The Chicago White Sox had two opportunities to finish off Cleveland in front of their home crowd. They lost both, allowing 18 runs while watching a 2-0 series lead disappear. Now they're headed back to Progressive Field, where their season will come down to nine innings.
There are plenty of places to point fingers. The bullpen certainly hasn't helped, particularly during Thursday's six-run sixth inning. But Chicago's pitching wouldn't have to be nearly perfect if its lineup stopped making life so easy for Cleveland's pitchers.
White Sox hitters are giving away too many outs
Thirty-one strikeouts in two games. That's what Chicago's lineup produced in Games 3 and 4.
Nineteen on Wednesday. Twelve more Thursday.
For a team trying to close out a playoff series, that's a ridiculous number of at-bats ending without putting the baseball in play.
The White Sox have now struck out 54 times in four ALDS games, an average of 13.5 per contest. That's not a recipe for winning many postseason games, especially when Cleveland's pitching staff has figured out how to attack this lineup.
And the Guardians aren't doing anything particularly mysterious.
They're getting ahead, expanding the strike zone and watching Chicago hitters chase pitches they have little chance of driving.
The White Sox don't need to reinvent their offense before Saturday. They do, however, need to recognize what Cleveland is doing and stop falling into the same traps.
A strikeout with nobody aboard is one thing. Repeatedly striking out when there's an opportunity to move runners or put pressure on the defense is another.
Chicago has been guilty of both.
Getting on base has to become the priority
The most frustrating part of Thursday's loss was that Chicago actually did a better job reaching base.
The White Sox drew eight walks and finished with a .386 on-base percentage. That's considerably better than Wednesday's .316 mark.
And what did they get for it?
Five runs and another loss.
Chicago stranded 12 runners Thursday, repeatedly failing to capitalize on opportunities that could have changed the game.
It's not enough to draw walks if the next three hitters are going to swing through pitches or chase balls outside the zone.
That's the problem Venable needs to address before Game 5.
The White Sox have enough power to change a game with one swing. Nobody is suggesting they abandon that part of their offense. But trying to hit every pitch 450 feet isn't going to solve anything.
Sometimes the best at-bat is a walk. Sometimes it's a single that keeps an inning alive.
And sometimes simply putting the baseball in play forces an opponent to make a play instead of walking back to the dugout after another strikeout.
Cleveland has benefited from far too many of those easy outs.
Saturday's Game 5 comes down to Chicago's approach
Here's the part that should concern White Sox fans.
Chicago has already shown it can beat Cleveland on the road. The White Sox won the first two games at Progressive Field, so returning there shouldn't be some impossible assignment.
But the lineup that opened this series needs to show up again.
Venable can't swing the bats for his players. He can, however, emphasize the importance of getting into favorable counts, laying off pitches outside the zone and making Cleveland earn its outs.
Because if Chicago strikes out another 15 times Saturday, it probably won't matter who takes the mound.
The White Sox don't need a dozen runs to win Game 5. They need enough productive at-bats to give their pitching staff a reasonable chance.
Get runners aboard. Make contact. Force Cleveland to defend.
It sounds simple because it is. Doing it with a season hanging in the balance is another story.
Chicago spent months proving it belonged in October. It would be a shame to watch that season end because its hitters couldn't make the necessary adjustments when the games became most important.
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