Chicago White Sox: Five games that ruined the 2022 season
By Tim Healey
Cleveland Guardians 12, White Sox 9 – May 9th, 2022
The Josh Naylor game was a terrible one for the Chicago White Sox.
This is the Josh Naylor game. The Sox seemed on cruise control and appeared to be pulling out of the nosedive that started the season.
The Sox started 6-2 but lost eight in a row. They finished April 8-12, lost the first game in May, and then won six in a row to get to 14-13. With leads of 4-1, 5-1, 5-2, and 8-2 in the eighth, it seemed the Sox would earn an easy win and maybe right the ship. No such luck.
After Andres Gimenez hit a solo homer to start the ninth, two Sox errors allowed Naylor to hit a game-tying grand slam. Naylor would then hit a go-ahead three-run shot in the 11th inning. He had eight RBIs in the game.
The Sox had a chance to win it in the ninth but Jose Ramirez made a backhand stop. Naylor made a nice stretch at first base to record the out – the final one of the inning.
“Brutal,” manager Tony La Russa said after the game, according to the AP and ESPN. “Had a chance to put it away. That’s just a brutal loss, to give up six runs like that and a couple of chances to win offensively. It’s a tough loss. It’s as tough as you’re going to have.”
It was one of several brutal losses in 2022.