Oh my god. Baseball Reference has us as AL favorites. I repeat AL favorites.

Wild Card magic # is now 14.

Edited yesterday at 04:59 AM1 day by chw42

2 1/2 over Cleveland and Houston

3 1/2 over Blue Jays

19 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

2 1/2 over Cleveland and Houston

3 1/2 over Blue Jays

wait, what? We are 3 games up on Cleveland and 4 up on Blue Jays

7 hours ago, BigHurt3515 said:

wait, what? We are 3 games up on Cleveland and 4 up on Blue Jays

right oops for some reason standings weren't updated

Have been hate watching Locked on Guardians. No mention of the White Sox at all when it came to the playoff race. Seems most in their orbit have their attention squarely focused on the wild card race and don't think a run at the division is realistic. Again it's just media but it shows just how consistent this white Sox team has been.

Magic number sits at 16.

6 games for the Sox, 5 for Guardians before they face off head-to-head starting on Monday. 11 opportunities to chip away at that number before the Cleveland series.

Would like to see the number down to 10 or 11 when we arrive in Cleveland. A single win in Cleveland knocks 3 off the number, and then each subsequent win against them would be worth 2. So by the end of play next Wednesday, it's not too far fetched to think the magic number might be around 5 or 6.

Every 18 games this season for the Sox-

6-12, 11-7, 10-8, 11-7, 9-9, 10-8, 9-9, 9-9

One more 10-8 and hope for the best.

10-8 will do it. That means you are likely factoring in wins against Cleveland. One win against Cleveland is a 2 game swing. Think of it as a 6 pointer in soccer.

Am somewhat optimistic for the Orioles tomorrow. Griffin has regressed since joining the guardians (was awful in his last start) and Baz has pitched much better than his record has indicated. Just has not gotten run support. 3.40 FIP so bad defense is also a factor.

4 minutes ago, Colome's Hat said:

Am somewhat optimistic for the Orioles tomorrow. Griffin has regressed since joining the guardians (was awful in his last start) and Baz has pitched much better than his record has indicated. Just has not gotten run support. 3.40 FIP so bad defense is also a factor.

It's always a gamble having to rely on other teams to help you out.

If the Sox can't take care of business it really won't matter.

1 minute ago, Lip Man 1 said:

It's always a gamble having to rely on other teams to help you out.

If the Sox can't take care of business it really won't matter.

Yes. But this team has taken pretty much ever series outside the Astros series as of late. So history is on their side

Edited 3 hours ago3 hr by Colome's Hat

2 minutes ago, Colome's Hat said:

Yes. But this team has taken pretty much ever series outside the Astros series as of late. So history is on their side

Hope you are right. Right now they've lost six of nine.

Just now, Lip Man 1 said:

Hope you are right. Right now they've lost six of nine.

3 of 4 are against the Astros. Still won 2 of 3 against the twins, Mets, Rangers.

Just now, Colome's Hat said:

3 of 4 are against the Astros. Still won 2 of 3 against the twins, Mets, Rangers.

I understand but that doesn't change the fact they've lost six of nine. Games all count.

For me, the anxiety is setting in and this game instilled a deep fear that they've hit the proverbial wall.

Zero reason they look the way they did tonight coming out of a day off. Burke needed to have his stuff and preserve the pen arms at least somewhat, instead he gets shelled and the pen needs to be called up in the fucking 2nd. That doesn't bode well this early in the week.

This team has stayed relatively even-keeled, and you have to hope it remains, but they've lived on the edge for a while, and it only takes a few bad breaks for the even-keel to go into a flat out slump, a slump they 100% CANNOT afford right now.

Supremely paranoid? Yeah most likely, but this is officially a division race of inches and they can't afford any sort of foul ups.

Edited 3 hours ago3 hr by Dan of Steel

I just looked this up but our effective number is 15. Which I guess is the analytical version of the elimination number. So it account for likely outcomes in head to head matchups. Not sure it's worth doing a player tribute for but if this makes people feel better... the end is in sight.

29 minutes ago, Dan of Steel said:

For me, the anxiety is setting in and this game instilled a deep fear that they've hit the proverbial wall.

Zero reason they look the way they did tonight coming out of a day off. Burke needed to have his stuff and preserve the pen arms at least somewhat, instead he gets shelled and the pen needs to be called up in the fucking 2nd. That doesn't bode well this early in the week.

This team has stayed relatively even-keeled, and you have to hope it remains, but they've lived on the edge for a while, and it only takes a few bad breaks for the even-keel to go into a flat out slump, a slump they 100% CANNOT afford right now.

Supremely paranoid? Yeah most likely, but this is officially a division race of inches and they can't afford any sort of foul ups.

I feel like this a battle between two teams who, for different reasons live on the margins and have little room for error. Which is why I think Cleveland have regressed from previous years. I will say that I think our living on the margins is a bit more sustainable due to our ability to hit home runs. We can probably get away with an error or two occasionally. Cleveland's implosions this past week have come from things like bad fielding and base running errors. They don't have the firepower to get away with this.

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by Colome's Hat

The number WILL go down tomorrow!!!! LFGWS!!!!!!