CHICAGO _ Sure, Saturday's game was a mistake-filled eyesore, but give the White Sox a break.
And by a break, we mean a day off.
The Sox carried a five-game winning streak into Saturday's game against the Indians, ultimately a 5-2 loss, but they also carried the strain of day 32 of a 33-day stretch of 33 games (with one day off and a doubleheader).
Sunday represents the 18th straight game and the conclusion of a marathon schedule before Monday's day off.
"Guys are a little fatigued," manager Rick Renteria said before the game. "I know we're just trying to get them through it and they're doing a great job of just continuing to stay focused and run through these next couple of days."
Perhaps that helps explain the base-running blunders that occurred in the third inning.
The Sox appeared to have Indians starter Jefry Rodriguez on the ropes early. He gave up a leadoff single to Tim Anderson, who stole second, then walked Yolmer Sanchez and Charlie Tilson.
Leury Garcia's sacrifice to center brought home Anderson and the Sox scored first with one out. Then, they immediately took themselves out of an opportunity to pile on more runs.
Yolmer Sanchez started toward third on Rodriguez's windup but then doubled back when Rodriguez pulled it down for a throw to second. Sanchez was caught in a rundown and tagged out by third baseman Jose Ramirez, who threw to first to pick off Tilson as he tried to dive back.
It wasn't much pretty in the field for either team. Yoan Moncada threw wide of first on a fourth-inning error, and the Indians' Jake Bauers and Rodriguez committed errors on a botched double-play attempt (after Bauers made an off-line throw to second, Rodriguez missed the catch while covering first) on James McCann's grounder.
What mattered most was that the Indians eventually solved Sox starter Ivan Nova, who gave up home runs in the sixth and seventh to Carlos Santana and Leonys Martin.
With a win, the Sox would have reached .500 for the first time since April 5, passed the Indians to claim second place in the American League Central and strung together six straight wins.
"To get to .500, it's a number," Renteria said before the game. "But I think's it's more indicative of how they're playing the game. ... I think the way they're playing will take care of all those particular things. But it would be nice, I'm sure everybody would like to see that."
Yonder Alonso tacked on another Sox run in the seventh with a sacrifice that scored McCann.
