The Chicago White Sox won their fifth game in a row Friday night, a 7-3, late inning win against the Tigers. With a 12-9 record on the season, they lead the Indians by 1/2 game. The White Sox traded away two great players over the winter, Chris Sale and Adam Eaton, so this streak and their position in the division is a very nice surprise.
Until the start of the streak, the offense was poor, and even with this streak, the Sox are hitting .239/.298/.383 as a team. They scored 40 runs in the last five games, 45% of their season total.
The Sox concentrated their offense in three players, Avisail Garcia, Leury Garcia, and Matt Davidson, the latter two playing more as the season progresses. All three have hit for average, gotten on base, and hit for power. Veteran Jose Abreu sprung to life during the streak to give that offense the extra boost it needed. Teams can do well with four very good hitters in the lineup.
As bad as the White Sox offense played overall, their opponents are worse. White Sox pitchers held batters to a .215/.298/.379 slash line. They kept the team in the hunt while the offense developed.
The Yankees staged a huge comeback Friday night. Down 9-1 and then 11-4, they used five home runs to beat the Orioles 14-11 in ten innings. Starlin Castro tied the game in the bottom of the ninth with a two run homer, then Matt Holliday won it with a three-run shot in the tenth. Aaron Judge hit two homers in the game, and is now tied with Khris Davis for the AL lead with nine.
The Yankees are in rebuilding mode, too, but it’s the veterans who have stepped up. Judge is a monster, but Gary Sanchez spent most of the season on the DL, and Greg Bird hasn’t really started to hit yet. The old men are leading the team. That’s fine, they are giving the youngsters in the minors time to develop. I suspect some of those veterans will fall off as the season wears on, and the young blood will be there to step in.
Neither young nor old, Starlin Castro appears to have found himself with this team. He is hitting like the Cubs thought he might, and the Yankees reap the benefit.
I don’t know if the Yankees and White Sox can continue atop their divisions, but each stocked their farm systems. Even if they fade from these early successes, the future looks bright for both teams.
from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/2pfXZn8
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