SOX POSTGAME: Grant Taylor & Sox STUNNED in Walk-Off Loss vs Guardians | CHGO White Sox

Sean Anderson (0:05)

Hey, welcome to the CHGO White Sox Postgame Show, coming to you live from Studio West in our West Loop offices here in the downtown of Chicago. I'm your host, Sean Anderson. I'm going to be joined in a few seconds by Stephen Nicholas, our trepid producer, our A-plus guy, and a White Sox fan in his own right, and I think we're both pretty disgusted. So Stephen's going to get joined on the other side. We are coming to you live after a White Sox loss 7-6 against the Cleveland Guardians. The White Sox had a 6-5 lead over the Guardians with two outs. Their runners on second and third. The White Sox decided to pitch to Brayan Rocchio instead of walking him and facing Stephen Kwan. And on a ball that was hit with an expected batting average of 0.060, Brayan Rocchio walks off the White Sox for the second time this season. And for the second time this season, Brayan Rocchio hits a ball that barely goes foul or barely goes fair for a home run and hits one that barely, barely was out of the reach of Sam Antonacci's glove. I think there's a lot of questions right now on how the White Sox could have won this game if they shouldn't have pinch hit for Brenton Doyle. And then they would have had the ability to move Peters out to left field instead of Braden Montgomery and could have had the defensive lineup there. They throw a sinker to Brayan Rocchio instead of a foreseen fastball at the top of the zone. If that ball rises instead of sinks, is it a swing and miss? And I'm going to ask the question too, I know that's your closer, but Grant Taylor hasn't been nails this entire kind of stretch here.

Should have lefty have been in?

Sean Newcomb only threw 10 pitches yesterday. This is one of the biggest games of the year.

Tomorrow you have Parker Messick going on the bump for Cleveland, arguably their ace. You don't feel good about that matchup. Messick in pretty much every matchup this year has struck out 10 plus guys and has gone six to seven innings. Where the White Sox have had their chances and have made their strides offensively against Cleveland this year is against the bullpen. Now you're going to be fighting uphill against Parker Messick to try to win this game and not lose control of the division that you have had held of or hold of since July 22nd. There isn't a feeling of rage right now. There isn't a feeling of frustration. I feel sad. This is a massive, massive, massive disappointment. There have been a ton of frustrating losses this entire season. I think you can probably recall a few on your hands, whether it be Cincinnati, two of the ones against the Nationals earlier on in the year. There was a Boston one as well. I mean, the one that was 13 innings in Boston where Chase Meidroth hits two home runs.

This is the sickest one. I mean, even the Rocchio homer on the 4th of July, whatever, tip your hat, he pulled a fly ball. This having an expected batting average of 0.06 and barely getting out of the reach of Sam Antonacci, I feel sick and disgusted. And the Sox have a half game lead still over the Guardians. It's not the end of the world.

Tomorrow could be, though.

Stephen Nicholas (3:24)

I'm sick to my stomach, Sean. Like seriously, that game that just... You had every opportunity to make this a two and a half game lead in the AL Central.

Potentially put this thing out of reach tomorrow. Not mathematically, but really put that nail in the coffin for the Guardians and make them feel like it's gonna be a little too much for them to come back from, sweeping them on the road.

And now instead we're talking about trying to get back, right back to where we started the day, back to a game and a half lead in a tough matchup, in a hostile environment, with not just the AL Central crown on the line, but now also we're talking about the two seed to buy in the playoffs with the Estros, I believe, still winning two to one in that game. There was too much on the line for this game to end the way it did. I thought that everything lined up exactly the way it needed to for me after that terrible first inning, where they just probably had the wrong opener on this given night. I think Davis Martin pitched well enough to get the win today. Maybe it wasn't his A plus game either, but there was opportunities left and right. And of all people, Grant Taylor, a guy that I'd say most Sox fans probably went up in that moment, making a pitch up and out of the zone at 101 miles per hour. And that ball just loops away from the outstretched glove of Antonacci. Just a brutal loss. This one's going to take me a while to get over.