By Woodrow Carroll
What happened to the Chicago White Sox team that opened the this season by winning six of their first eight games? The White Sox won two of three games each from Detroit, Seattle, and Tampa Bay, to start the season
After falling to the Minnesota Twins, 6-4 in 10 innings Sunday, April 24, the White Sox record was 6-9. The defeat at Minnesota was the seventh straight Sox defeat.
Five consecutive defeats composed the longest losing streak for the Sox in 2021 when the Sox faltered five straight games the third week of June. If a defeat can be painless, it was the five-game bump. The Sox record went from 43-25 to 43-30.
The White Sox never had a bad month in 2021. From April through three games played in October to close out the regular-season schedule, the White Sox came up with a winning record each month. Okay, toss in a 1-3 playoff record against Houston and the Sox were only 3-4 in October.
• The Sox, through Monday, still were 1 1/2 games behind first-place Minnesota, 8-8, and in a tie for third place with Detroit, each 6-9.
The Chicago Cubs were 7-9 through Monday and in fourth place in the five-team NL Central Division, 2 1/2 games behind first-place St. Louis.
At the start of this week, the White Sox had five April home games remaining: Three games with Kansas City starting Tuesday of this week, then the Los Angeles Angels Friday and Saturday to close out April. The Sox would need to win five straight games to secure a winning record for April to keep the monthly winning streak alive. Four victories out of five by the Sox through Saturday would the leave the Club at .500 for April.
Thanks to Bryon Buxton’s three-run home run in the 10th inning to overcome a 4-3 Sox lead to give Minnesota the victory Sunday, the Twins moved into first place in the AL Central with an 8-8 record.. It is early in the campaign and wins and losses are magnified.
• The schedule does the White Sox no favors this season.
Not that it is a pick-and-choose situation! Teams from the American League Central are paired against the National League West this season. It means that the Sox will play the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers, among other NL West teams along the way. The Giants and Dodgers won 107 and 106 games, respectively, last season. Both teams are off to strong starts this season.
The Dodgers will be the first foe from the NL West the Sox will play this season. Three games will be at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago, June 7-9, between the Sox and the Dodgers, and should attract many fans. As for the Giants, the Sox will be in the San Francisco Bay area, July 1-3.
• Games between the Sox and Cubs have lost some of their luster. The two sides will play two games at the Cubs in Wrigley Field, May 3-4. Then, it will be two games on the South Side, May 28-29.
• Major League Baseball is not static, and, that certainly applies to the schedule.
The White Sox have a quirky schedule to finish the regular season. Three games will be in Minnesota, September 27-29, then three road games, September 30-October 1-2, will be in San Diego to conclude the road schedule. The regular season will conclude with three Sox home games against Minnesota, October 3-5.
The three-game series in San Diego will be the first time the Sox will close either the home or road portion of a season with a National League opponent.