Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.
Heavyweight champ Mike Tyson spoke those words about 30 years ago, and they often proved prophetic after his opponent entered the ring. The man had 44 knockouts. That’s a lot of plans getting torn up.
For the first time this postseason, the White Sox took a punch in the mouth. They suffered their first loss Wednesday, falling to the Guardians 9-3. After beating the Astros twice in the wild-card series and taking the first two in the division series, the Sox find themselves in a new position — having to bounce back from a playoff defeat.
When the Sox were knocked down in the regular season, they didn’t stay down long. Their longest losing streak was four games, and it took them until August to reach it. That was impressive, but they don’t have that kind of time here. The ref is starting his 10-count.
“We’ve done it all year,” manager Will Venable said. “We’ve been in tough spots where we haven’t played our best games, we’ve played good games. Whatever the result, these guys came back the next day. It’s really been the story of our group, being able to bounce back no matter what happens.”
What happened Wednesday was the Sox struck out 19 times. In case you forgot, a team gets 27 outs in baseball. That means the Sox didn’t put the ball in play nearly as much as they needed to. They had six hits.
The Sox can’t chase pitches Thursday in Game 4 against left-handed starter Parker Messick, who had 193 strikeouts in the regular season, tied for 15th in baseball. If they do, it won’t get any easier in Game 5. The Guardians have righty Gavin Williams, the American League strikeout leader with 248, lined up. Can the Sox beat either again?
But let’s focus on one crisis at a time. In fact, let’s take a deep breath and take a cue from the Sox, who are convinced they’ve been here before — even though they really haven’t.
“A lot of times during the year, we lost tough games, and we bounced back the next day,” third baseman Miguel Vargas said. “That’s what we do. We have a short memory, I guess. We’re going to be ready for tomorrow.”
“Today has nothing to do with tomorrow. Nothing,” catcher Kyle Teel said defiantly. “We come ready to go like we always do tomorrow.”
The Sox do have some things going for them. They didn’t need Grant Taylor and his mechanical right arm in Game 3. That means he’ll have a whole extra day of rest before Game 4 than he did before Game 2, when he earned the save just two days after pitching four innings to close out Game 1.
However, Taylor was shaky on the seven pitches he threw Monday. He gave Sox fans a palpitation on his first pitch, nearly allowing a game-tying home run to Jo Adell. His next pitch was a drive to deep left that was caught. Nursing a one-run lead in the ninth, he allowed back-to-back, scary-deep flies to center.
In 5 ⅓ innings this series, Taylor has allowed three hits and struck out six with no walks. But that outing could portend trouble.
Hagen Smith, the Sox’ other reliable reliever — or opener or whatever you want to call him — wasn’t so reliable Wednesday. Entering a 1-1 game in the third, he walked the first batter he faced, Jose Ramirez, to load the bases and was one strike away from getting out of trouble when Jo Adell tripled.
Smith hadn’t allowed a run in 5 ⅔ innings in the postseason, but he walked three in Game 1 against the Guardians. He said he could pitch Thursday, but he might need a break.
The Sox could have more trouble if Munetaka Murakami can’t rediscover his stroke from Cleveland, where he went 3-for-8 with a home run and three RBI. On Wednesday, the Guardians game-planned for him perfectly, having him face four pitchers, the last three of them lefties. He went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
That said, his home run in Game 1 came against Messick, whom the Sox knocked out in the fifth inning. See? It’s not all bad.
“It’s baseball. You’re not going to win every game,” second baseman Chase Meidroth said. “That’s the reality of it. But tomorrow is a new day; it’s a new game.”
That it is, but in a five-game series, there are only so many days left.
White Sox believe in tomorrow — but there are only so many left 2026
IUSTITIA.BG – Investigations 2009-2026 2026-10-08 01:12:52
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