AROUND THE HORN
White Sox: The White Sox clinched their first AL Central title since 2008 with a 7-2 win over the Indians in a doubleheader opener Thursday in Cleveland behind two home runs by Tim Anderson. The White Sox, a wild-card team last year, are going to the postseason in consecutive years for the first time. The White Sox are in their first season under Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa, who will turn 77 on Oct. 4. La Russa had retired after guiding the Cardinals to the 2011 World Series title and was hired to replace Rick Renteria last October. The White Sox moved into first place for good May 7. They haven’t advanced in the postseason since winning the 2005 World Series and last hosted a playoff game 13 years ago. Anderson hit his fifth leadoff home run of the season and added a threerun drive in the second for his sixth career multi-homer game. Luis Robert and Eloy Jiménez hit consecutive homers in the second for a 7-0 lead off Aaron Civale (11-5). Aaron Bummer (4-5) retired all three batters in the fifth as four White Sox relievers combined for 3 scoreless innings in a game shortened to seven innings under pandemic rules. Closer Liam Hendriks struck out Myles Straw to end the game, setting off a celebration in front of the visiting dugout that featured players saluting the several hundred White Sox fans at Progressive Field.
Cardinals: Paul Goldschmidt homered twice, and the Cardinals overcame a five-run deficit to beat the host Brewers 8-5 and extend their longest winning streak in 39 years to 12 games. On a day Adam Wainwright faltered early, the Cardinals trailed 5-0 before rallying with one run in the fifth, four in the seventh, two in the eighth and one in the ninth. The Cardinals moved five games ahead of the Reds and Phillies, who both played later Thursday, for the second NL wild card. The Cardinals are on their longest winning streak since April 11-24, 1982, and are two shy of the franchise record set in 1935. The Brewers have lost five in a row since clinching its fourth consecutive playoff berth on Sept. 18, including four defeats to the Cardinals. Wainwright joined Hall of Famer Bob Gibson as the only Cardinals pitchers with 2,000 strikeouts, fanning Luis Urías in the fourth. The 40-year-old right-hander became the ninth active pitcher with 2,000.
Diamondbacks: With a little over a week left in the season and his team suffering over 100 losses, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo was given a one-year contract extension through 2022. The deal includes a club option for 2023. Lovullo, 56, replaced Chip Hale as Diamondbacks manager after the 2016 season and was voted NL manager of the year in 2017, when they went 93-69, beat the Rockies in the NL wild card game and were swept by the Dodgers in the NLDS. The Diamondbacks slipped to 82-80 the following season, went 85-77 in 2019 and 25-35 during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.