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.
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