The 2026 Chicago White Sox have been making magic and creating memories with their home games at Guaranteed Rate Field on Chicago's South Side. They have seven walk-off wins and a home record, as of this writing, of 28-14. Yet, on the road, they are a miserable 17-26. And it all feels worse after a heart-breaking loss to the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday. The Guardians came back to walk the White Sox off on the strength of a Brayan Rocchio walk-off home run off of Grant Taylor.
The ball was just fair, striking the foul pole. Worse, from a White Sox perspective, was that Taylor had walked the lead off man. Had there been no one on base, the homer merely would've tied the game and the Sox could've tried to get three outs in the bottom of the ninth and head to extras.
I don't have the numbers in front of me, and I am not sure they're even tracked, but lead-off walks have been a problem for the Sox, especially when closing out games on the road. I've been critical of Seranthony Dominguez, who appears to have, at least for now, lost the closer role, but he's been far from the only offender. Last night, obviously, it was Taylor -- who has been moved closer to being the closer (sorry) in part because his numbers in high-leverage situations have been better than Dominguez. Dominguez has appeared to be rattled when runners get on base -- be it by free pass or, as in the last game of a bad series in Detroit, a series that ended with the Sox being swept, when a baserunner reached first on a controversial call.
The ninth inning exposed Chicago's biggest road problem
Sure, sometimes pitchers issue walks when a umpire has a tight strike zone, but it looks, at least to me watching on TV, that some Sox pitchers have been afraid to challenge opposing hitters on the road during tight ballgames. A fear of getting batted around and, eventually, walked off, is understandable, but nibbling around the corners and issuing walks actually opens up an easier path to victory for the opposition than forcing them to string together base hits does.
To be fair, it's possible that some nights, whatever pitcher is on the mound with the game on the line just doesn't have his stuff. Happens over the course of 162 games. But it's happened a bit too often to the Sox, which is why some fans, this author included, are wondering if bullpen help can be acquired either from the minors or at the trade deadline.
Thursday's loss was a gut-punch because of the first-place race, although there's enough time remaining in the season that even a Guardians sweep, while devasting, wouldn't be a playoff killer. Especially in this era of expanded playoffs, and especially with the American League having a down year.
There's also the Cleveland-Sox rivalry. It's been dormant in recent years, and there have been times over the years where another AL Central team has been the villain. Think of the "piranha" Minnesota Twins in 2008. But oldheads like myself will remember Cleveland nearly derailing the 2005 season, or those '90s Cleveland teams that were just loaded.
Back to the future, I mean present, the reason that Thursday's loss stings so much, beyond its meaning in the pennant race, is that the Sox were starting to look better on the road. They won their first road series since visiting San Diego in May, as they took two of three from the Baltimore Orioles. Yes, the Orioles are bad this year, and yes, the Sox laid an egg in the third game. But Chicago looked good in the two victories at Camden Yards
There's yet one more reason Thursday's loss sent your author to a group text to fire off a fairly unhinged diatribe. The Sox looked flat to start, as ace Davis Martin didn't have his command couldn't find the strike zone. Chicago was down 2-0 before I even had a chance to turn the TV on, and when I did, Martin was being yanked after loading the bases. I mentally prepped myself for a loss and figured that Sox would concede this one.
But Chicago came back and took a 5-2 lead. Unfortunately, Cleveland chipped away, and the Sox also frittered away chances to get insurance runs with bad baserunning. Chase Meidroth's decision to tag from second to third on a fly ball to center was particularly egregious - Cleveland center fielder Steven Kwan has long been known to have an accurate arm, and the ball wasn't hit very deep.
Oh, and Taylor's lead-off walk to Rhys Hoskins in the bottom of the ninth was just one of nine, count 'em nine, walks. That's too many walks.
In sum, the Sox looked to be cooked early, came back, appeared to be in position to win despite the walks and base-running gaffes, and despite the Guardians' ability to narrow the lead to just one run. Taylor has been pretty good all year. Two batters later, Sox fans everywhere were throwing phones and cussing at their TVs. I did neither -- I was washing dishes and trying valiantly, and successfully, not to drop the plate in my hand.
It all comes down to mentality. The Sox have confidence at home. The crowd is behind them. Good things have happened at the Rate, especially in the bottom of the ninth. But on the road, the Sox seem to get a "here we go again" mindset when something bad happens. Or Sox pitchers get a bit skittish, so worried that strikes will turn into hits that they don't attack.
One frustrating loss shouldn't erase recent progress
Again, that's one big reason Thursday stung so much. The Sox seemed to shed these problems in Baltimore, a place that had been a house of horrors for the South Siders in recent years. Obviously, the Sox have turned over the roster and the Orioles aren't the same up-and-coming team they were very recently, but it was still heartening to see Chicago perform well. Especially by taking games that were tight early and wrestling control and going on to win.
It's a little too easy to overreact to one game, or even one series. So I will try to avoid suggesting that the young Sox aren't ready to get on Cleveland's level yet. Especially since the Sox took two of three from the Guardians just last week at home -- and probably should've had a sweep.
But I will say that if Chicago wants to truly be a playoff competitor this year, it needs to win on the road, and to do that, it will need confidence and aggression -- though not the kind of aggression that got Meidtroth thrown out on the basepaths. The trip to Baltimore seemed to show that the Sox finally understood that. But there was a step back against Cleveland.
A recurring theme about these Sox is that they don't get too high or too low, that a loss like Thursday won't leave a stench that lingers. Hopefully, that's the case, and a confident, fearless Sox team bounces back against the Guardians -- and travels that way for the rest of the season.
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