's 2-run homer off Kimbrel, who has been a terrible fit with the Sox since coming over from the Cubs in a late July trade.
"This is a big-inning team," Astros manager Dusty Baker said. "It doesn't always work, but when it works it works great. You can't count on getting those runs off Kimbrel like that, so you take them when you can."
The only thing the White Sox took back to Chicago was hope.
"I feel good because of how we played today," Sox manager Tony La Russa said. "(Game 1) was kind of a different looking kind of game. Today we came out, we had two leads. The score to me is very misleading.
"Take the attitude, the effort level, the talent we've got and Sunday find a way to win. Then you're down one (game) and win another one. So it could be done. I'd rather be in their position, but I know our club. We'll put together a winning effort, hopefully."
If they do, it will be in front of the first playoff crowd at Guaranteed Rate Field since 2008.
"Nothing like being at home," Anderson said. "I can't wait to get back. I'm pretty sure the place is going to be rocking."