Yankees 2, White Sox 1: Where has the offense gone?

Chicago started hot out of the box as Adam Eaton on a 0-2 count singled off New York Yankees starter, Adam Warren, to start the game. Followed with a steal to second and a single by Jose Abreu to give the White Sox an early 1-0 lead. After Trayce Thompson singled, that was the extent of the offense. One inning, and all three hits by the Chicago White Sox were consumed after the first. Seven of the next eight innings the White Sox went three up, three down in one of the worst offense performances of 2015.

John Danks, who has one more start in 2015 next week, pitched well enough for the White Sox to win, but after giving up a lead off single to Jacoby Ellsbury in the sixth began the downfall. Ellsbury stole his 21st base, and Chase Healdy hit a ground rule double to left centerfield. The next hitter, Alex Rodriguez, also hit a ground-rule double down the left field line and the Yankees took the lead for good, 2-1.

In his last 10 starts, Danks has pitched 64 IP, only allowing 56 hits and 27 earned runs. With more than a 2:1 strikeout to walk ratio (47 K's to 23 BB), the 5th starter has performed well down the stretch. However, the lack of offense today caused Danks to suffer his 14th loss of 2015.

In the last 10 games, the White Sox have only scored 26 runs, making fans wonder if the positional players have checked out for the remainder of 2015. Meanwhile, Yankees fans can start planning a postseason birth as New York is now more than four games ahead of Houston, Minnesota, and Los Angeles in the Wild Card standings. Tuesday, October 6th is the play-in game for the American League that New York would host. As for Chicago, Jeff Samardzija, Danks, and Jose Quintana are slated as the starters against the Kansas City Royals for the final homestand. Leaving Chris Sale's last start possibly on Friday, October 2nd against the Detroit Tigers. Just three strikeouts short of setting the all-time single season record for Chicago.

Bullet Points:

• With the 82nd loss of 2015, the White Sox now have three straight losing seasons. First time since 1997-99 in which the White Sox finished below .500.
• Jose Abreu now has 97 RBI on the season.
• Adam Eaton has reached on base 16 straight games.