For eight innings, the Indians and White Sox looked like two teams with no interest in being at the ballpark. One day after being eliminated from playoff contention, the White Sox had to suit up and play. The Indians, who eliminated themselves in late July when they started an 11-game losing streak, have been forced to play out the string through a brutal August and a lackluster September.  In the ninth inning, however, things got very interesting as the teams exchanged two-run home runs. It took 12 innings, but the Indians came out on top 4-3.

Through the first three innings, neither pitcher had allowed a run and White Sox starter Jake Peavy had gone nine up, nine down. Shin-Soo Choo kept history from happening with a leadoff home run in the fourth inning. It was Choo's 16th homer and his first since August 18 in Oakland. That would be the only hit for the Indians until the ninth inning.

Meanwhile, Justin Masterson, who has had a very up and down season, including some strange home/road splits and several starts allowing seven or more runs, was putting up zeroes until the sixth. To that point, Masterson had allowed just two hits, both singles. In the sixth, Dewayne Wise doubled with one out and Orlando Hudson subsequently singled to drive him home. Masterson finished that inning without further damage and that was the end of his 2012 season. Masterson went six innings, allowing one run on four hits, with one walk and five strikeouts. He ends the season 11-15 with a 4.93 ERA.

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You know, after smashing the ever-loving daylights out of the Royals on Sunday, there was a little sense of hope. A sense of hope that made you think things are a little better around these parts than you would have thought.

October 1st, 2012

Chicago White Sox - 11

Cleveland Indians - 0

W: Hector Santiago (4-1) L: Corey Kluber (2-5)

[BOXSCORE]

So how do you feel after an 11-0 drubbing at the hands of the White Sox in which the offense could muster just two hits?

Okay, that was a little mean, but what can I say? How much can I really talk about a game like this? How much can I really muster at this point in the season about games like this one.

Hey, Hector Santiago went out there a week after, looking rather ordinary, and was little bit more than that. In fact, he was lights out. I mean, you have to be on your game to allow three base runners and strike out 10. 

There's your game. Santiago good, it doesn't matter what the Indians pitching did.

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With a chance to keep the White Sox from the playoffs, the Indians had, arguably, their worst offensive performance of the season. Managing just one hit and one walk, to go along with 10 strikeouts, against starter Hector Santiago, who was making just his fourth start of the season, the Indians were embarrassed at home by the White Sox 11-0. In the meantime, the Tigers lead the Royals 6-2 when this was posted and look poised to win the American League Central Division title. It was still a disappointing, lifeless effort from the Indians, something we haven't really seen since the calendar hit September.

Hector Santiago had never gone more than five innings in a game before. Against the Indians on Monday night, he pitched the game of his life, allowing just a third inning single to Shin-Soo Choo and a second inning walk to Michael Brantley. Asdrubal Cabrera reached the hard way in the fourth, getting hit by a pitch, but he was immediately erased on a double play. The Indians did not have a runner reach second base safely in the game until the ninth inning.

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The marathon has been reduced to a final jog to the finish line. With 159 games in the books, just three remain before the Indians pack up their lockers and head their separate ways until mid-February. This series could mark the final time Shin-Soo Choo, Chris Perez, Justin Masterson, and various others don an Indians uniform. Will this be the final series that Sandy Alomar Jr. manages in the third base dugout at Progressive Field? A lot of uncertainty lies ahead for the players who will be taking the field for this series against the Chicago White Sox.

In the present, however, the Indians still have three games left to play and a chance to end the White Sox season. Trailing by three games with three games to play, a White Sox loss or a Tigers win will decide the American League Central Division champion. The White Sox would need to sweep the Indians and the Tigers would have to be swept by the Royals for there to be a one-game playoff. With the Tigers/Royals series opener beginning at 8:10 p.m. ET, the Indians could end the White Sox season as early as Monday night.

The image of Ozzie Guillen holding his hands to his throat during the Indians’ 2005 choke job during the final week of the season still sticks in the mind of fans, even though very few players from that Indians team are still around and Guillen has moved on to Miami. In any event, there has to be some level of satisfaction for preventing a division foe from going to the playoffs.

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