Chicago White Sox: Taking an important series from the Tigers

The Chicago White Sox just won a series against a Detroit Tigers team that they desperately needed to beat. Things are looking up for this team.

The Fourth of July series was good to the Chicago White Sox. They know how much better of a team they are than the Detroit Tigers and they needed to take care of business. They did for the most part. In all honesty, I was disappointed that they didn’t sweep the Tigers. They aren’t good but a series win vs any Major League team is always a positive.

This was originally scheduled to be a four-game series with a double header in the middle, but the first game was postponed due to rain. That game will be made up at a later date. It is never fun when a game gets canceled but there was no way they were ever playing in those conditions.

They had a double header on Wednesday and the first game of the set was one of the most anticipated games of the season. It was the Major League Debut of White Sox top pitching prospect Dylan Cease. He had a really good debut, and one that hopefully starts many years of quality pitching from him.

He got off to a rough start in the first inning. He walked a few guys and hit a batter and that led to the bases being loaded. Then he allowed one lousy base hit and it scored two runs. He then would really settle down before the offense gave him a lead. He had an awesome game the rest of the way and left after five innings and the lead in the ballgame. His final stat line of 5.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 6 K was pretty much exactly what you would have hoped for out of one of your elite pitching prospects. Cease has a long way to go but he is ready to make the jump.

Eloy Jimenez, who was traded to the White Sox from the Chicago Cubs for Jose Quintana, helped chip in the offense that day and help the White Sox get a win at home! It is really looking like something that could turn out to be a franchise-defining trade. Thanks, Cubs!

The second game was a little less exciting going into it because the Cease day thrill had all the hype. But the way it ended was as amazing as any ending you could hope for. The White Sox erased a 5-2 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie the game. Then it was less than ideal when the Tigers took the lead in the top of the 10th and looked like that would be it.

Then Yoan Moncada vaporized a baseball in the bottom of the inning to keep the White Sox alive at 6-6. They would eventually get to the 12th inning still tied before Jose Abreu hit a walk-off home run to give the Sox a 9-6 victory and sweep the double header. it was an amazing day all around for White Sox fans.

The third game of the series on July 4th was a little less fun. The Tigers took over offensively in the fourth inning and really never looked back. They won the game 11-5 despite a two-run home run from Eloy Jimenez. Games like this are less than ideal but they happen sometimes, even to teams like the Tigers. All in all it was a good series for them and they took advantage of the momentum gained from a series win against the first place Minnesota Twins.

Now they have two games against the Cubs to close out the pre All-Star portion of the schedule. This is always a fun series and hopefully the White Sox can take advantage of a Cubs team that comes in 3-7 in their last ten games.