Well, this one was fun. Actually, a small portion of it was fun, but watching Dayan Viciedo’s go-ahead 3-R HR in the top of the 9th inning and Rios’ leaping catch to nail down the save for Addison Reed was enough fun for the entire night.
I could talk about how for most of the evening the team was in-opportunistic on offense, but I don’t see much of a point in doing that because, like I’ve said before, the team will break out of this funk; there are just too many reliable hitters all the way through the order for the woes to drag on much longer.
So, there are a few minor positive talking points I could bring up, such as Alejandro De Aza continuing to surge out of his slump, Adam Dunn’s impressive approach for the second straight game, or even the Tank being able to turn on a high heater to give the Sox the lead. But I’m going to discuss what I feel are the two main takeaways from Thursday’s game: Axelrod’s performance, and the momentum the team may be able to take from the dramatic win.
– Dylan Axelrod has been a solid prospect for the Sox for a while now, and many surrounding the team think he may have a future in the big leagues. Obviously, he’s nothing special, but he does have the potential to be a solid back-end of the rotation guy for a big league club. But to this point, Axelrod has not been too reliable.
Considering there will probably be anywhere from 4-8 more starts to pick up (due to Danks’ injury), the team needs someone they can turn to. With Zach Stewart (and possibly Philip Humber) already having failed with that role, the team needs someone to step up and tie that loose end. If it were to extend to more than one more guy, it could become a real concern, considering Danks is not a certainty for August and September.
Did Axelrod’s quality start bring an official end to all of that? No. But considering how impressive it is, as a rookie, to deal 7 innings and only yield 2 runs in Yankee stadium against one of the MLB’s best teams, it at least gives us more confidence that we have someone ready to step up throughout the next month-or-so.
– While the game lacked excitement for eight innings, Dayan Viciedo’s 3-run HR with nobody out in the top of the 9th certainly gave Sox fans something cheer about. Remember when the Sox lost to the Tigers earlier in the year by the score of 10-8 (after losing a 6-0 lead and almost making a comeback) and I wrote about how the valiant effort at the end of that game could give the Sox momentum going forward? Well, they’ve been pretty good since then.
Now, a while removed from that, the Sox could certainly use another boost. And I think Tank’s clutch home run may serve as just that. When WGN showed the dugout greeting Viciedo after the homer, you saw pure jubilation on everyone’s face. The team has bounced back from a poor two week stretch to win 5 of their last 6 games, so maybe they are getting hot right before the All Star break, which is always a good thing. Now sure, they could come out and stink it up sooner rather than later, but who knows, maybe they got some losses out of their system for a while and they’re ready to put some sustained success together. Let’s hope so, at least. This “HELL YES!” (Hawk voice) of a win certainly won’t hurt those chances.
What do you think is the biggest takeaway from Thursday night? Look to the post below for Thursday’s GSB White Sox Fan Poll to let us know!
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Posted by Founder and Managing Editor of GSB!, Zach Gropper. Go, Go White Sox!