White Sox Fall Short of Sweep in Texas

Gavin Floyd pitched deep into the game while only allowing a single earned run, but the White Sox offense didn’t have it for the Sunday night finale in Texas. Rangers starter Scott Feldman didn’t walk anybody during his 8 innings and not giving a team baserunners pretty much always bodes well. His stinginess was rewarded as he successfully saved his team from another sweep at the hands of the White Sox.

White Sox (55-46): 0
Rangers (59-41): 2

Floyd loaded up the bases in the first two innings, but it wasn’t until the 3rd inning where an Alexei Ramirez 2-out error ushered in the first run for Texas. In the 5th inning Nelson Cruz lead off with a double, and would come home two batters later by virtue of a pair ground outs. The run scoring ground out could have resulted in an out at the plate but Adam Dunn had some difficulty getting the ball out of his glove and was unable to get it home in time. It’s hard to get too frustrated with the fashion in which the runs came, as Floyd was offering up scoring opportunities at plenty of other points and the Rangers just didn’t seem interested. 5 walks were issued by the Sox starter while only one hitter struck out by his hand. I suppose you could say that he “battled” through this start.

The White Sox offense wasn’t dead, as they did manage 7 hits, but without any walks and clustering of hits, nobody was able to come around and score. Obviously, some power from any player would have been appreciated and likely to have changed the result of the game, but sometimes the hits are just scattered. Nobody looked terribly overmatched and some balls were even hit hard. More than this game being lost, it just didn’t get won.

Plus: Floyd didn’t get lit up and that’s always a concern coming in. Any time Gavin takes the mound fans are nervous about whether they are going to see good Gavin or bad Gavin. Tonight we got something in between but it beats seeing the guy who serves up homeruns to anybody who asks politely.

Minus: With sharper defense this one could have gone to extras, or at least forced the Rangers to bat in their half of the 9th. Alexei’s bobble that allowed the first run was a clear error, and though Dunn’s inability to get the ball out of his mitt quickly couldn’t technically go as an error, it certainly afforded the Rangers an extra run. If either one of those hadn’t happened, the other would be much more anger inducing, but they both occurred and it’s safe to say it just wasn’t the White Sox day.

Player of the Game
Gavin Floyd – .116 Win Expectancy added

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