The Chicago White Sox had a nice start to their game on Monday night. In fact, they were one out away from having a nice finish too. Gavin Sheets, Tim Anderson, AJ Pollock, and a few others helped them get out to an 8-2 lead going into the 9th inning.
Unfortunately, they allowed the Cleveland Guardians to tie it and win it in the 11th inning. Josh Naylor hit a game-tying grand slam in the 9th inning. He also hit a go-ahead and eventual game-winning three-run home run in the top of the 11th.
It was an amazing showing from Naylor who carried the Guardians on his back. The White Sox absolutely blew what should have been their seventh win in a row. They are now back down to .500 with a 14-14 record.
That was a really bad loss. However, it was just one loss. Everyone, including Liam Hendriks and Ryan Burr, need to forget about it. Naylor had a career game and deserves credit. His celebration after the go-ahead run was electric factory.
Naylor even made a spectacular pick at first base after Jose Ramirez made a great play at third base to keep Adam Engel from having the game-winning hit. It was a truly special performance from him in this one.
The Chicago White Sox needs to forget that this game ever happened.
The best part about baseball is that tomorrow is another day. They will have Lucas Giolito on the mound. It will be very important to see how this team does in response to what just happened. We have seen them play very well lately and now it is time for them to get back to that.
This team’s defense has been brutal. They committed some big errors in the ninth inning that allowed the Guardians to pick up some momentum that led to the comeback. If they don’t clean that up, they will allow opposing teams to hang around in games that they shouldn’t.
A problem that is developing is that they are 3-10 against the American League Central Division. They were criticized in 2021 for dominating those teams but now they wish that was their problem. That needs to get corrected in short order otherwise it’s going to be a long season.
There are two more chances to take care of the Guardians at home. Following that are three games with the New York Yankees at Guaranteed Rate Field. This is a great White Sox team that has shown what can happen when they play well. Hopefully, this was just a blip (and a bad one at that).