White Sox Morning BP: Making life tough on contenders

Sep 16, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Chicago White Sox shortstop Alexei Ramirez (10) is congratulated by team mates in the dugout after scoring in the seventh inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

The past few series with teams in contention for the MLB Postseason, the Chicago White Sox have made life tough on those said contenders from the American League.

A couple weeks ago the White Sox took three of four games in a series with the Oakland Athletics, and just last night they became the team that officially eliminated the Tampa Bay Rays from the postseason.

Sure, the White Sox are already eliminated as well, but playing spoiler is kind of fun too. Also, the White Sox defeated the Kansas City Royals in a game last week, and they are in a VERY tough competition for the AL Central title with the Detroit Tigers. There are still a combined seven games left to play against the Tigers and Royals.

Yes, winning right now is hurting the draft position for the White Sox in 2015, but unlike some other MLB teams who are out of contention, what I love about this group of players is this … even with the White Sox having no chance at the postseason, they make watching baseball fun in games that ultimately don’t matter.

That goes a long way in my book.

Also props to another solid outing by Jose Quintana Friday night. The left-hander pitched a strong 7.1 innings, allowing three runs (one earned) on nine hits and no walks. He struck out six.

Quintana is now 9-10 overall with a 3.22 ERA on the season.

At the plate it was a nice showing by Alexei Ramirez, who helped the White Sox to their 70th win of the season with a 3-for-5 performance at the plate, including one run and one RBI.

All-in-all a good night for the White Sox, and now we’ll have to wait and see what happens today with Hector Noesi (8-9, 4.38 ERA) against Chris Archer (9-8, 3.58 ERA) on the mound.

Should be a nice matchup.

Thoughts on the White Sox?

Chicago White Sox Morning BP: Making life tough on postseason contenders

By Stephen Forsha | Sep 20, 2014