It shouldn't have come down to this. The White Sox should have put the AL Central away last week, but they choked in Minnesota. So, now they will have to beat the Twins Tuesday night in a one-game playoff, where anything can happen.
Give the Sox credit for pulling it together the last two days and collecting victories in two must-win games to set up this showdown.
Clutch hits have been hard to come by lately, but Alexei Ramirez delivered in the bottom of the sixth Monday, launching a grand slam to break a 2-2 tie. The Sox went on to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-2.
But the real key was the pitching of Gavin Floyd. A day after Mark Buehrle gutted out a victory on three-days rest over the Cleveland Indians, Floyd did the same against the Tigers.
The key inning was the fifth. Detroit scored a run to tie the game at 1-1 and had runners at the corners with nobody out. That's when Floyd got tough, striking out Ramon Santiago and Curtis Granderson, who had an 11-pitch at-bat before finally punching out. Floyd then retired Gary Sheffield on a routine grounder to end the frame.
That situation could have been a disaster for the Sox, but Floyd did a tremendous job of minimizing damage. That's what good pitchers do, and Floyd has been the most pleasant surprise for the Sox this year. He's 17-8. I never would have guessed that.
Now, the responsibility falls to John Danks, who is also on three-days rest. We'll see what the 23-year-old lefty is made of Tuesday night.
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