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The Sox are up a half-game in the Central and 6-4 in the season series. As long as they avoid being swept, they’re in decent shape. Sweeping the Guardians would just about end the race. Winning two would put them up 1 1/2 games with the tiebreaker. Losing two would leave them a half-game out with the tiebreaker. It’s only a Guards sweep, which would flip both the lead and the tiebreaker, that dramatically changes this story.
Right now, the Guardians are the better of these two teams, with a significant edge in the rotation, a better pen, and a lesser (but competitive) offense. Of course, in what amounts to a best-of-three, being better only takes you so far. In a September that doesn’t have enough critical head-to-head series, I am looking forward to locking in on these games over the next three days.