SB Nation Chicago - Tigers Vs. White Sox: Chicago Rally Falls Short, White Sox Lose 8-6

Chicago White Sox Call Up Jhan Marinez

2012-09-14T21:40:58Z

With a one-game lead in the AL Central, the Chicago White Sox need all the talent they can get to hold off the charging Detroit Tigers with just 20 games until the conclusion of the 2012 regular season. They added one more piece to their puzzle on Friday by calling up Jhan Marinez from Triple-A.

Marinez, 24, played with Triple-A Charlotte this year and joins the White Sox after Charlotte's postseason run came to a conclusion on Thursday. In 63 innings with the Knights, Marinez allowed 39 hits, 30 walks and struck out 65 batters.

Between a 1-2/3 innings appearance early this season and a brief stint as a member of the Marlins in July 2010, Marinez has 4-1/3 career innings pitched in the majors with two earned runs and a 1-1 record.

For more on the Chicago White Sox, visit South Side Sox. Be sure to check out Baseball Nation for all your news from around the league.

2012 MLB Standings: White Sox Lead Tigers By 1 Game In AL Central Entering Weekend Games

2012-09-14T17:52:13Z

The Chicago White Sox are in a tight playoff race with the Detroit Tigers for the AL Central division crown, and heading into Friday night the White Sox hold a tenuous one game lead over the Tigers. Both teams have dropped six of their last 10 games overall, and that collective swoon has essentially put the wildcard spots in the American League out of reach. The White Sox open a three-game weekend series against the Minnesota Twins on Friday, while the Tigers head to Cleveland for a three-pack of games against the Indians. Thanks to the rainout on Thursday night, the White Sox and Tigers will meet once more this season on Monday, Sept. 17 in Chicago.

Here are the AL Central standings:

Team	Wins	Losses	Win %	GB
Chicago	76	66	0.535	-
Detroit	75	67	0.528	1
Kansas City	65	78	0.455	11.5
Minnesota	60	84	0.417	17
Cleveland	60	84	0.417	17

For a complete look at MLB standings, be sure to check out Sports Illustrated.

Stick with this StoryStream for results from the game, or check out White Sox blog South Side Sox to join in the conversation.

Tigers Vs. White Sox: Rain Delays Series Finale

2012-09-14T01:30:48Z

Chris Sale and Justin Verlander were scheduled to meet tonight in Chicago with first place in the AL Central on the line, but rain has forced the game to be postponed until Monday, Set. 17. The official announcement can be found below:

Tonight’s game between the #WhiteSox and #Tigers has been postponed due to rain and will be made up on Monday, September 17 at 1:10 p.m. CT
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) September 14, 2012

Both teams had Monday off, and the Tigers were not scheduled to return to Chicago this season. Monday will be the final time the top two teams in the AL Central will meet in the regular season, Detroit currently trail the White Sox by a single game for the divisional lead. Chicago will head to Minnesota to face the Twins for a weekend series before heading back home for Monday's make-up.

Stick with this StoryStream for results from the game, or check out White Sox blog South Side Sox to join in the conversation.

White Sox Vs. Tigers: Line-Ups Announced

2012-09-13T21:33:48Z

The Chicago White Sox have lost two straight to the Detroit Tigers, leaving them with a slim one game lead in the AL Central. Game 3 of the series between the two is Thursday night, with Chris Sale (16-6, 2.88 ERA) pitching for Chicago against Justin Verlander (13-8, 2.91 ERA) for Detroit. Complete lineups are below.

The White Sox lineup:
1. Alejandro De Aza (L) LF
2. Kevin Youkilis (R) 3B
3. DeWayne Wise (L) CF
4. Paul Konerko (R) 1B
5. Alex Rios (R) RF
6. A.J. Pierzynski (L) C
7. Dayan Viciedo (R) DH
8. Alexei Ramirez (R) SS
9. Gordon Beckham (R) 2B

The Tigers lineup:
1. Austin Jackson (R) CF
2. Omar Infante (R) 2B
3. Miguel Cabrera (R) 3B
4. Prince Fielder (L) 1B
5. Delmon Young (R) DH
6. Jhonny Peralta (R) SS
7. Avisail Garcia (R) LF
8. Brennan Boesch (L) RF
9. Gerald Laird (R) C

First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. ET.

Stick with this StoryStream for results from the game, or check out White Sox blog South Side Sox to join in the conversation.

MLB Standings: White Sox Hold Tentative 1-Game Lead In AL Central

2012-09-13T16:36:35Z

The Chicago White Sox find themselves in a precarious situation. Few expected Manager Robin Ventura to have this team competing for the AL Central this late into the season, outside of a potential Detroit Tigers collapse. But they are competing, and hold a one-game lead in the division. The only problem? Detroit hasn't suffered a collapse, and are hot on their heels with two-straight victories.

Those victories, of course, were over the White Sox. Thursday will be game four of their final series against one another, and with both teams facing relatively easy schedules in the final weeks, it really could come down to whether or not Detroit can grab the lead with another victory.

It's a two-team race at this point, with the Kansas City Royals being third place in the division at 11 games back of the lead, while the Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins share the basement at 17.5 games back. This one will come down to the wire, but it all starts with winning the next game you play, and for the White Sox, that would be huge.

You can check out the full standings at SI.com here, but below, we've got the AL Central standings in full.

AL Central Standings

	W	L	PCT	GB	STRK
Chicago	76	66	.535	0	Lost 2
Detroit	75	67	.528	1	Won 2
Kansas City	65	77	.457	11	Won 3
Cleveland	59	84	.412	17.5	Lost 5
Minnesota	59	84	.412	17.5	Lost 2

(updated 9.13.2012 at 9:35 AM PDT)

For more on the Chicago White Sox, visit South Side Sox, and for more on the Detroit Tigers, visit Bless You Boys. Be sure to check out Baseball Nation for all your news from around the league.

White Sox Catcher A.J. Pierzynski 'No Moral Victories Any More'

2012-09-13T16:23:02Z

The Chicago White Sox find themselves just one game up on the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central. They're in the midst of their final series against Detroit this season, and they're losing it two games to one, with the finale coming on Thursday. Chicago is tired of losing, especially catcher A.J. Pierzynski. The Chicago Tribune had a quote from Pierzynski in which he talks about moral victories:

"There are no moral victories any more," Pierzynski said. "It's just about winning or losing. Someone once said ‘you play to win the game,' and that's it. There's no such thing as a moral victory.

"We need to come out and win the game (Thursday night), and we're right back where we started this four-game series with four games less on the schedule."

Moral victories are often present in the beginning of the season. An unexpected player might have a breakout performance despite a loss, or bad luck might just come your way despite playing well. When you're locked in a playoff race against a team that nobody thought you'd be competing with at this point in the season, they should be avoided at all costs.

Chicago needed to be on the other side of that 8-6 game on Wednesday, and they'll need to make this series a split on Thursday. After that, they have something of an easy schedule, with two remaining sets against the basement-dwelling Cleveland Indians still coming up. They're going to need those games to be real victories and not of the moral kind.

Tigers Vs. White Sox: Gavin Floyd Falls Apart After Four Strong Innings On Wednesday

2012-09-13T15:48:25Z

The Chicago White Sox are seeing the positive in Gavin Floyd's return from the disabled list: although he didn't make it out of the fifth inning and gave up three runs, taking the loss, Floyd and his teammates noted how well the starter pitched in his first four scoreless innings.

Floyd struck out seven and only gave up two hits over the course of his first four innings before giving up a pair of hits and a walk while only recording two outs in the fifth inning. Hector Santiago allowed a third run to score on a single, credited to Floyd, but Floyd's outing was still impressive.

"He looked great for four innings," catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. "That was as good as I have seen him in a long time. He looked strong, he was really aggressive. He had all his pitches going and I really thought it was going to be a good night for him.

"It’s a shame because he was throwing the ball really well for four innings and in the fifth something happened, I wish I knew what it was," he added.

Floyd's return provides a boost for a team looking to hold on to a one-game lead in the AL Central. If he can expand his stamina to allow him to pitch consistently for five and more innings, he goes back to being a useful starter for the Sox.

For more on the White Sox, head over to South Side Sox and continue to check out SB Nation Chicago.

Tigers Vs. White Sox: Bullpen Decisions Doom White Sox

2012-09-13T13:45:17Z

The Chicago White Sox allowed the Detroit Tigers to move within one game of their AL Central lead with an 8-6 loss on Wednesday night. The White Sox made a comeback after falling behind, 8-1, but it was a case of too little, too late.

At South Side Sox, Jim Margalus wonders if perhaps Sox manager Robin Ventura hadn't made some curious bullpen decisions, the White Sox may have still had a chance for the win. Margalus takes issue with the use of Brian Omogrosso and particularly Leyson Septimo, who gave up a three-run homer to Prince Fielder in the seventh.

There were a couple problems with those choices. For one, the White Sox offense wasn't done. They came to life in the eighth inning with four runs, including three on Kevin Youkilis' second homer of the night.

The other issue was that the better options were available. Donnie Veal, Ventura's second lefty, eventally pitched to Fielder with nobody on base and the Sox trailing by three (the Sox scored four runs in the eighth to narrow the lead to 8-5). He lured Fielder into a routine flyout.

Margalus sums up his problems with Ventura's decisions nicely:

Ultimately, though, the Tigers shifted the goal posts just far enough by taking advantage of the strange succession of pitchers. It's hard to understand why Ventura didn't treat the middle innings a little more seriously, because the Sox had an opening. Sure, it wasn't coming against Max Scherzer, but the Sox at least made him work. Scherzer threw 100 pitches after five innings, which means Ventura could have planned for at least three innings of the Detroit bullpen if the Sox could keep it close enough. They didn't, and now their lead is down to one game with Justin Verlander pitching in the finale.

The White Sox meet the Tigers one last time this season Thursday, with the first pitch set for 7:10 p.m. CT.

For more White Sox analysis, be sure to visit South Side Sox.