It’s a don’t-look-back, don’t-look-too-far-ahead mentality for the Chicago White Sox, and it’s been that way all season long, with manager Robin Ventura instilling that philosophy as far back as day one of spring training.
That’s why the Sox had no problem bouncing back Monday with a 4-2 win over the Minnesota Twins after they spent the last week going 1-6 on a road trip that included getting swept by the Tigers in Detroit over the weekend.
To make matters even better for the Sox, they got to watch a Tigers meltdown earlier in the day, so the first-place tie they shared with Detroit at the start of the day is now a one-game lead. Well, almost everyone watched it.
“I did not know that,” Ventura said when told of Detroit’s loss, “so thank you.”
In Ventura’s world, it was business as usual. That meant getting back home, where the Sox have won 22 of their last 27 games, including eight straight.
Gordon Beckham was the big contributor in the win over the Twins, going 2-for-4 with three RBI, while Paul Konerko added an RBI single.
“We had Detroit this weekend,” Konerko said. “We could have controlled them this weekend, and we didn’t do it. Now we have to assume they’re going to play well, and we have to take care of our business.
“However many games left, it’s kind of irrelevant. It’s all about playing one game and then moving on to the next one. You can’t get to the end until you play all the rest of them. So we’re just going to do … not even one game at a time, one inning at a time. It’s grueling and it’s tough, but that’s the way we have to do it. I think we will.”
Basically, the daily gospel according to Ventura.
The Sox also got some good news Monday, as designated hitter Adam Dunn returned from a strained right oblique, going 1-for-3 with a walk.
Not only did the Sox look as if they were getting a bit healthier at the right time, but Dunn also proved that it’s not just Ventura and Konerko who have that one-game-at-a-time mentality. It’s the entire clubhouse.
“If we take care of us, we’ll be where we want to be,” Dunn said. “We’re in a position where we don’t have to rely on other teams to do this and that. If we play good, we’re fine.”