Chicago White Sox: Five games that ruined the 2022 season

Cleveland Guardians 10, White Sox 7 – September 26th, 2022

This game took everything out of the 2022 Chicago White Sox season.

This was it. The Sox had gotten hot in September, going 12-5 heading into a key series at home against the Guardians. They still had a chance at the playoffs, however slim. There was a playoff atmosphere for this game.

The game was close early, with the Guardians leading 1-0 until the sixth. The Sox plated three runs in that frame, thanks in part to a throwing error by Amed Rosario but Cleveland fought back to tie it in the seventh.

The Sox used a Jose Abreu RBI single to come back from a 5-3 deficit in the 10th inning but then Cleveland got five runs in the top of the 11th. A Pollock two-run home run wasn’t enough.

Chicago’s season wasn’t over yet, but the Sox seemed deflated by the loss. They dropped the remaining two games in the series. Not only were they swept but they lost eight in a row, effectively ending the season and Tony La Russa’s time with the Sox – if not his managerial career.

With the playoff hopes dead, all the Sox had to play for was to avoid a losing record. Which they did by finishing 81-81. A perfectly average and mediocre .500.

If the Sox hadn’t dropped these five games, they’d obviously have had a winning record. Perhaps flipping these five and a few more would have been enough for a playoff berth. Instead, the Sox limped out of 2022 as a .500 team. Here’s hoping 2023 is much better.