White Sox are 4 games back with 15 to play. Here come the Guardians.
On paper, the White Sox have the most talent in the AL Central.
By far.
When they return home Tuesday night, the Sox will play the division's best team.
That would be the first-place Guardians, who arrive at Guaranteed Rate Field holding a 4-game lead over the White Sox with only 15 left to play.
The Sox have a $197 million payroll, the seventh-highest in baseball. Headed by Tim Anderson, Jose Abreu, Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez, the lineup is formidable when healthy.
Unfortunately for the White Sox, their projected regular starting lineup has been together for only a handful of games due to injury, but that's part of the game.
On the pitching side, the rotation is deep and Liam Hendriks is an elite closer.
Cleveland's $67 million payroll ranks No. 27 in MLB and Jose Ramirez is their only player with name recognition.
Under manager Terry Francona, who has Hall of Fame credentials, the Guardians heated up at the right time and have won 12 of their last 15.
Ramirez leads the offense with 28 home runs and 113 RBI, the starting rotation and bullpen are solid and Cleveland knows how to take advantage of its standout speed.
"Those kids, they know how to play the game," acting Sox manager Miguel Cairo said of the Guardians. "They play good defense, they pitch, they put the barrel on the ball. They don't strike out that much so they're going to be a pain in the butt.
"They play the game the right way. That's what we've been doing. We've been doing that for the last couple weeks and look at the results. So we've just to keep doing what we're doing."
Under Cairo, who replaced Tony La Russa on Aug. 30, the White Sox are on a nice roll themselves.
Playing their most focused baseball of the season, the Sox are hitting home runs in bunches and they've won 13 of their last 18.
While La Russa's future as White Sox manager remains in doubt due to a heart issue, there's little doubt Cairo has brought some needed energy to the dugout.
Moving over from bench coach, Cairo is 13-6 as manager. He spoke bluntly to his players after a 9-7 loss to the Royals in his first game in place of La Russa and his words apparently struck a nerve.
"It was a similar message that Tony's been giving, it was just a different delivery," Hendriks said of Cairo's Aug. 30 talk. "I think it really connected with a couple of the guys, really connected with kind of making their mindset. Since that's happened, we've had more energy.
"We've got guys that are in the dugout a little bit more, guys that are out there supporting, they're running around. They're doing all these things a little bit more."
Unfortunately for the White Sox again, it looks to be a case of too little, too late.
Cleveland leads the season series against the Sox, 9-7. If the Guardians win one game at Guaranteed Rate Field, they'd claim the tiebreaker should they end the year with an identical record as the White Sox.
With the lockout and late start to the season, there is no 163rd deciding game this year for teams that tie for first place.
After Cleveland, the Sox finish up with three home games against the Tigers, three games at Minnesota, three at San Diego and three at home vs. the Twins.
The Guardians finish with three games at Texas and three at home against Tampa Bay before closing out by hosting Kansas City for six straight games.
For the three-game series this week, the White Sox's Dylan Cease (14-7, 2.16 ERA) starts vs. Cleveland's Aaron Civale (2-6, 5.40) Tuesday, Lance Lynn (7-5, 3.99) opposes Triston McKenzie (10-11, 3.08) Wednesday and Johnny Cueto (7-8, 3.09) starts vs. Shane Bieber (11-8, 2.83) Thursday.