Chicago White Sox: Sunday’s win amplifies expectations

The Chicago White Sox went into Sunday’s game in a 1-1 series split with the Cleveland Indians. They won a big game on Friday night and lose a crazy 12-11 game on Saturday night. This is the first series that followed the MLB Trade Deadline which added some serious intrigue. Sunday’s showdown was the rubber match as each team wanted to have that series win so bad.

The strength of the White Sox this season has been the pitching. The starting rotation has been wildly good for them and the hope is that this will continue. However, this game featured something different. The Sox made a roster transaction before the game that changed everything.

Billy Hamilton is hitting the 10-day IL because of an injury. In his place, they called up Jimmy Lambert from AAA and announced that he would be the starting pitcher for the Sunday game. It was a bit worrisome but he was so good. He went 3.0 innings so he was more of an opener than a starter but he got the job done. He gave up two hits and one of them was a solo shot that gave Cleveland a 1-0 lead.

From that moment on, the pitching shut the door. Lambert was replaced by Reynaldo Lopez who also went 3.0 innings ad was fabulous. He had 4 strikeouts and no walks in that span. Aaron Bummer then shut the door for an inning in preparation for what we have been waiting for since the Trade Deadline ended.

The Chicago White Sox needed to take this series from the Cleveland Indians.

Craig Kimbrel made his second appearance in a row with the White Sox but it was in the 8th inning this time. He played the role of setup man and was lights out. Liam Hendriks came in and was dynamite himself. Unfortunately, after those two were finished dominating, the game was still tied at one.

In the bottom of the 9th, however, the White Sox put the win in the books thanks to a walk-off home run by Brian Goodwin. He flipped his bat like nobody has ever seen and ran the bases with pride. It was a huge moment for the White Sox this season.

This win amplifies the expectations of this team going forward. They always had high expectations but they should be even higher now. With the bullpen that they have to follow up an elite starting rotation, they should win a lot of games down the stretch and have a chance in the playoffs.

The White Sox are off on Monday but will then start a three-game series with the Kansas City Royals. Following that is a big series with the Chicago Cubs. It is a week against teams that this White Sox team should beat so hopefully, they keep it going.