By Woodrow Carroll
In the 2018 season with five games remaining, the Chicago White Sox record was 62-95. The White Sox would have had to drop their final five games of the season to reach the not-so magic 100-loss season. To their eternal discredit, the Sox did just that to finish 62-100.
This season, the Sox will not drop 100 games. Through Sunday the Sox were 63-80, 25 games behind first-place Minnesota and in third place in the American League Central.
At one point early in the season, the Sox record was 34-34 and the talk was about the team’s turnaround from last year. Sadly, the turnaround didn’t stop at 180 degrees and the team has gone in reverse for two months.
Jose Abreu drove in one run Sunday in a 5-1 victory over the visiting L.A. Angels. The RBI gave Abreu 112 on the year to surpass his career-high RBI total of 107 set in his 2014 rookie year. Abreu led the American League, had hit 31 home runs, and was third on the Sox with a .281 batting average.
Abreu, 32, spent 10 seasons playing top-flight baseball in Cuba, all with Cienfuegos, before joining the Sox.
A 20-victory season is a bit of a stretch for pitcher Lucas Gioloto. He was 14-8 through Sunday.
Hope for next season continues, however, with the development of the young players.
The Sox will be on the road Friday, Sept. 13 through Sunday, Sept. 22, in Seattle, Minnesota, and Detroit. They will return home for the final week of the season Tuesday, Sept. 24 for games against Cleveland and Detroit.