Better Angels

This is what it’s come down to for White Sox fans—hope for three in a row. Either way, depending on the play or pitch. At least that’s how it went for me last night. A.J. Pollock led off last night’s game in Detroit with a single and moved to third on a single by the next batter, Andrew Vaughn. Pollock’s making third base easily, and I’m thinking, we sweep the Tigers! The thought hardly has time to take shape before Vaughn gets thrown out trying to stretch his hit into a double. Enter doubts. Up comes the next batter, Luis Robert, who immediately answered the question I often asked Clare when she went fishing for outside pitches: And where would that go if you managed to make contact? Why, to the first baseman on a pop out, of course. Two out just like that, and I’m thinking, Go, Tigers! Lo and behold, up comes Jose Abreu, who must’ve come across my calling him old and in steep decline. Boom, two-run homer, and I’m back onboard the we-sweep-them bandwagon. Then Lance Lynn gives it all back in the bottom of the first and coughs up the lead in the bottom of the second. Go, Tigers! Then we score five runs in the fifth and sixth, with Danny Mendick picking up another RBI. Go, Sox! Then Tony La Russa brings in Bennett Sousa after Kyle Crick walks two batters in the sixth. Both runners score, and I’m starting to feel bad again. Then Abreu hits another two-run homer in the ninth. Sox win 9-5, and we definitely have to sweep. So, maybe our first baseman isn’t over the hill; I certainly hope not. But tell me why he’s on the field in the bottom of the ninth inning. You put out your best defensive team late in the game; that’s what I learned long ago in Strat-O-Matic and from watching Al Lopez manage. But not your 2022 White Sox. No, Adam Engel comes in for Vaughn in right field, and Vaughn sits. Sorry, but if you want to win games, Vaughn shifts over to first. But enough negativity. Better to think sweep, until and unless the Tigers prove otherwise.