*Official* 6/15 No Hope for Rays Postgamer

[thomas35forever]

Nice bounceback from last night. Let's take the series tomorrow.

[KenBerryGrab]

Dallas getting through the lineup three times was nice.

[ChiTownTrojan]

Dallas getting through the lineup three times was nice.

He was outstanding tonight. Best he's looked in a Sox uniform. The Sox offense continues to do just enough to win with the quality of the pitching.

Giolito against another LH starter for the Rays tomorrow. Doesn't it seem like Gilotio always gets the day games?

[Lipman 1]

They won't get swept and have a shot to win the series tomorrow. Just grind out as many wins as you can this week.

Keuchel has been pitching a lot better lately and that's great. Another weapon in the rotation.

Engel has been a God-send since he came back, has turned into a competent hitter.

Took advantage of some breaks tonight and made Tampa pay for them while Dallas was able to pitch himself out of trouble when he needed to.

8th shutout by the staff this season, don't know if that leads the league or not.

Sox have won 9 of their last 12.

After this week the next 18 games to the All-Star break are against teams with losing records.

[Dick Allen]

He was outstanding tonight. Best he's looked in a Sox uniform. The Sox offense continues to do just enough to win with the quality of the pitching.

Giolito against another LH starter for the Rays tomorrow. Doesn't it seem like Gilotio always gets the day games?

Giolito just needs to stay away from the gopher ball on Wednesday and he should be fine. He’s given up a lot of those lately.

[voodoochile]

Dallas getting through the lineup three times was nice.

He was on fire. Bummer was very effective after giving up the leadoff walk and Hendriks did what Hendriks does. Couple good hitters got singles but in the end he was too strong.

Just enough offense with some help...

[voodoochile]

Oh and Sox now have an 11.5 game lead on the 3rd place Royals...

[TDog]

It looks like Keuchel came back to get some hitters when he was behind in the count, which isn't easy to do when you're pitching to contact. Against a team that knows how to win, that's actually fairly impressive. I didn't expect Keuchel to have a better outing than Lynn against the Rays.

It's interesting that Mendick got the game-winning RBI. Maybe it shouldn't have scored the run. Vaughn got at late break, and the ball beat him to the plate, although it was no longer at the plate when Vaughn and Garcia slid across. It started with Mendick's two-out hit. Aggressive baseball is going to force some mistakes, and a lot of close games are won by taking advantage of mistakes.

Engel's third home run gave the Sox some breathing room, which Keuchel probably appreciated. His second home run of the season, in Friday's extra-inning win against the Tigers, also came on the first pitch the Sox saw in the fifth. It's the sort of power profile that could get him less to hit on future first pitches, and it's not a power profile that translates well hitting behind Anderson. Three of Engel's hits have been home runs, two first-pitch home runs. I wonder if he'll be hitting second tomorrow. fortunately the bottom of the order strung together something tonight. If Engel settles into a groove as the best hitter he can be, he may be able to do the job as a second-place hitter with occasional power. I doubt three home runs in 20 at bats is what fans should continue to expect from him. Really, he's in the majors because of his defense, and his defense is needed.

Engel became the ninth Sox hitter to start in the No. 2 spot in the order this year. Madrigal was the most successful. Robert was the most dangerous. If Jimenez were in the lineup, Moncada, once he gets over his cold or whatever's ailing him, might be best suited for it. Moving Abreu third and Jimenez cleanup. It isn't that La Russa is tinkering with the batting order, but working to find what will work on a given day with what he's got. Fortunately, he has been equal to the task.

It comes down to the pitching. Keuchel still knows how to pitch and tonight left only two innings for the bullpen, which was probably the key to the game.

[Zakath]

8th shutout by the staff this season, don't know if that leads the league or not.

Per baseball-reference.com, the Giants lead the majors with 9. The Yankees have 8.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/majors/2021.shtml

[spanishsox]

They won't get swept and have a shot to win the series tomorrow. Just grind out as many wins as you can this week.

Keuchel has been pitching a lot better lately and that's great. Another weapon in the rotation.

Engel has been a God-send since he came back, has turned into a competent hitter.

Took advantage of some breaks tonight and made Tampa pay for them while Dallas was able to pitch himself out of trouble when he needed to.

8th shutout by the staff this season, don't know if that leads the league or not.

Sox have won 9 of their last 12.

After this week the next 18 games to the All-Star break are against teams with losing records.

Looking at the next 12 games there is an outside possiblity we can sweep 3 of those series and go 11-1. It probably won´t happen but if we click on all cylanders and the starting pitching continues to dominate then we have a chance.

[Zakath]

Oh and Sox now have an 11.5 game lead on the 3rd place Royals...

They're on a huge skid now (1-10 in their last 11; lost the last two vs. Minnesota, went 1-6 on their West Coast trip [0-3 in LA, 1-3 in Oakland], and lost the first two vs. Detroit), and their upcoming schedule is brutal (Red Sox come in for 3 this weekend, then they go to NY for 3, Texas for 3, and Boston for 4). They'll be lucky if they're not in last when we see them again after the break (July 26-29 in KC).

[Frater Perdurabo]

The Sox are now 36-6 when they hit a home run. This is the best record of any MLB team when hitting a home run.

[Harwar]

Strong pitching and Solid defense will win games, as long as you hit at least just enough . Engel returning is a godsend to this team . waiting for Abreu to come out of his slump . Mercedes needs to sit against right-handers . Hendriks seems like a headcase, but he gets the job done . feeling confident that they will take the series today.

[kingpin_rcs]

After this week the next 18 games to the All-Star break are against teams with losing records.

Wow, I hadn't looked at the schedule. They should fatten up against those teams.

[Dumpjerry]

8th shutout by the staff this season, don't know if that leads the league or not.

Last Sunday (June 13th), MLB Network had a graphic showing the White Sox as number one in MLB of most games allowing 1 or 0 runs this season with 20. The Giants and Ray were tied for second with 17.

Last night was the 11th game this season where the Rays scored 1 or 0 runs out of 68 games and only the third time they were shut out. Impressive.