Barring extra innings, the Chicago White Sox have 27 outs to work with in their effort to even the American League Division Series against the Astros on Friday afternoon in Houston.
The Sox are counting on right-hander Lucas Giolito to get them back into the series with a strong start in Game 2. They need a better collective performance after a 6-1 loss Thursday. Here are four things to watch for in Game 2 of the ALDS:
1. Can the White Sox clean up the small stuff?
The little things become more magnified during the postseason, during which a miscue can snowball or be the difference between a tough win or loss. The Sox weren’t as sharp as they needed to be to pull out a road win in Game 1 of the ALDS.
The Astros went ahead 1-0 in the second inning thanks to Yordan Álvarez tagging up and advancing to third on Kyle Tucker’s flyout to center fielder Luis Robert. Fox Sports analyst and former Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski noted Robert took a nonchalant approach to the ball, which Alvarez capitalized on. Three pitches later, Alvarez scored the game’s first run on Jake Meyers’ two-out single to right field. Perhaps Alvarez would have scored from second anyway on the hit, but the Sox had no shot at preventing him from scoring because he advanced on the fly ball.
Then Sox starter Lance Lynn’s wild pitch in the third helped the Astros add to their lead. Jose Altuve advanced to third base and then scored, aided by a well-placed tag as he slid past catcher Yasmani Grandal on a fielder’s choice to third. The next batter, Alvarez, doubled to put the Astros ahead 3-0.
The Sox must eliminate those small miscues in Game 2.
“The little things are like stacking pennies. You do little things and it adds up to big things,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “We picked up some runners. Outstanding baserunning by Yordan Álvarez to attack up from second to go to third. Those are the little things that, if you don’t do, it usually comes back to haunt you.”
2. Will their ability to get something going against the Astros bullpen carry over?
Despite trailing 5-0 after five innings, the Sox had chances to chip away at the Astros’ lead, especially once starter Lance McCullers Jr. exited.
The Sox must hope their attempt for a late rally carries into Game 2. The offense finished 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left seven on base. They couldn’t come through with the clutch hit, leaving five in scoring position with two outs. The Sox showed some life but managed to get only one run across. They obviously need more from the offense to win the series.
“We’re going to play nine innings,” La Russa said. “It’s more fun when you’re got something rolling, but you’ve really got to dig deep when you’re not. One run on the board, but we made some things happen. Yeah, they made good pitches. It just solidifies within our club we played a hard nine innings and they beat us, but that’s what we do.”
3. Could Yoán Moncada be an X-factor against Astros Game 2 starter Framber Valdez?
Valdez, 27, doesn’t have much of a track record versus the White Sox, facing them only three times in his career including two starts, both this season.
Of the White Sox who have faced him, Moncada seems to see the ball well from the lefty. The third baseman is 2-for-7 (.286) against Valdez, with both going for extra bases — a double and a home run — along with a walk. This also could be a game La Russa looks to put Andrew Vaughn in the lineup. Vaughn is 3-for-5 versus Valdez with a home run and walk.
It’s a small sample size, but for an offense that needs to get going to avoid an elimination game when the series returns home Sunday, the switch-hitting Moncada could provide a much-needed spark.
“I feel comfortable throwing all my different pitch selections against them,” Valdez said before Thursday’s game. “The last time out, I felt good. I felt comfortable going against that lineup. They executed on a few pitches, but I feel like I just need to make a couple little adjustments, and I’ll be ready to have success against them.”
4. Will the Sox make Framber Valdez work harder to get to the Astros bullpen sooner?
McCullers didn’t experience many high-stress pitches through his 6? innings in Game 1.
He nearly recorded his first seven-inning start since July 16 — also against the Sox. The Sox want to force manager Dusty Baker to go to his bullpen early. Astros relievers have not collectively been as good as the rotation. The Astros bullpen’s 4.05 ERA ranked 15th in the regular season compared with the rotation’s fifth-rated 3.60 ERA.
The Sox need to work counts, find moments to be aggressive at the plate and battle earlier in the game to force Valdez’s pitch count to rise more quickly than they did against McCullers, who did not walk a hitter for the first time in 29 starts this season. McCullers entered the game with 25 multiwalk starts and 16 games with at least three walks.
“I didn’t have any walks today because I had that plan, that focus, and I wanted to go into the game, I wanted to attack,” McCullers said. “Any time you can avoid having men on base just in general, it’s important. A lot of leverage counts, 1-2, 2-2 counts, where I could have gone for the strikeout or things of that nature, but I was trying to just throw good pitches for weak contact, keep the pitch count low, try to go deep into the game and give us the best chance.”
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