Yesterday the White Sox were eliminated from winning the AL Central, as they lost 9-6 to the Colorado Rockies, while the Cleveland Guardians took care of business against the Kansas City Royals.
There are many, many games that you can look back at in the month of September that cost them the division, but fortunately they were able to still secure the third AL Wild Card spot. Unfortunately for the White Sox, the divisional win would have got them a bye and a chance to rest all their pitchers. Now, the White Sox will have a quick turnaround and play game 1 on the road on Tuesday.
The White Sox will play the winner of the AL West, which will either be the Houston Astros or the Texas Rangers. Unfortunately for the Rangers, the Astros have the tiebreaker so they will need to win and Houston to lose to make it in.
We will take a look to see how the White Sox fared against both potential opponents this season, as they played two series against each team. We now take a look at the potential matchup against the Texas Rangers.
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Unlike the Astros, the White Sox had a winning record against the Rangers, winning both series they played against them. Despite the White Sox having a 4-2 record, there is a 0 run differential in the season series with each team blowing the other out a couple times.
First Series (July 20-22)
In the first game of the series, the White Sox scored 10 runs behind a solid start from Erick Fedde, as he threw four innings of three run ball. The bats were alive as they had 13 hits and they cruised to a solid victory.
Game two was quite different, as they were beaten 10-0. Noah Schultz gave up five runs over 3 innings and the bullpen behind him gave up the rest. The bats were quiet as they only had three hits.
In the final game of the series, the closest of the bunch, the White Sox were victorious by a score of 4-2. Anthony Kay had five innings of two run ball while the offense was supplied by Andrew Benintendi and Chase Meidroth, who both had two RBIs.
This was a weird series for the White Sox, as this was one of Noah Schultz’s last starts before he was sent down to the minor leagues. This was also the series where the White Sox lost Kyle Teel for the second time this season. Despite that, the White Sox were able to still take the series pretty easily.
Second Series (Aug 24-26)
In the first game of the second series, the Rangers blew out the White Sox 11-2. Jose Urquidy gave up 5 runs in just three innings and the offense mustered up just five hits, as the only runs came in on a Tristan Peters home run.
In the second game, the White Sox got their revenge, as they won 11-7. Anthony Kay and Jordan Hicks combined to give up 7 runs in the first 5 innings, but the offense had 14 hits and were backed by three hits each by Tristan Peters and Chase Meidroth.
In the rubber match, the White Sox put up 10 more runs, winning 10-4. Sean Burke walked 8 batters in just three innings, but he somehow managed to give up just two runs. The bats came alive as Tristan Peters added three more hits.
This was the Tristan Peters series, as he helped the offense score 23 runs over three games. The pitching was bad, but they still managed to win games. This was an impressive series win for the White Sox team.
Wild Card Outlook
The White Sox match up significantly better with the Rangers, as they were able to beat them in the regular season. While the Rangers have more playoff experience, I would still feel much more comfortable playing the Rangers than the Astros.
The Rangers have a veteran staff that could perform well in the playoffs, but they were hit around by the White Sox in the regular season. If that trend continues, I would imagine that the White Sox have the slight edge in the playoffs series.
