Cleveland Indians: 4 Reasons They Should Fear the White Sox More than Tigers

The Cleveland Indians had a disastrous weekend when they were swept in three games by the Detroit Tigers. But even as the Tigers are pressing their proverbial foot on the Indians' throats, an argument could be made that the Chicago White Sox, and not the Tigers, are the most dangerous threat to the Tribe.

The White Sox have been hanging in the American League Central Division race after being left for dead earlier in the season. They sit only one-half game behind the Indians, and five back of the Tigers.

Here are four reasons why the White Sox are more dangerous to the Indians than the Tigers.

The Schedule

The Indians have eight games remaining against the White Sox, and only six against Detroit. The problem with the Indians schedule is that those eight games will be covered by two four-game series.

The Indians have not done well in four-game series. In the seven four-game series they have played, they have split four, lost three games twice and been swept.

To make things more difficult, the last series against the White Sox, from Sept. 20-22, includes a double-header. Double-headers can be torture for the bullpen, and they can be especially problematic for a team with as little depth and as many injuries as the Indians.

Cleveland's Record Against Chicago

The Tribe has been an abysmal 3-7 against the south-siders in 2011, which is not promising since they still have eight games left against the White Sox. Chicago has scored more runs, 51, against the Indians than any team the Tribe has played all season.

Cleveland's record against the Tigers is significantly better at 6-5, including a 5-1 mark when playing Detroit at Progressive Field. The Tribe is 1-4 at home against the White Sox; a bad sign considering that they are a much better team when playing in Cleveland than they are on the road.

White Sox Pitching

The White Sox bats have been lackluster this season, but their pitching has been solid with an overall 3.79 ERA, good for seventh in the AL. The Tigers, even with Cy Young Award candidate Justin Verlander, have an overall 4.20 ERA, which is 11th among the 14 teams in the AL.

The Indians collectively hit only .248 and have struck out 957 times, more than any other team in the AL. Cleveland is going to need extraordinary pitching help to compensate for their weak offense if they are to succeed in their eight games against the White Sox.

Ozzie Guillen

For all that has changed within the central division during the past few years, one of the few constants has been White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. And that has not been good for the Indians.

Since becoming White Sox manager in 2004, Guillen's club has defeated the Indians 76 times, more than any other team in baseball. Overall, the Indians are 13 games under .500 against the White Sox during Guillen's tenure. And although Tigers manager Jim Leyland evokes particularly painful memories for Indians fans (he managed the Florida Marlins when they beat the Indians in the 1997 World Series), he has still not defeated the Indians as many times as Guillen.

The Tribe's most painful memory against Guillen's White Sox came at the end of the 2005 season. The White Sox clinched the central division after defeating the Indians in the first game of the season's final series. But with the Indians still reaching for a wild-card spot, Guillen and the White Sox showed no mercy and swept Cleveland from a postseason berth.

The Indians hope Guillen and the White Sox don't doom their chances for the playoffs again.