Today's going to be a bullet-point recap. I was painting in the basement, and between Ed Farmer, Darrin Jackson and the fumes, I might not have the most accurate reading on the events of today's game.
*The Indians once again swept the White Sox, this time in extra innings, even though Robin Ventura pulled out all the stops. He used Nate Jones in the ninth and David Robertson in the 10th, and when Rajai Davis led off the inning with a double and moved to third on a sac bunt, Ventura called for two intentional walks, then brought in the fifth infielder for Carlos Santana.
Santana had a chance for a second walk-off in the series, but he popped out. Alas, Robertson followed by getting Jose Ramirez to hit a hard grounder to the right side. Jose Abreu got low with a slide, but the ball took a funny hop and cleared him by plenty for the game-winner.
*Abreu might not have been able to corral it if he were standing, but it was kinda dumb that the game ended on a weird defensive play, as the Sox played sterling defense to close out eighth and ninth. Brett Lawrie made two sliding plays -- the latter of which saved Jones the loss in the ninth -- and Melky Cabrera gunned down Francisco Lindor at third the inning before. Add in a tricky catch by Tim Anderson on a deep pop-up, and the Sox were doing everything they could with the gloves.
*Not so much with the bats. The usual suspects contributed offensively, as Abreu struck for an RBI double in the first, and Cabrera added a solo shot in the fourth.
*Anderson, Adam Eaton, Abreu and Cabrera combiend to go 6-for-18 at the top of the order. The bottom five went hitless over 15 at-bats, although they did draw five walks among them.
*Abreu and Cabrera couldn't come through in the eighth, though,after Eaton struck with a one-out double to end Carlos Carrasco's day. Facing Bryan Shaw for the second straight day, Abreu popped out and Cabrera grounded out.
*Adding to the frustration, both times the Sox scored, Carlos Rodon gave the runs right back. Rajai Davis once again tormented the Sox by scoring the first run after a leadoff single, and Juan Uribe answered Cabrera's solo blast with one of his own.
*Otherwise, Rodon was fine, throwing 66 of 99 pitches for strikes over 6⅓ innings. He limited the damage from eight hits and a walk by striking out eight.
*The bullpen can't catch a breather. One day, they need to pick up 6+ innings. The next day, extra innings.
*Davis went 4-for-5 with two doubles, two stolen bases and two runs scored.
*The White Sox are now 2-7 against the Indians after six straight losses.
Let me know what I missed.
Record: 33-36 | Box score | Highlights