White Sox sweep the Twins (instead of the opposite)
Sox 31-28
Twins 33-30
Tied
White Sox go 4-1 against the Guardians instead of 1-4
Sox 31-28
Guardians 26-30
3 1/2 game lead
(Even if we just reverse the Josh Naylor Debacle, we would be 29-30, Guardians 28-28 and just trailing them by 1/2 game.)
Of course, combining 3-0 and 4-1 (instead of 0-3 and 1-4, the hard current reality) into 7-1 would put them at 34-25 and 3 games up on the Twins and 6 1/2 on the Guardians.
Moral of the Story: Win Your Damn Head-to-Head Divisional Match-Ups!
@DET (2)
@HOU (3)
Toronto (3)
Baltimore (4)
@LAA (3)
@SFG (3)
Minnesota (3)
Detroit (4)
@CLE (4)
@MIN (4)
CLE (4)
37 games through July 24th (trade deadline heats up for real, they would have played 96 games with 66 remaining for the stretch drive.)
Only 13 games against below .500 teams, and the Angels' true talent is better than that, as we all know. If they're still within 5-6 games of the Twins and in the middle of the Wild Card race, they're going to have to add rather than subtract.
The way they're playing RIGHT NOW, 8-10 through the Giants' series in SF and 5 games under .500 would be QUITE the accomplishment. Then the Sox hit that run of five consecutive AL Central divisional opponents. They would have to go 12-7 during THAT stretch to get back to .500.
The biggest short-term question then becomes the fate of one Lucas Giolito. That's undoubtedly tabled for the off season or perhaps the TDL in 2023.