The White Sox are a flawed team. It was evident in the first inning on Friday night when Carlos Correa reached second base as center fielder Luis Robert misplayed his single. Robert did leave the game later because of lightheadedness, but it's not clear if that affected him on that play.
One batter later, Byron Buxton reached base when shortstop Tim Anderson fielded a hot grounder but rushed a throw when he had time to get set. There was another Buxton grounder that deflected off the heel of Anderson's glove in the eighth. There have been frequent outbursts of this from the Chicago defense all season.
The White Sox pitching staff has been more volatile than the Twins'. And they have a handful of players who are designated hitter/first base types. It's reflected in the minus-26
run differential they carried into Friday night's game at Target Field.
For all of Chicago's flaws, it is now just three games behind the Twins in the AL Central following their 6-2 victory on Friday. And the White Sox are back to .500, at 45-45.
Just in case there are a few of you out there who haven't heard, I grew up in Chicago and the White Sox were my favorite team as a young baseball fan. However, I have not harbored any favoritism toward the Pale Hose in quite some time.
What's troubling is what Twins fans are thinking about their side these days. Because if they blow the division title, it will be because of events over the past month during which they allowed Chicago and Cleveland to have hope.
The White Sox have been unable to get out of their own way for most of the season, with manager Tony La Russa taking heat for some of his strategies in addition to the shenanigans on the field. But they have won the first two games of this series and have former Twin Lance Lynn teed up Saturday, followed by Dylan Cease, their best starter, going Sunday.
