Minneapolis – Date is August 6, 2023, and the White Sox beat Cleveland with two eliminations in the ninth inning, eliminating a game-by-inning deficit.
Elvis Andrus took the hit singles for the competition, bringing Andrew Vaughn and Oscar Colas, as well as Jimmy Lambert’s first career preservation retained Sammy Peralta’s first career victory. That game also happened to be the last time the White Sox lost after eight innings, winning one game, 205 consecutive games.
That said, until Wednesday night at Target Field. The White Sox (52-88) played three games in the ninth game against the troubled twins bullpen, winning a 4-3 victory dramatically. Michael A. Taylor won the game, listing two doubles, two doubles on the left field line, with the drive barely kicking out chalk to keep it fair and triggering a team's fourth win.
“I don’t know,” Taylor said, whether his connections would remain fair. “It hung up at the end, so I hope it stayed. I heard it fell online.”
Rescuer Grant Taylor added: “A good night to break this streak.”
Grant Taylor benefited from a clutch hit by Michael A. Taylor to earn his first professional victory. Not only was his first win at the major league level, but his first win as a baseball professional.
He threw 1 1/3 of the Relief Instance, hit two times and allowed the offense to fight in the ninth match against Kody Funderburk and Topa. The rally began when Edgar Quero played singles and Andrew Benintendi walked from Funderburk's game with a 3-2 border. Brooks Baldwin scored a single after a second outcry, and Baldwin's subsequent second steal made him easy to score on his hit percentage at Taylor.
“[Manager] Will be [Venable] Stealed there for me, trying to finish second to see if they were throwing it. “Maybe we can steal their runs. But yes, at the second base run at the scoring position, I'm likely going to score on everything that's hit on the outfield,” Baldwin said.
“Obviously, our pitchers did a great job in the game on a day when we really couldn't attack,” Venable said. “Our defense was great to get us involved in the game and we just kept fighting. It was so cool to fight back and put ourselves in a good place.”
Even with a significantly improved 20-23 ledger after the All-Star game, it doesn't seem easy for the White Sox. Jordan Leasure allowed ninth-place Byron Buxton to take the lead and led Trevor Larnach to put the winning run into the base, but Leasure retired in the next three games without the runners moving forward to earn his sixth save.
Wednesday's comeback won the White Sox 15 series as they continue to make progress in the 2025 campaign. And, the improved comparison should indeed start from there, not compared to the 121 loss of '24, as this is mainly different players.
But for some '25 White Sox, losing 100 or not losing 100. They need to face the Tigers, Guardians, Yankees and Nationals after Thursday's series finale and the rays at home, Orioles and Padres, to face the Tigers, Guardians, Yankees and Nationals to 11-11 – avoiding the third consecutive 100 defeats.
“We are working on being a team that ends strong,” Baldwin said. “Maybe we can be a disruptor to different teams here and there. The goal at the moment is not to lose 100, and that's what we play as the goal: to be the team that reset it last year. Don't lose 100 times this year.”
The 99 loss does not seem to be very different from 100, 101 or 102. So the goal of playing well is to play baseball most of the second half, which does take precedence over the total losses.
“For me, that number is no big deal,” Michael Taylor said. “We are in the position where we are now, if we finish the race the right way and do all the little things we talk about, whether it’s a 99 or a 101, I think we’ll be happy with the progress.”
“Ultimately, we're trying to play well baseball and let the game take care of ourselves,” Grant Taylor said. “We don't want to emphasize too much about the record because the process takes care of the results. As long as we put a good belly and a good situation on the mound, we can achieve what we want to achieve.”