Chris Sale defends Robin Ventura amid skid

Chris Sale had the back of manager Robin Ventura after another late loss.

The Chicago White Sox have lost six in a row and 14 of their last 18 games to find themselves in third place of the American League Central.

This is a drastic drop for a team that had the best record in the AL and had fans thinking of a postseason berth for the first time since 2008. Things have gotten so bad that fans and the media are calling for manager Robin Ventura to be fired, but ace Chris Sale isn’t having any of that and publicly defended his manager, per ESPN.

"“I don’t think he gave up any runs,” Sale told the media after the sixth straight loss. “I don’t think he made any errors, and he’s in the dugout the whole time. It’s on us to win games. I understand people – I’ll keep it at that – want to point fingers and find blame. But at the end of the day it falls on the players. We have to find a way to turn it around. We’re going to keep fighting. It will turn. We have too much morale, chemistry and too much talent. Just a rough patch.”"

The White Sox have found a wide variety of ways to lose over the last week. Most notably was closer David Robertson giving up six runs in the ninth inning on Saturday against the Kansas City Royals. The White Sox were leading 7-1 with one out in the ninth before the wheels came off.

Sale, the team’s best player, felt the need to defend his manager amid what will probably be the toughest stretch of the season for Chicago. Sale is right, it will be up to the players on the field to stop the bleeding.

Chicago has the benefit of playing in the AL Central, which might not produce a single 90-win team. The Royals are two-time AL champs, but they have a middling rotation while the Cleveland Indians are average across the board.