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Spiegel: White Sox's Roller-Coaster Season In A Deep Dip

By Matt Spiegel-

September has been spent in the pit of despair for every aspect of White Sox baseball. Players, coaches and fans have searched for answers in the midst of dispiriting decay.

Starting pitching hasn't been dominant in some time. No one has put the team on his back and said "I got this one tonight," negating the need for vanishing clutch hitting and a tiring bullpen.

It's gone the other way, as three of the last five starters haven't gotten out of the fourth inning. The Sox have had just 10 quality starts in 23 September games. Saturday, Chris Sale exhaustedly offered his shortest outing of the year.

That bullpen has had inhabitants exchanging goat horns. Brett Myers' gopher ball to Evan Longoria on Thursday was the latest blemish. Myers was the third of the big trade acquisitions, all of whom started out so well, to now show the worst of themselves.

Kevin Youkilis singlehandedly won three or four games in his first two weeks but has looked tired. His numbers dwindled in August and withered further this month.

For the rest of this column, please click here.

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