With a walkoff victory to conclude the Baltimore Orioles series Wednesday of last week followed by another walkoff victory over the Boston Red Sox the following evening, the Chicago White Sox were on a roll. The positive feeling was quickly dissipated.
The opening game in a four-game series with the Red Sox Thursday, May 2 went to the White Sox when Nicky Delmonico cracked a three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Sox a 6-4 victory.
With a 14-15 record, the White Sox then faced former-pitching Sox ace Chris Sale Friday evening. Sale came into the game with a 0-5 record.
Sale was masterful in a 6-1 Red Sox victory. In his time with the White Sox, Sale’s record was 74-50. The Friday victory moved Sale, in his third season in Boston, to a 30-17 record.
Though painful, the tough loss to a pitching ace like Sale was easy enough to comprehend. The final two games with Boston, however, were tough on the sporting psyche for the White Sox.
The Red Sox won 15-2 and 9-2 in the final two games.
After the 6-4 victory over Boston Thursday, May 2, the White Sox were outscored 30-5 the final three games in the series. The White Sox fell to 14-18, record, then rebounded with a 9-1 victory at Cleveland Monday to improve to 15-18.
Both the White Sox and Chicago Cubs were home last weekend. Both teams were up against formidable opposition. The White Sox played defending World Series champion Boston, the Cubs played host to National League Central rival St. Louis.
Surprisingly, the White Sox outdrew the Cubs Sunday, 36,553 to 36,499.
Although the Sox took a backward step against Boston, the Cubs clicked on all cylinders against the Cardinals. A three-game sweep of St. Louis improved the Cubs’ winning streak to seven and left the Cubs in first place in the NL Central one-half game ahead of the Cardinals. The Cards won Monday and Cubs lost to lowly Miami so the rivals switched places in the NL Central.
Abreu was two-for-four Sunday to lift his average to .291. Abreu’s sixth-inning home run, No. 8, raised his AL-leading RBI total to 33.