It has been a very trying season for the Chicago White Sox. Of course, they didn’t go to the playoffs because of how terrible they were. At 61-101, they weren’t even close. Things are very bad on the south side right now.
One of the reasons they were so bad this year was the fact that they couldn't score runs. They lost Jose Abreu during the off-season and it showed this year. He is now a member of the Houston Astros who came into this year as the defending World Series champions.
For the seventh straight year, the Astros are in the ALCS. They are going against their in-state division rival in the Texas Rangers. This has been an incredible series so far. Texas won the first two games and then Houston has now won the last two.
This most recent win by the Astros on Thursday night came largely because of the play of Jose Abreu. He has been incredible all October long and it continued in game four of the ALCS. He was a huge contributor to this one.
The Chicago White Sox should have never let Jose Abreu get away.
Abreu had one hit and it was a moonshot home run with two men on base (3 RBIs). He also had two walks and two total runs scored in the 10-3 victory. Now, after coming all the way back, Abreu and the Astros have to be feeling very good about themselves. This is a brand-new series.
After watching these playoffs and how awesome Abreu has been in October, it makes the White Sox look so bad. They didn't build many playoff teams around Abreu because the wrong people spent the whole time making bad decisions. He could have been this playoff version of himself in Chicago but the Sox chose not to help him do that. It is a shame.
Now, we will see this tied series be broken one way or another on Friday night. The Texas Rangers will look to bounce back in this one but it might be hard now that the momentum is on the side of the defending champions. We'll see what Abreu and company are able to do from here.