Showing Me Up

That was certainly interesting. The three players I badmouthed yesterday—Yasmani Grandal, A.J. Pollock, and Yoan Moncada—all played a role in beating the Guardians yesterday, 8-2. Lance Lynn also had a hand in the win, giving up two runs in 6.1 innings. But, with Lynn, you kind of expect him to perform under pressure. The other three, not so much. Grandal had two hits, including one of five homeruns the White Sox clubbed pit of Progressive Field. He also called off Jose Abreu for an infield pop in the first inning and proceeded to whiff on the catch. That put two Guardians on with one out, but Lynn reached back to record two strikeouts. Like I said, he tends to perform under pressure. Grandal also showed, yet again, that he’s a detriment on the base paths. Josh Harrison hit what should’ve been a run-scoring triple in the sixth inning, but it turned into a mere double with Grandal “running” ahead of him. Guess who was too gassed to score? But I’ll gladly take the homerun. As for Pollock, he still had that Craig-Kimbrel-with-a-bat-thing going on, as evidenced by his 0-for-4 collar. But he did make two nice catches in the outfield, so there’s that. Which brings us to Moncada, he of the 4-for-5 day at the plate; three of the hits, including a double and a homer, came batting lefthanded. Now, let’s see him keep it up, unless he’s satisfied hitting .205 from his dominant side. Lest I forget, Gavin Sheets homered to cap a ten-pitch at-bat, and Andrew Vaughn followed by going back-to-back. All of the above needs to be on regular display through the end of the season. Anything less, and I was right.