No one wants to win the AL Central - MLB

The White Sox lost their fifth in a row Sunday to the Angels, giving the Tigers a chance to move into a tie for first place in the AL Central even after they were routed by the Twins in the first game of a doubleheader. How did they respond? By losing the nightcap 2-1 in 10 innings.

Here are the second-half records of the AL Central teams:

Tigers: 36-30 – .545
White Sox: 34-33 – .507
Royals: 33-35 – .485
Twins: 28-40 – .412
Indians: 19-49 – .279

And the September records:

Royals: 11-11
Twins: 11-11
Tigers: 10-11
White Sox: 9-12
Indians: 8-13

The White Sox have received plenty of positive press for their surprising success under first-time manager Robin Ventura, but they’re probably the AL’s seventh or eighth best team.

As for the Tigers, well, they’ve been a disappointment pretty much all year long. They did play better ball in July and August, but they’ve stumbled again of late and they’d be on the verge of being ousted from the race if the White Sox hadn’t forgotten how to hit over the last week.

Both teams have 10 games left. The White Sox get the Indians for four and the Rays for three at home before finishing with three in Cleveland. The Tigers play four at home against the Royals and then finish on the road with three in Minnesota and three in Kansas City.

That’d seem to be advantage Chicago. Cleveland has played the worse of all of those teams, and the White Sox have the three extra home games. Still, with the way things have gone of late, it’s doubtful either team will run away with it.

CINCINNATI — The Los Angeles Dodgers placed pitcher Noah Syndergaard on the 15-day injured list Thursday with a blister on the index finger of his right throwing hand.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the timetable for Syndergaard’s return is unknown despite the 15-day designation.

“The physical, the mental, the emotional part, as he’s talked about, has taken a toll on him,” Roberts said. “So, the ability to get him away from this. He left today to go back to Los Angeles to kind of get back to normalcy.”

Syndergaard allowed six runs and seven hits in three innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night, raising his ERA to 7.16.

Syndergaard (1-4) has surrendered at least five runs in three straight starts.

Syndergaard has been trying to return to the player he was before Tommy John surgery sidelined him for the better part of the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Roberts said Syndergaard will need at least “a few weeks” to both heal and get away from baseball and “reset.”

“I think searching and not being comfortable with where he was at in the moment is certainly evident in performance,” Roberts said. “So hopefully this time away will provide more clarity on who he is right now as a pitcher.

“Trying to perform when you’re searching at this level is extremely difficult. I applaud him from not running from it, but it’s still very difficult. Hopefully it can be a tale of two stories, two halves when he does come back.”