The Chicago White Sox were on the verge of their 11th consecutive loss, trailing the Tampa Bay Rays by four runs in the ninth inning Sunday at Guaranteed Rate Field.
But the team put together an epic ninth-inning comeback featuring five two-strike hits. Andrew Vaughn capped the seven-run inning with a game-winning three-run homer, sending the Sox to a 12-9 victory.
An awful lot went wrong for the Sox (8-21) in the first month-plus of the season. They were one of four teams with at least 20 losses entering May.
Sunday provided some positives as April concluded.
“We’ve got some fight in that clubhouse,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “It takes the ball bouncing your way one time to just lift everybody up and put us in that mindset of ‘this can happen.’ Just like I say flush it on the bad ones — I’m not going to say that yet on this one because I still want to enjoy it a little bit — but we’ve got to flush this one, too, at some point and get back to work on Tuesday.
“I want them to enjoy it because that doesn’t really happen that often in this game — seven runs in the last inning to walk them off — but once we get here Tuesday, we’ve got to flush this one and get to work.”
The Sox were off Monday and will seek consecutive wins for the first time this season when they begin a three-game series against the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday at Guaranteed Rate Field.
After the miserable April, here are three things to look for in May.
The Sox began Monday in fourth place in the American League Central, just one game ahead of the last-place Kansas City Royals. They trailed the division-leading Twins, the only team in the Central with a winning record, by nine games.
The Sox lost two of three in Minnesota on April 10-12. Tim Anderson suffered a sprained left knee in the opener of that series and went on the injured list the next day. The All-Star shortstop is expected to return Tuesday.
The Twins are the only division foe the Sox have faced this season. That will change this month.
The Sox go to Kansas City for four games May 8-11. It will be a homecoming for Grifol, who spent the previous 10 seasons in various roles on the Royals coaching staff.
The Sox have 13 in a row against Cleveland, Kansas City and Detroit beginning May 16, including home (May 16-18) and road (May 22-24) series against the Guardians.
The Sox started the season by splitting four games with the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. That’s the only series they haven’t lost this season (0-8-1).
The Sox will see the Astros again May 12-14 at Guaranteed Rate Field. That series will mark first baseman José Abreu’s return to the South Side.
Abreu spent the last nine seasons with the Sox and is in the top 10 in several of the team’s all-time offensive categories. He signed a three-year deal with the Astros in the offseason.
“Just because I am in a different uniform across the field doesn’t mean I’m not going to have respect for them,” Abreu said through an interpreter on March 30. “A lot of those guys are friends of mine. Some I didn’t get to know as well, but the respect is still there.”
Abreu went 6-for-16 with two RBIs in the opening series. He’s off to a slow start, slashing .235/.267/.270 with no home runs and 11 RBIs in 28 games.
Los Angeles Angels superstars Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout had one of the most memorable moments of the spring when they squared off in the World Baseball Classic.
Ohtani struck out Trout for the final out of the championship game as Team Japan topped Team USA 3-2. It was high-level drama between two of the best in baseball.
Ohtani and Trout visit Guaranteed Rate Field on May 29-31 when the Sox host the Angels.
Trout is third in the AL with a .984 OPS and Ohtani is 10th at .896. Both have seven home runs, tied for fourth in the league.
Ohtani also excels on the mound, where he’s 4-0 with a 1.85 ERA and 46 strikeouts in six starts.
While it’s too early to project if Ohtani will pitch in the series, he is 1-0 with an 0.87 ERA in two career starts against the Sox.
The Angels (15-14), Astros (15-13) and Twins (17-12) are the only teams currently with winning records the Sox face this month. They have 20 games against sub-.500 teams. If the Sox are going to dig out of the major hole they’re in, May is a good time to start.
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