It was a huge win tonight for the White Sox, putting another game between themselves and the Detroit Tigers. It also might allow them to build some confidence against Detroit, as they’ve lost the last seven games to them, and their mental state against them had to be down. Let’s dissect this one…
QUINTANA’S BIG DAY
Jose Quintana came up big tonight, making a lot of people forget his recent struggles (Credit: Bleacher Report).
This was, in my opinion, his best outing of the season given the circumstances. He’s been bad for about the past four or five starts, and he had many people (like myself) clamoring for a brief bullpen stint or shutdown period. However, he went out there tonight and just flat out dominated, going right after Detroit’s best hitters with great success. The best number was the two walks, as that was his achilles’ heel the past few starts. I couldn’t be more impressed with this guy.
BREAKING OUT OF IT
I could be wrong, but I have a feeling the RISP woes may have been busted through today. I really think the Alex Rios bomb off Rick Porcello may have shifted things for this team and given them a big emotional lift. Maybe we’ll now see the pressure in those situations lifted off their back a little bit and they won’t press as much. We saw it in the eighth with Beckham, as he looked more relaxed and didn’t miss a hanging curveball. How many of those did we miss over the past three weeks or so? Also, this team has been horrific against Rick Porcello the past few years. Maybe tonight bucked that trend as well.
HOME RUN OR NOTHING OFFENSE
Again, all of the Sox runs came courtesy of the long ball tonight. As frustrating as it may get at times, we all need to realize that they are what they are, and for most of the season, they’ve been pretty darn good at putting the ball in the seats. Up until these past few weeks, the offense has not been an issue really all season. Can an offense like this win a title? I’m not sure, but can it get you to the postseason? I believe so.
REFRESHING FOR REED
It was good to see Addison Reed have a 1-2-3 inning, even in a non-pressure situation. It should give him confidence down the stretch. Some people may think Reed shouldn’t be closing given his recent slide, and even I’ll admit I’ve started to think what other options we may have. The reality, though, is that no one else in that bullpen has done well of late either and this team is best with Reed pitching in the ninth. Believe it or not, this was his first 1-2-3 inning since early July! I guess it wasn’t “Advil Addison” tonight!
OMOGROSSO?
Robin Ventura will for sure take questions for electing to bring in Brian Omogrosso to face Miguel Cabrera in the eighth. I can understand why he did it, as Crain and Myers likely were unavailable given their recent workloads. However, I would have stuck with Quintana because of how he threw to Cabrera through the game. Fortunately, Miggy’s double didn’t kill us, as Donnie Veal came right in and got out Prince Fielder, continuing his quietly great campaign.
PEAVY V.FISTER
That is tomorrow night’s matchup, and I like it. The Sox have hit Doug Fister pretty well in the past, and I think Jake Peavy will be out to prove something after being roughed up the last time he faced the Tigers. He’s coming off of a good start against the Twins as well. Going into the series, I thought this matchup tomorrow would be the one game we should win. I have a good feeling about tomorrow night’s game and the rest of this series now.