White Sox right-hander David Sandlin was perfect for 5 1/3 innings in his start Sunday against the Cardinals, the same day he arrived at Busch Stadium from Triple-A Charlotte. By the end of the sixth inning, St. Louis had scored three runs on its way to handing Chicago a 3-1 loss and a weekend series defeat. The imperfections of that particular inning dropped the White Sox to 76-73 and reduced their American League Central lead to a half-game over Cleveland (76-74), with a three-game series at Progressive Field beginning Monday night. Toronto (75-75) won Sunday, like the Guardians, meaning the White Sox lead the Blue Jays by 1 1/2 games and are fighting as much for their playoff life as they are for the division title. A 1-5 showing this past week and a 4-10 record over their last 14 games put the White Sox in this position. “We've got to step it up. We've got to put our head down and keep grinding,” White Sox catcher Kyle Teel said. “We've got a really big series coming up. We've just got to step it up." “A lot of these guys here are dealing with this for the first time,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “But I think that their mind, their spirit is in the right spot. Just not happening right now.”
