Sunday afternoon’s game was a frustrating loss. It started off fast, but was slow from there on out. And I mean really slow. After the Sox scored 2 runs in the first, they were shut down for the next eight innings, while really only threatening one more time, in the third inning.
Still, it led to a split of a 4-game series against the red hot Yankees in the Bronx, which is not something to be ashamed of.
Here are my two takeaways from today’s ball game:
– Gavin Floyd “did not have his good stuff, but he did have his good competitiveness,” as Hawk Harrelson put it. He labored through 5.1 innings, letting up four runs on just two bad pitches that resulted in two 2-R homers. And it should be noted that Chavez’s was merely a pop-out in any other park. So no, Gavin didn’t pitch “well.” But he also didn’t pitch bad, and he certainly gave the team a chance to win, especially in that ballpark. Considering the fact that he has been so good in his last two starts, I’m not worried about him at the moment. As I’ve said in the past, Floyd has put early-season struggles behind him to perform very well in the 2nd half of seasons time and time again. Considering it at least looks like he may be on track to do that once again, a loss in which he had mediocre numbers at Yankee Stadium shouldn’t turn out to be a huge blip on the radar. I think he can take positives from this game and go in to his last start of the 1st half with a decent deal of confidence against the Blue Jays next weekend.
Photo By RAY STUBBLEBINE : REUTERS
– The offense has been as inconsistent as it possibly could be. I’ve noted time and time again that I’m not worried about them because there’s just too many experienced boppers throughout the order, and I’ll stick to that. The inconsistency can only improve, and the strikeouts can only decrease. Phil Hughes had Gordon Beckham and Dayan Viciedo’s numbers today, and it was at bats like those that made his start look a lot more dominant than it was, in my opinion at least.
All of the luck fell to the Yankees in this one, too. If our well hit balls went to right field instead of left-center, we would’ve been on top. It just wasn’t our day, Sox fans.
So the White Sox are now 1.5 games ahead of the Indians and 3 in front of the Tigers, which still is a good thing, as the south siders sit in first place with just six games left before the All Star Break. Stay tuned on GrabSomeBench.com for an Interactive Fan Poll about Gavin Floyd and much, much more!
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Post by Founder and Managing Editor of GSB!, Zach Gropper. Go, Go White Sox!