CHICAGO -- For a last-place team, the Chicago White Sox sure seem to play a lot of playoff-style baseball games.
That’s not to say the White Sox are playing playoff-worthy games just yet, but all the tight, back-and-forth contests the White Sox have found themselves in do resemble October, without the cooling temperatures and the crowd hanging on every pitch.
The White Sox had played 78 games heading into Sunday’s contest with the Baltimore Orioles, and a whopping 55.1 percent of them had been decided by two runs or less. That means the White Sox have been extremely competitive in 43 of their games this season.
The White Sox might be a disappointing 36-42 overall, even after a four-game winning streak, but they are 17-14 in one-run games, including a wild run of games where six of the last seven have been decided by a single run.
A limited offense combined with a solid starting pitching staff is generally the reason for the close and often low-scoring one-run contests, which can take its toll on a team.
“Close games, you are always sitting there trying to use the same (relievers) over again,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “You have to be able to mix in (Zach Putnam) and (Daniel Webb) and (Dan) Jennings and make sure you use those guys work, but it’s hard. Your starters are going deep into the game, and then you basically have two innings left to get it done.”
Putnam and Jake Petricka have continued to be as reliable as they were when they both burst upon the scene last season. New additions Zach Duke and David Robertson have been trusted to shut things down at the end, with Robertson converting on 18 of 22 save chances this season.
But it’s the rotation that has helped the White Sox become competitive of late after a disappointing start to the season. The starters still sit in the middle of the pack collectively in the American League with a 4.12 ERA, but starting with Chris Sale’s current historic run, the pitching is giving the White Sox a chance.
“Part of that is you like playing close games because you get a chance to win,” Ventura said. “You figure out your team in close games, and I think the guys responded (Saturday) great. You end up losing a two-run lead and come right back to score.”
The White Sox are, in fact, learning that every pitch, every play, every at-bat looms large in the grand scheme of things. If and when they are ever ready to become a playoff-caliber team, it will serve them well.
Those 17 one-run victories for the White Sox are tied with the St. Louis Cardinals for the second most in baseball (the Cubs lead with 19 one-run victories). And last week, the White Sox beat the Cardinals twice, once in one-run fashion when Sale was on the mound.
“We always seem to play close games,” Ventura said. “I don’t know if there’s ever been a time where we just don’t play close games.”