The Sox are getting more fun to watch everyday. Today's 4-3 victory over the Rays marks their 8th win in a row and completes their second consecutive series sweep.
Even better, this game had an epic Hawk rant for the ages.
To set the scene; yesterday, A.J. Pierzysnki slid into second base with his spikes high nailing Ben Zobrist in the right shin. Today as retaliation, Rays' pitcher Alex Cobb plunked A.J. in the third inning. Which was nice too because A.J. ended up scoring in the inning and seeing that the Sox won by a run the Rays will probably look at that at being a stupid move in hindsight.
So anyway, in the fourth Jose Quintana retaliated by throwing behind Ben Zobrist. The pitch was low and behind the right handed batter. Home plate umpire Mark Wegner immediately threw Quintana out of the game and later Robin Ventura for arguing the case that Wegner never warned benches when A.J. was hit or when Quintana threw behind Zobrist.
What we got was maybe, just maybe Hawk's greatest rant. Deadspin link to full video.
But in the end, the Sox were victorious yet again and opened a 1 1/2 first place lead over the Cleveland Indians. Just two weeks ago the Sox were 17-21 and 4 1/2 games behind the AL Central leaders. Now heading into June the Sox are 29-22 and will open up a nine game homestand against the Seattle Mariners. Friday looks to be a good pitching match-up, Jake Peavy (6-1, 3.07ERA) will duel with Seattle's Felix Hernandez (4-4, 3.17ERA).
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Your first place Chicago White Sox
I gotta admit, I thought James Shields was just the guy to shut down the hot hitting Sox for a night. Couple that with Phil Humber going and I was thinking a loss for this evening. Even as Shields seemed like he was cruising along, the game was close enough that a few key hits here and there would get the Sox the lead.
A bit more than "a few key hits" was had in the Sox half of the sixth inning as it seemed Shields was figured out and the Sox went to town.
With the Sox trailing 2-1 entering the sixth, nine guys came to the plate and connected for five straight hits to open up a four run lead. Even more impressive none of the five runs scored off the long ball. Three straight singles by Alex Rios, A.J. Pierzynski, and Dayan Viciedo, an Alexei Ramirez double, an Orlando Hudson single and Alejandro De Aza force out accounted for the five runs.That's what we call efficient.
As usual, no Sox win would be complete without the use of the long ball. Today it came in the eighth courtesy of Dayan Viciedo who destroyed a Cesar Ramos offering to dead center field to cap the 7-2 victory.
I should've done a count of times Hawk was pimping White Sox season tickets during the broadcast. Seemed every other batter Hawk was reading promo copy pushing season ticket plans. Most likely because as usual, Kenny Williams came out yesterday and did his annual "fans need to show up" speech.
Just a little memo to Kenny and Brooks; Yes, the Sox are playing some very good baseball as of late. (And when I say as of late, I mean in the last two weeks.) Sox fans have been fooled before in seeing a hot streak turn into nothing. Hopefully the winning baseball keeps up and The Cell fills up. Fans should come out for the upcoming 9 game homestand starting Friday. Unfortunately, the dynamic pricing structure the Sox do for ticket sales now doesn't do any wonders for fans wanting to come out to see a good Sox team on the field. Ticket prices are lowered when tickets are less in demand (when they're losing) and seem to raise when the tickets are higher in demand (when they're winning, playing "marque" teams, etc). The upcoming homestand should be an interesting indicator of how the faithful feel about this team.
But back to positive stuff. The Cleveland Indians were dispatched by the Royals this fine evening meaning the Sox move into first place by the slimmest of margins, a 1/2 game with their 28-22 record. As I right this, the Red Sox are beating the Tigers, which is also a good thing because you know at some point they're going to wake up.
Tomorrow the Sox will look for the sweep of the Rays. Jose Quintana (1-0, 1.54ERA) will make his second career start for the Sox and will face off against Alex Cobb (2-0, 2.25ERA)
A bit more than "a few key hits" was had in the Sox half of the sixth inning as it seemed Shields was figured out and the Sox went to town.
With the Sox trailing 2-1 entering the sixth, nine guys came to the plate and connected for five straight hits to open up a four run lead. Even more impressive none of the five runs scored off the long ball. Three straight singles by Alex Rios, A.J. Pierzynski, and Dayan Viciedo, an Alexei Ramirez double, an Orlando Hudson single and Alejandro De Aza force out accounted for the five runs.That's what we call efficient.
As usual, no Sox win would be complete without the use of the long ball. Today it came in the eighth courtesy of Dayan Viciedo who destroyed a Cesar Ramos offering to dead center field to cap the 7-2 victory.
I should've done a count of times Hawk was pimping White Sox season tickets during the broadcast. Seemed every other batter Hawk was reading promo copy pushing season ticket plans. Most likely because as usual, Kenny Williams came out yesterday and did his annual "fans need to show up" speech.
Just a little memo to Kenny and Brooks; Yes, the Sox are playing some very good baseball as of late. (And when I say as of late, I mean in the last two weeks.) Sox fans have been fooled before in seeing a hot streak turn into nothing. Hopefully the winning baseball keeps up and The Cell fills up. Fans should come out for the upcoming 9 game homestand starting Friday. Unfortunately, the dynamic pricing structure the Sox do for ticket sales now doesn't do any wonders for fans wanting to come out to see a good Sox team on the field. Ticket prices are lowered when tickets are less in demand (when they're losing) and seem to raise when the tickets are higher in demand (when they're winning, playing "marque" teams, etc). The upcoming homestand should be an interesting indicator of how the faithful feel about this team.
But back to positive stuff. The Cleveland Indians were dispatched by the Royals this fine evening meaning the Sox move into first place by the slimmest of margins, a 1/2 game with their 28-22 record. As I right this, the Red Sox are beating the Tigers, which is also a good thing because you know at some point they're going to wake up.
Tomorrow the Sox will look for the sweep of the Rays. Jose Quintana (1-0, 1.54ERA) will make his second career start for the Sox and will face off against Alex Cobb (2-0, 2.25ERA)
Sunday, May 27, 2012
4 days of Sox: 5/26 - My hands hurt from clapping so much
The Sox are in one of those stretches were they can do no wrong. Three 4-run innings were able to offset Jake Peavy's sub-par outing Saturday afternoon against the Cleveland Indians.
Jake was given a 4-0 lead after the first inning but the Indians were able to take the lead in the third scoring 5 times. But the offense that refuses to let up fought back in the home half of the third. Back to back doubles by Adam Dunn and Paul Konerko tied the game at five. Alex Rios then singled to score Konerko to give the Sox a 6-5 lead. Two batters later Dayan Viciedo launched a two run home run to the seats in right to put the Sox up 8-5.
Jake still wanted to keep this contest interesting and served up a two run bomb to Jason Kipins (His second home run of the game) to get the Tribe back to within one in the fifth.
Peavy kept the Indians down in the sixth and allowed the Sox offense to put up another four spot in the 7th and then two more in the 8th off an Alex Rios home run.
The 14-7 victory saw Konerko go 4-4, Alex Rios and Dayan Viciedo go 3-5. Viciedo accounted for 5 RBIs while Rios drove in 3.
The last four games saw the Sox belt opponents 40-18. They are winners of 8 of their last 10 and now stand 1 1/2 behind the Indians with a record of 25-22. I'll take it.
The Sox will conclude their series and homestand today with a 1:10 game. Hopefully the Sox will be banging more home runs this afternoon and the temperatures are expected to be in the mid-90's
4 days of Sox tracker:
# of beers: 10
# of fans seen wearing "All in" shirts: 3
# of home runs hit by the Sox: 12
# of wins: 4
Total time of four games: 11 hours 22 minutes
Jake was given a 4-0 lead after the first inning but the Indians were able to take the lead in the third scoring 5 times. But the offense that refuses to let up fought back in the home half of the third. Back to back doubles by Adam Dunn and Paul Konerko tied the game at five. Alex Rios then singled to score Konerko to give the Sox a 6-5 lead. Two batters later Dayan Viciedo launched a two run home run to the seats in right to put the Sox up 8-5.
Jake still wanted to keep this contest interesting and served up a two run bomb to Jason Kipins (His second home run of the game) to get the Tribe back to within one in the fifth.
Peavy kept the Indians down in the sixth and allowed the Sox offense to put up another four spot in the 7th and then two more in the 8th off an Alex Rios home run.
The 14-7 victory saw Konerko go 4-4, Alex Rios and Dayan Viciedo go 3-5. Viciedo accounted for 5 RBIs while Rios drove in 3.
The last four games saw the Sox belt opponents 40-18. They are winners of 8 of their last 10 and now stand 1 1/2 behind the Indians with a record of 25-22. I'll take it.
The Sox will conclude their series and homestand today with a 1:10 game. Hopefully the Sox will be banging more home runs this afternoon and the temperatures are expected to be in the mid-90's
4 days of Sox tracker:
# of beers: 10
# of fans seen wearing "All in" shirts: 3
# of home runs hit by the Sox: 12
# of wins: 4
Total time of four games: 11 hours 22 minutes
Friday, May 25, 2012
4 days of Sox: 5/25 - More home runs, more wins!
This scoring runs thing is nice, isn't it?
The Sox belted out three home runs in tonight's 9-3 win over the Cleveland Indians. Adam Dunn (15), A.J. Pierzysnki (8) and Dayan Viciedo (9) all went yard to support Jose Quintana's first start in the big leagues. Quintana started in replace of John Danks who was placed on the 15-Day DL prior to today's start.
Quntana pitched well enough to secure his 1st win against the 1st place Cleveland Indians. In his six innings of work, Quintana gave up four hits and two runs while striking out four.
The blowout closes the gap in the AL Central to 2 1/2 games between the Indians and Sox. Tomorrow, Jake Peavy will try and keep the good vibes going on Robin Ventura bobblehead day.
4 days of Sox tracker (through 5/25):
# of beers: 8
# of fans seen wearing "All in" shirts: 2
# of home runs hit by the Sox: 10
# of wins: 3
The Sox belted out three home runs in tonight's 9-3 win over the Cleveland Indians. Adam Dunn (15), A.J. Pierzysnki (8) and Dayan Viciedo (9) all went yard to support Jose Quintana's first start in the big leagues. Quintana started in replace of John Danks who was placed on the 15-Day DL prior to today's start.
Quntana pitched well enough to secure his 1st win against the 1st place Cleveland Indians. In his six innings of work, Quintana gave up four hits and two runs while striking out four.
The blowout closes the gap in the AL Central to 2 1/2 games between the Indians and Sox. Tomorrow, Jake Peavy will try and keep the good vibes going on Robin Ventura bobblehead day.
4 days of Sox tracker (through 5/25):
# of beers: 8
# of fans seen wearing "All in" shirts: 2
# of home runs hit by the Sox: 10
# of wins: 3
4 days of Sox: 5/24 - Sox use 5HR to dispose of Twins!
This one had it all; 5 White Sox home runs, the use of instant replay, and Snoop Dogg.
Yep, Snoop Dogg threw out the first pitch of game and then "Tebowed" on the field.
There was no "Tebowing" done by Phil Humber, however. With a 4-1 Sox lead heading into the fifth, Humber got wild and was batted around by Twins' hitters. Denard Span scored on a wild pitch, Joe Mauer then went yard to cut the Sox lead to 4-3. Next batter Josh Willingham walked then advanced to third on Justin Morneau's double signaling Humber had hit a wall.
Nate Jones was called on to clean up the mess but didn't seem like too much of an obstacle for the Twins though. Jones surrendered the two Humber base runners to give the Twins a 5-4 lead. It couldve been worse too, the Twins loaded the bases but Denard Span flew out to end the inning.
It looked like Alejandro DeAza wasted no time getting the Sox back in the game. He led off the bottom half of the inning hitting what looked to be a game tying solo home run, but the score was reversed as the umpires looked at instant replay to see the ball was clearly foul.
Never fear though. The Man himself, Paul Konerko bombed a lead off home run in the sixth to tie the game. Alex Rios followed with his own shot giving the Sox a 6-5 lead. Later in the inning DeAza would get that home run that was taken away in the previous inning. This time even better as he belted a grand slam to make it a 10-5 Sox lead.
The final score was 11-8 but don't be fooled, the Twins never made a run. Morneau hit a mammoth solo home run in the 7th and a two run shot in the 9th but Dayan Viciedo's 8th inning hone run kept enough distance to secure the win.
4 days of Sox tracker (through 5/24):
# of beers: 5
# of fans wearing "All in" shirts: 2
# of errors committed by the Twins: 5
Yep, Snoop Dogg threw out the first pitch of game and then "Tebowed" on the field.
There was no "Tebowing" done by Phil Humber, however. With a 4-1 Sox lead heading into the fifth, Humber got wild and was batted around by Twins' hitters. Denard Span scored on a wild pitch, Joe Mauer then went yard to cut the Sox lead to 4-3. Next batter Josh Willingham walked then advanced to third on Justin Morneau's double signaling Humber had hit a wall.
Nate Jones was called on to clean up the mess but didn't seem like too much of an obstacle for the Twins though. Jones surrendered the two Humber base runners to give the Twins a 5-4 lead. It couldve been worse too, the Twins loaded the bases but Denard Span flew out to end the inning.
It looked like Alejandro DeAza wasted no time getting the Sox back in the game. He led off the bottom half of the inning hitting what looked to be a game tying solo home run, but the score was reversed as the umpires looked at instant replay to see the ball was clearly foul.
Never fear though. The Man himself, Paul Konerko bombed a lead off home run in the sixth to tie the game. Alex Rios followed with his own shot giving the Sox a 6-5 lead. Later in the inning DeAza would get that home run that was taken away in the previous inning. This time even better as he belted a grand slam to make it a 10-5 Sox lead.
The final score was 11-8 but don't be fooled, the Twins never made a run. Morneau hit a mammoth solo home run in the 7th and a two run shot in the 9th but Dayan Viciedo's 8th inning hone run kept enough distance to secure the win.
4 days of Sox tracker (through 5/24):
# of beers: 5
# of fans wearing "All in" shirts: 2
# of errors committed by the Twins: 5
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
4 days of Sox: 5/23/12 - Back at .500
Nice to see the Sox dismantle the Twins last night 6-0. Another plus was the stress free victory. Alex Rios and Paul Konerko would've set off the fireworks with their home runs but alas, it was Dog Day so no fireworks. Figures as a rare home victory and show of power by a number of guys in the lineup, the Sox don't set the fireworks off.
Chris Sale was wonderful going 7 innings and allowing two hits while the bats did their job. The Twins defense helped the cause as well committing 3 errors.
There was a nice moment during the 7th inning stretch as the team paid tribute to all the Chicago Police Officers in the crowd (The team organized free tickets for all CPD for select games, this being one of them.) for their stellar work over the weekend when the NATO summit was held.
Tonight it's game two looking for the series win.
4 days of Sox tracker:
# of beers: 2
# of fans seen wearing "All In" T-Shirts: 1
Chris Sale was wonderful going 7 innings and allowing two hits while the bats did their job. The Twins defense helped the cause as well committing 3 errors.
There was a nice moment during the 7th inning stretch as the team paid tribute to all the Chicago Police Officers in the crowd (The team organized free tickets for all CPD for select games, this being one of them.) for their stellar work over the weekend when the NATO summit was held.
Tonight it's game two looking for the series win.
4 days of Sox tracker:
# of beers: 2
# of fans seen wearing "All In" T-Shirts: 1
 |
| Fans give members of CPD a warm welcome during the 7th inning stretch. |
4 days of Sox
Tonight will be the first of four consecutive games I will attend.
Hopefully the Sox got their weekly dud out of the way last night with their 9-2 loss to the Twins.
I'll try and do something creative like a beer tracker or number of times Adam Dunn is stupidly booed. Maybe even a "Dumb fan if the game" reward.
Photos and game reports to follow.
Monday, May 21, 2012
To be determined
Let's face it, a three game sweep of the woeful Cubs doesn't exactly put the Sox as a powerhouse in the American League or even in their own division. A four game winning streak to get back to .500 is nice, but if the Sox want to be considered a legit contender, they'll have to do more. Winning at home should be priority #1.
The Sox are 7-12 at home not having won a home series since their opening series against the Tigers in mid-April. And Brooks Boyer wonders why nobody is showing up...
This week the Sox will host the Minnesota Twins during the week and the current AL Central leaders, Cleveland Indians over Memorial Day weekend. There's no reason why the Sox can't win the series against the Twins. They're just as bad as the Cubs. But then again, it's the Twins. The Sox will probably find some idiotic way to get beat by this team. The Twins are going to throw out P.J. Walters (1-1, 3.65ERA) on Tuesday and Scott Diamond (3-0, 1.40ERA) on Wednesday with a TBA on Thursday.
Seriously, who are these people? Unfortunately looking at their season stats the Sox are going to find out. Diamond has been impressive in his three starts this season and this P.J. Walters doesn't seem like a slouch either. Somehow the Twins find these guys and they throw gems against our Sox at the worst time possible.
This four game winning streak to get 2 1/2 behind the Tribe means jack if the Sox end up dropping both series this week.
In the past few years the Sox will find themselves buried in the AL Central only to right the ship in mid-June when the full slate of interleague games start. By the end of August the Sox have burnt themselves out and fade away to play a depressing final month of the baseball season.
Fortunately for Robin's crew (Or is it Don Cooper's? Mark Parent's?) the team holds a better record and position in the standings through the first 42 games of this season than they have the past three seasons.
The Sox are 7-12 at home not having won a home series since their opening series against the Tigers in mid-April. And Brooks Boyer wonders why nobody is showing up...
This week the Sox will host the Minnesota Twins during the week and the current AL Central leaders, Cleveland Indians over Memorial Day weekend. There's no reason why the Sox can't win the series against the Twins. They're just as bad as the Cubs. But then again, it's the Twins. The Sox will probably find some idiotic way to get beat by this team. The Twins are going to throw out P.J. Walters (1-1, 3.65ERA) on Tuesday and Scott Diamond (3-0, 1.40ERA) on Wednesday with a TBA on Thursday.
Seriously, who are these people? Unfortunately looking at their season stats the Sox are going to find out. Diamond has been impressive in his three starts this season and this P.J. Walters doesn't seem like a slouch either. Somehow the Twins find these guys and they throw gems against our Sox at the worst time possible.
This four game winning streak to get 2 1/2 behind the Tribe means jack if the Sox end up dropping both series this week.
In the past few years the Sox will find themselves buried in the AL Central only to right the ship in mid-June when the full slate of interleague games start. By the end of August the Sox have burnt themselves out and fade away to play a depressing final month of the baseball season.
Fortunately for Robin's crew (Or is it Don Cooper's? Mark Parent's?) the team holds a better record and position in the standings through the first 42 games of this season than they have the past three seasons.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Sox finish off Cubs
This series saw the Sox hit a total of eight home runs.
For the second day in a row Sox hitters hit back to back blasts. In the fourth inning, Gordon Beckham led off with his 4th home run of the season. Adam Dunn then blasted his 14th home run of the year to make it 2-0 lead.
The home run barrage continued the next inning when Tyler Flowers absolutely killed a Paul Maholm offering onto Waveland Ave for a 3-0 lead.
Jake Peavy took the run support in stride and still kept the Cubs off the board. The only inning were Jake had issues was in the fourth. He escaped a bases loaded two out situation by getting Adrian Cardenas to pop out to Alexei Ramirez. All in all, Jake was back to his stellar 2012 self, pitching 6 1/3 innings giving up three hits and striking out seven.
Two runs were added in the 7th inning and one more for good measure in the 9th to polish off the sweep and giving the Sox their fourth win in a row evening their record at 21-21.
Another nice sight to see was the return of Jesse Crain off the DL. Jesse came on with one on and one out in the 8th striking out the first batter he faced in Starlin Castro, then walking back to back hitters before striking out Ian Stewart to end the Cubs threat.
The Sox get an off day on Monday before they open a six game homestand against the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians. Hopefully the Sox can start their winning ways at home as they only find themselves 2 1/2 games out of first.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Sox/Cubs pregame
The Crosstown series begins at Wrigley today with little fanfare. The Cubs find themselves at the bottom of the NL Central and the Sox are under .500 in a weak AL Central.
This morning Cubs nation was given devastating news in Kerry Wood announcing his retirement and will make his final appearance in today's game.
The face of Cubs failure and ineptitude is walking away after the temper-tantrum he threw last week.
Chicago media will remind us Wood struck out 20 batters in a single game - which will go down as the greatest moment in Western Civilization. Cubs fans will tell us how he only wanted to be a Cub and how he hit a home run in game 7 of the 2003 NLCS. I'd like to remind people Wood is the most overrated Chicago athlete of all time.
So as Wood will probably be paraded out on the field today to a emotional Cubs crowd, most will forget about the two half-assed baseball teams that are about to take the field.
Adam Dunn is supposed to replace Dayan Viciedo in LF. Both guys have been hot with the bat so losing one on a team that struggles to score could be rough.
Today's game has a 1:20 start. Saturday is a night game televised on FOX. Sunday is back to the usual 1:20 start time.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
What the hell was that?
Today was one of those games where you check the score in the 6th inning and you see the Sox are winning 6-0 and you say to yourself, "Ah cool. There's no way they blow this game." Then a while later you think the game should be over and you check the score again and see they've blown that six run lead and it's now 10-6 in favor of the other team and you say to yourself, "What the fuck?"
In short, Jake Peavy was cruising for five innings then all hell broke loose.
The 6th inning started off with a single by Andy Dirks then a home run by Miguel Cabrera to make it a 6-2 Sox lead. Prince Fielder followed with a double then advanced to third on a ground out.
There, you think, OK, this run will score, it will be 6-3 with one or two outs. Still no major issues.
Nope.
Next batter Brendan Boesch was hit by a pitch then scored on Ryan Raburn's three run home run.
Now, it's 6-5 White Sox and you're wondering if Robin has fallen asleep or in the bullpen sports bar.
Next batter Jhonny Peralta drew a walk and finally that was it for Jake.
Will Ohman was called on and was nothing short of a disaster. The first batter he faced in Delmon Young was beaned on a 2-2 count putting runners on 1st and 2nd for Austin Jackson. On an 0-2 pitch Jackson sent Ohman's fastball to dead center field over the fence for a three run home run to put the Tigers up 8-6.
Unreal.
The Tigers tacked on two more in the 7th. Those two proved to be beneficial because the Sox went down with a fight this afternoon With the bases loaded and two outs in the 9th, Alexei Ramirez lined a two run double to make it a 10-8 ballgame. Unfortunately, Dayan Viciedo couldn't keep the line going and flew out deep to right field to end the game
Generally, everything in baseball evens out. The Sox last night won a game they should've lost. And today they lose a game they should've won. Still, this was a game that would've been nice to have seeing it was against the Tigers with large lead late in the game. Good teams hold on to these games and steal games every now and then.
The Sox (17-20) now head to Anaheim for 48 hours for a quick two game series against the Angels. The Sox then return home for the crosstown series at Wrigley Field.
In short, Jake Peavy was cruising for five innings then all hell broke loose.
The 6th inning started off with a single by Andy Dirks then a home run by Miguel Cabrera to make it a 6-2 Sox lead. Prince Fielder followed with a double then advanced to third on a ground out.
There, you think, OK, this run will score, it will be 6-3 with one or two outs. Still no major issues.
Nope.
Next batter Brendan Boesch was hit by a pitch then scored on Ryan Raburn's three run home run.
Now, it's 6-5 White Sox and you're wondering if Robin has fallen asleep or in the bullpen sports bar.
Next batter Jhonny Peralta drew a walk and finally that was it for Jake.
Will Ohman was called on and was nothing short of a disaster. The first batter he faced in Delmon Young was beaned on a 2-2 count putting runners on 1st and 2nd for Austin Jackson. On an 0-2 pitch Jackson sent Ohman's fastball to dead center field over the fence for a three run home run to put the Tigers up 8-6.
Unreal.
The Tigers tacked on two more in the 7th. Those two proved to be beneficial because the Sox went down with a fight this afternoon With the bases loaded and two outs in the 9th, Alexei Ramirez lined a two run double to make it a 10-8 ballgame. Unfortunately, Dayan Viciedo couldn't keep the line going and flew out deep to right field to end the game
Generally, everything in baseball evens out. The Sox last night won a game they should've lost. And today they lose a game they should've won. Still, this was a game that would've been nice to have seeing it was against the Tigers with large lead late in the game. Good teams hold on to these games and steal games every now and then.
The Sox (17-20) now head to Anaheim for 48 hours for a quick two game series against the Angels. The Sox then return home for the crosstown series at Wrigley Field.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
I think I need to go to more games
Adam Dunn hit his 11th home run of the season in the 1st inning which matches his total home run output from 2011. The blast was all Gavin Floyd needed as he pitched a gem going 7 2/3 innings only surrendering five hits. He left with a bases loaded jam in the 8th after striking out Billy Butler but Matt Thornton came on to strike out Eric Hosmer to end the treat.
That's two stress free wins in a row for the Sox!
The news of the day came before the game as the never ending Chris Sale saga seems to have come to a conclusion. Sale's MRI came back "clean and pristine" according to Kenny Williams and...wait for it... will RETURN TO THE ROTATION for Saturday's game.
A testy Don Cooper was interviewed on The Mully and Hanley show on The Score Thursday morning before the MRI was done. Coop didn't seem to think the Sale conversation was that important and gets a little frustrated as the questions keep coming. There's even a Arnie Munoz reference! Click here for the interview Cooper's best line about the closer's role was, "Sit and watch. And stay tuned. We've got options." Dear God.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
So Sale isn't the closer?
With a 3-0 lead heading into the 8th inning John Danks surrendered back to back singles to Casey Kotchman & Jack Hannahan. With runners on 1st and 2nd and nobody out, Robin Ventura thought Danks' night was done and decided to hand the game away to the clown car known as the Sox bullpen.
Danks threw his best game of the season tonight going 7+ innings, giving up five hits and two runs which were scored after he left the game.
Chris Sale was called on to pitch the 8th. The same Chris Sale that was recently moved to the CLOSER'S ROLE by White Sox management. So unless Robin was going to use Sale for a two inning save (which is unlikely seeing he came in with nobody out and apparently a sore elbow) the Sox have just contradicted themselves again.
Sale induced a ground ball of the bat of Johnny Damon but the play was botched by Alexei Ramirez setting up a bases loaded, nobody out situation. The Indians took advantage of the error and scored three times to tie the game in the frame eventually moving the game into extra innings.
Thankfully, the Sox only needed the 10th score two more runs. Alex Rios exacted revenge on Indians closer Chris Perez by tripling to score Brent Lillibridge (Who was pinch running for Paul Konerko.) Last Thursday, Perez appeared to yell at Rios in celebration as he grounded out to end the game. While walking off the field, Rios had words for Perez taking exception for celebrating the win.
Alexei Ramirez got Rios home on fielder's choice and Addison Reed threw a 1-2-3 bottom of the 10th to secure the 5-3 White Sox win.
It was nice to Danks finally earn his pay. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come because the Sox rotation seems to be down to three capable starters in Danks, Floyd and Peavy.
Danks threw his best game of the season tonight going 7+ innings, giving up five hits and two runs which were scored after he left the game.
Chris Sale was called on to pitch the 8th. The same Chris Sale that was recently moved to the CLOSER'S ROLE by White Sox management. So unless Robin was going to use Sale for a two inning save (which is unlikely seeing he came in with nobody out and apparently a sore elbow) the Sox have just contradicted themselves again.
Sale induced a ground ball of the bat of Johnny Damon but the play was botched by Alexei Ramirez setting up a bases loaded, nobody out situation. The Indians took advantage of the error and scored three times to tie the game in the frame eventually moving the game into extra innings.
Thankfully, the Sox only needed the 10th score two more runs. Alex Rios exacted revenge on Indians closer Chris Perez by tripling to score Brent Lillibridge (Who was pinch running for Paul Konerko.) Last Thursday, Perez appeared to yell at Rios in celebration as he grounded out to end the game. While walking off the field, Rios had words for Perez taking exception for celebrating the win.
Alexei Ramirez got Rios home on fielder's choice and Addison Reed threw a 1-2-3 bottom of the 10th to secure the 5-3 White Sox win.
It was nice to Danks finally earn his pay. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come because the Sox rotation seems to be down to three capable starters in Danks, Floyd and Peavy.
Monday, May 7, 2012
This team is getting brutal to watch
As I write this the Sox have just given up a 1-0 lead to the Cleveland Indians after having two outs and nobody on in the Cleveland fifth. Just called up starter Eric Stults walked the ninth place hitter, Lou Marson (who only has had one hit this season.) then proceeded to let him waltz into second base before giving up an RBI single to Michael Brantley which tied the game. Brantley advanced to second when Alex Rios air mailed the throw home which helped him score on the RBI single by Jason Kipnis.
The Sox could use this win tonight as they have lost 8 of their last 11 games including this afternoon's make up 8-6 loss. Phil Humber could use some of those scoreless frames he threw up in Seattle a few weeks ago as he has been absolutely dreadful in his last three outings. Today, he gave up eight runs in just 2 1/3 innings of work.
To make matters worse, a head scratcher was announced over the weekend by our fearless leaders on the White Sox coaching staff and front office. Chris Sale has been moved to the closers role after experiencing soreness in his left elbow. This is funny because Sale has been groomed to being a starter since joining the club in 2010. In spring training this year the announcement was made that Sale would indeed join the rotation. Now, because of Hector Santiago's ineptness and Sale's "soreness", he will be the closer for the remainder of the 2012 season. Why not just DL him?
The baffling news just adds to the frustration that is the Chicago White Sox these last two weeks. They have dropped their last four series and have fallen back in the AL Central standings.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Walks doom Sox
Phil Humber worked in and out of trouble in his six innings of work and White Sox pitching walked eight Indian hitters to help them score six runs in tonight's 6-3 loss to the Cleveland Indians.
The Sox were riding high a Adam Dunn fourth inning solo home run when the 1-0 lead was quickly erased the following inning on Carlos Santana's two out, three run home run way back into the empty concourse in right field.
Unlike recent games, the Sox showed some brief signs of fight. In the home half of the fifth, Alexei Ramirez (hitting in the two hole tonight) tied the game on a two run single.
Alas, the usually steady bullpen couldn't keep the Indians down. The Tribe broke through in the eighth inning on a Jack Hannahan single to give the Indians a 4-3 lead. They slammed the door in the ninth on Travis Hafner's two run home run off Matt Thornton.
For now, first place in the AL Central belongs to the Cleveland Indians who have a record of 12-10. The Sox fall to 12-12 and sit with the Detroit Tigers in second place who have the same record. What a bunch of mediocrity. It's a shame that Sox are dropping all these early games when they have chances to build a lead in the division while the Tigers are trying to figure things out.
John Danks and Justin Masterson will pitch for their respective clubs in tomorrow night's finale. A win would be nice seeing that the Sox will face the Tigers over the weekend in Detroit then see the Indians again next week for four games.
The Sox were riding high a Adam Dunn fourth inning solo home run when the 1-0 lead was quickly erased the following inning on Carlos Santana's two out, three run home run way back into the empty concourse in right field.
Unlike recent games, the Sox showed some brief signs of fight. In the home half of the fifth, Alexei Ramirez (hitting in the two hole tonight) tied the game on a two run single.
Alas, the usually steady bullpen couldn't keep the Indians down. The Tribe broke through in the eighth inning on a Jack Hannahan single to give the Indians a 4-3 lead. They slammed the door in the ninth on Travis Hafner's two run home run off Matt Thornton.
For now, first place in the AL Central belongs to the Cleveland Indians who have a record of 12-10. The Sox fall to 12-12 and sit with the Detroit Tigers in second place who have the same record. What a bunch of mediocrity. It's a shame that Sox are dropping all these early games when they have chances to build a lead in the division while the Tigers are trying to figure things out.
John Danks and Justin Masterson will pitch for their respective clubs in tomorrow night's finale. A win would be nice seeing that the Sox will face the Tigers over the weekend in Detroit then see the Indians again next week for four games.
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