Going into Tuesday, the White Sox were coming off of two of a baseball player’s favorite things: a win and an off day. While the club did drop 3 of 4 to Boston over the weekend, they were able to salvage the final game of that series behind Gavin Floyd’s strong performance.
With the next opponent being the AL Central-leading Cleveland Indians, the Sox knew it would be huge to start off the Central division matchup on the right foot. And while the Indians got on the board first, the White Sox did not let that get in their way.
There was a 56-minute rain delay before first pitch Tuesday night.
A.J. Pierzynski tied the ball game with a big home run in the bottom of the 2nd, and Gordon Beckham gave the Sox the lead when he led off the bottom half of the 3rd with his first home run of 2012. After that, the White Sox did not look back, as they went on to win the game by a score of 7-2.
All around, it was a great game for your White Sox, looking like the superior team throughout the game’s entirety. But like always, there were a few main positives that we can put a finger on, so let’s take a closer look into those.
First of all, the Indians did not look like a first place team. They made more than a handful of bad plays on defense, from dropping pop ups to not covering a base when they had to. With the White Sox, Indians, and Tigers now in a 3-way tie atop the AL Central, the south siders should definitely be happy about where they stand. While just one game above .500, the Sox are 2-1 against the Tigers and 3-0 against the Indians. Yes, it’s a very small sample, but it’s the good start that every team wants to get off to against division rivals.
Indians' Jason Donald dropping a pop up in the 3rd inning
Second, Chris Sale continued to dazzle. The youngster went 6 impressive innings, yielding only 3 hits and 1 run to the Tribe. Strangely, it wasn’t a stand out performance, it was a quiet one that will probably fly under the radar. Yet I think that makes Sale look even better to us White Sox faithful. Even when he isn’t striking out lots of batters and having a highlight-worthy performance, he can still dominate. As I’ve said before, this kid is the real deal, and in case you were worried about having to wait on him to settle into the rotation, well, don’t.
Last but not least, White Sox second baseman Gordon Beckham deserves some credit for his 3-4 offensive performance. He did it all at the plate, as he sent his first home run to the bleachers in left field, hit a rocket for a base hit into right field, and also took a tough pitch the other way for a base knock. It was only one game, but he looked confident, comfortable, fundamentally sound, and consistent with his swings. After one or two more games you never know, I might be back on “Grab Some Bench!” talking about how Gordon just doesn’t look good enough. But for someone who has struggled so much for so long, he deserves credit when he has a game as good as he did Tuesday night.
Beckham raised his average to .190 with the strong performance
It’s been a while since we’ve seen the White Sox come out with confidence and swagger at U.S. Cellular Field, but if they can continue to do so against AL Central foes, positive posts will continue to roll in.
For now, all we need to hope for is a “W” tomorrow evening to lock up the series win against Cleveland. Until then, follow me on Twitter at @Grab_Some_Bench for great White Sox thoughts and analysis.