Safe at home? White Sox head back to South Side for crucial stretch

Jose Contreras is set to return to the White Sox starting rotation this homestand.

The ten-game road trip the White Sox embarked upon on July 25 started off well, with two intense wins at Comerica Park against the Detroit Tigers.

However, after the Sox lost the final game of that three-game series and headed west to Minnesota and Kansas City, the play of the White Sox went south.

The Twins, in typical "dome" fashion, outplayed the White Sox in three of the four games and cut the White Sox' lead in the AL Central to just a half-game.

After struggling in Minnesota, the White Sox failed to turn up the heat—despite the consistent head indexes in Kansas City that were over 100—and dropped two of three to the Royals.

And, consequently, they dropped their lead in the AL Central, falling out of first place for the first time since May 16.

Granted, that deficit heading into Monday was just a half-game, a number that will change pending the outcome of Minnesota's contest in Seattle Monday night.

Regardless, this stretch will be a true indicator of where the White Sox are at this point in the season. Since July 1, the White Sox are just 14-14, and 7-9 after the All-Star break. Their pitching has struggled during that stretch, allowing six or more runs in 17 of those 28 games. To compound problems, Jose Contreras, Scott Linebrink, and Joe Crede all went on the disabled list.

Needless to say, things haven't been as good as they have been for the White Sox lately.

And that's why this stretch of 19 games—16 of which will be played at home—is so important. Yes, the White Sox strung three wins together from July 22-25, but they haven't played well for an extended period of time in a while.

The White Sox kick off the homestand with three games against Detroit and then four against Boston before they close it out with three against Kansas City. Believe it or not, but Kansas City actually has the best road record of those three teams, coming in at 26-30. Detroit is 26-34 and Boston is a lowly 22-32 away from home.

On the other side of the coin, the White Sox are 35-16 at home, tied with Tampa Bay and Boston for the least number of home losses in the league before Monday's games begun.

After going 3-3 against Texas and Kansas City on their last homestand, the White Sox need a good homestand here to regain some of the momentum they had going for them earlier in the year.

Plus, if the Sox are able to take two of three from Detroit, they'd send the Tigers into an even deeper hole than they already find themselves in the AL Central. Also, taking three of four from Boston would be extremely important if the White Sox need to fall back on the Wild Card to make the playoffs this year.

The Royals won't be easy—and no team knows that better than the White Sox, who have lost four of their last six to Kansas City. If a team is going to make the playoffs, they have to beat the teams they're supposed to—and, despite the fact that the Royals have been playing very well lately, Kansas City is still a team the White Sox should beat. Taking two of three from the Royals would be a big way to end the homestand before the White Sox head to Oakland for three games.

Jose Contreras will make his return to the White Sox rotation during the homestand, barring an unexpected setback. While Clayton Richard has only had one truly bad start—August 3 at Kansas City—in his three appearances in place of Contreras, he's not a pitcher the White Sox can affort to have in their rotation if they expect to make the playoffs.

If Contreras can come back and pitch as well as he did in April and May (ERA of 2.89 heading into June), the White Sox starting rotation will receive a huge boost to offset the struggles of Javier Vazquez.

Contreras will be just one part of what will be a telling stretch for the White Sox. If they can pull off seven wins on the homestand, it could propel them to some good baseball down the stretch. However, if the Sox fall on their face and go 5-5 or worse, it could be a sign that the this team won't make the playoffs.