NWINFan

I hope so, too. You would never have known the Sox had the best record in the AL coming into this series.

Anything is possible with this team, but it was Keuchel walking hitters with the bases loaded. And he wasn't all that close.

This is a good assessment. I've loved the winning, but somehow I never thought this team was a lock on the division. There are no quick remedies, but recognizing the problem would be a good step.

That top of the fourth was quick.

Needed a big game from him. Got this crap instead.

I agree in that we will not be able to count on the players you mentioned. The injuries have exposed the team's lack of depth. We have gone through seasons of losing. Deals need to be made even if they are somewhat costly. There is an assumption that the Sox have already locked up this division. I wouldn't make that assumption. Going through another deadline sitting on our hands is not acceptable in my book. The rebuild is over. Time to contend.

Good teams don't need to do a whole lot a the deadline, and the Sox are a good team. I think the FO should at least get some bullpen help. With Kopech coming back, that should solidify things some. Fans are assuming that things will be great when Eloy and Robert return. But both players are coming off tough injuries and a long lay off. We really don't know how they'll do. Plus they are young players who have had their development stopped because they're not playing. A good hitting corner outfielder would help, too. Some say remember 2005. I do, and recall a 15-game lead turn into 1 1/2 and recall a situation when the Sox could have missed the playoffs all together. If a good situation comes up, the Sox should be buyers. Getting to the playoffs will be great, but the team should want to do more than that. But first, you have to get to the playoffs and that is not a given now.

It's not just you. I really think that winning in 2016 hurt interest. They finally got their championship, but things waned. Used to be that Cub fans took anything the Tribune Company dished out, and it was okay. You could kick a Cub fan down a flight of stairs, and it would be okay if the stairs were carpeted. Now there seems to be a layer of bitterness. With the Tribune not owning the Cubs, the constant propaganda has dwindled. The lovable stuff is gone even with the good string of seasons they had. I think the Ricketts family thought they could stand by the Harry statue with an Old Style and everything would be great. Wrong. Can the Sox capitalize? They can if they complete this rebuild and finally turn the team into an elite American League franchise. We will see if that happens.

I am not really crazy about any Sox player doing the home run derby thing. I think that is something to stay away from. As far as Yermin goes, I never really expected all that much from him. He made his contributions early and that helped. I look at that as a bonus. It's too bad he has gone south. The offense is hurting without Robert and Eloy. The hatred for him is irrational. I've seen many other worse players wearing a White Sox uniform.

Hahn and the FO have to decide if they are satisfied with a division title or do they want to do something really historic this season. The rebuild is over. There is no reason to wait if a reasonable deal can be made even if that deal has a price tag to it. The goal should be the World Series. 2005 sometimes seems like yesterday. It wasn't. It was 16 years ago and we are still counting.

It is so great to see Rodon doing this. He always had the talent; he just couldn't stay healthy. This is a Cy Young type of year if he can stay healthy.

There was one major league team playing in Detroit today, and it wasn't the Tigers.

It would be very nice if all three of these teams went nowhere in the playoffs, if they get there. It was nice to see the Yankees lose on ESPN last Sunday. The only drawback it was the Red Sox who beat them.

I don't believe that Mariotti had the power the organization thought. For the most part, he was never liked. I never felt he drilled anything into my head. For the first 30 years of divisional play, the Sox had three division titles and no WS appearances. The late Nineties was a bad time to be a Sox fan, and it had nothing to with Mariotti. Fan alienation was real, very real.

Yes, he looked dominant today. Almost made it look easy. Shows what good starting pitching does for you. It won games one and four.

The Tigers have played the Sox tough in this series. This game is not a give-me. The division title isn't either.

I recall in Ozzie's last season as Sox manager that he had fallen in love with "small ball." He had hitters bunting in the worst spots, destroying potential rallies. The bunt is a good play, but it is just like any other piece of strategy. It has to be timed right. By the way, Ozzie wanting an extension at the end of the 2011 was laughable. I was glad to see him take himself and his small ball out of town.

If Hahn can make any move, he needs to get bullpen help. It is one thing for a closer to lose a close lead in the ninth. It is another for a bullpen to lose multi-run leads in the late innings.

Cub fans always say they don't care about the Sox, and that is the biggest lie ever been told. No matter what they say, they are obsessed with the Sox, even when their team is winning. I wish they would just go away.

There will always be an intense atmosphere at either park, but there's only so much importance to these games. It has been said these games are like playoff games. That is not true. Playoff games are like playoff games. It may be more interesting this season since both teams are contending. The Sox will need these games along every other because I have the feeling the division race will be close. Even with that, the games against the Indians will mean more.

The Sox-Cubs rivalry goes back before there were any regular season games played between the two teams. The teams didn't have to play each other to rival each other. The animosity between the two fan bases has been here for over a century. Fans tend to ga-ga over these games when, in the long run, they don't prove much. In the first 66 games, the two teams tied at 33 and the run differential was one. I hate it when the Sox lose to the Cubs, but these games pale in comparison to the over 70 games played in the AL Central. There is one big reason I want the Sox to pound the Cubs: Cub fans. I guess you can call that a rivalry.

Which is okay. In the old days, the Yankees pounded lumps on the poor Kanas City Athletics. But good teams hold their own against other good teams. A split in Cleveland would be real nice.

The Sox are the best team in the weak AL Central. They should win it. Doesn't mean they will. This team can't be so arrogant that they overlook anyone, and that includes the Tigers.

So far, in game two, terrible managing by that HOF LaRussa.

Yes, a split would be fine. The Indians wouldn't gain, and games are knocked off the schedule. In the long run, I just don't see the Indians overtaking the White Sox.