The White Sox just can’t shake the Guardians, and that’s a feeling catcher Jake Rogers knows all too well.
Rogers was with the Tigers last season when they blew a 10-game lead in the American League Central with 21 games left. At that point, it was the Royals chasing them. But soon enough, it was the Guardians, who went 19-4 down the stretch and won the division on the last day of the season.
On Sept. 10, the Guardians trailed the Tigers by 9 ½ games. On Sept. 23, the teams were tied.
“We’d be up six [runs] and be like, ‘Are we going to lose?’ ” Rogers told the Sun-Times. “It was a wild thing, and we still got in and ended up beating Cleveland. We got the one that mattered, I guess.”
Indeed, the Tigers beat the Guardians in the wild-card round, but Rogers’ tale is a cautionary one for the Sox, who took a 2 ½-game lead into their matchup Saturday with the Twins. That deficit is certainly more manageable for the Guardians, who won both games of a doubleheader Friday against the Tigers in walk-off fashion.
With them in the rearview mirror, no lead is safe — on the field and in the standings.
“You feel like they’re going to win every game,” Sox manager Will Venable said. “So if we just kind of put them to the side, put everyone else to the side, and focus on our stuff, that’s all that matters.
“But it’s hard not to be scoreboard-watching. Not just with Cleveland, but with everybody. It really is a distraction because we just want to take care of our business.”
The Sox also are monitoring the league standings, where they entered the day with a 1 ½- game lead on the Astros for the No. 2 seed in the AL playoffs and a free pass through the wild-card round. Losing three of four to the Astros last week in Houston was a blow.
Rogers’ experience last year could be invaluable for this young Sox team, and after Drew Romo was the one optioned to Triple-A Charlotte when Kyle Teel returned from injury Friday (though Romo is staying with the big-league club on the taxi squad because of his work with pitchers), Rogers is expected to see this playoff push to the end.
Among Rogers’ advice for teammates: All that matters is making the playoffs.
“Obviously, you want that bye, not a wild card,” he said. “The biggest thing once we made it in [last year], it was like, ‘Hey, look, all that matters is making it in.’ We’re playing for something right now. But you just want to be in because once you’re in, anything can happen. Playoff baseball is a different kind of game.”
Another piece of advice: Chase something.
“We’re being chased, and it’s happened where you kind of get lost in that,” he said. “The big thing is chase someone in front of you, whether that’s the Rays having the best record [in the AL]. Just try to chase something in front of you and be the steady players that you’ve always been and don’t try to do too much.”
Rogers has had quite an interesting season, his sixth in the majors. The Sox are his fourth team since July 30, when the Tigers traded him to the Orioles. The Orioles then traded him to the Red Sox, who waived him the next week. The White Sox claimed him Aug. 14, and here we are.
“It’s a great ballclub, truthfully,” he said. “It’s a young ballclub, and they all get along with each other. Camaraderie is a huge thing in this game. Been a part of some teams that didn’t have it and some teams that had it. I’ve enjoyed my time here, the few weeks that I’ve been here. It speaks volumes about this clubhouse just how easy it was to fit in.”