For their penultimate series of the season, the White Sox are taking on the Arizona Diamondbacks for three games at Guaranteed Rate Field.
It's a pivotal series. But not for the White Sox.
Rather, their Chicago adversary, the Cubs are hoping for White Sox wins to knock down the Diamondbacks in the NL Wild Card Race. As it stands, the Cubs own the final wild-card spot. They're tied with the Diamondbacks for the second spot, but Arizona owns the tiebreaker.
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Does Pedro Griolf care about helping out the North Siders? It's a resounding 'no' from the Sox skipper.
"Whether it helps them or doesn't help them, that doesn't matter to me one bit," Grifol said.
The Cubs are in a jam. After going on a pretty treacherous losing skid, which saw losses against the Diamondbacks, it's come down to the wire for their odds to see the postseason.
The Cubs lose a spot, or a seed, with three different teams (Marlins, Reds, Diamondbacks) if they tie with any of them. That's why Cubs fans are clamoring for the White Sox to beat the Diamondbacks. If they tie, the Cubs lose. They need an outright better record to overtake the Snakes.
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Are the Sox listening to any of the cries from the North?
"I'm not. Partly it's because I choose not to," Grifol said. "That's not my concern what they like or dislike. My concern is making sure we go out there and play a clean game and win this game."
Well, all Cubs fans can do is hope the White Sox finish their season strong and ruin the Diamondbacks'. They have a three-game home series against them. The series marks the first time these two teams have faced each other this season.