You would never know by watching tonight's game, but the White Sox actually lead the A.L. in batting average with runners in scoring position at .291 coming into tonight's game.
Unfortunately, that didn't factor into tonight's first of three against the Detroit Tigers.
The Tigers were basically giving the game away but the Sox would have none of it. They stranded 12 on base including a bases loaded nobody out situation in the 4th. To make it even uglier, the Sox went 0-13 with RISP. That's pretty talented.
Matt Thornton have up a bases clearing double to Delmon Young in the 7th to break a 4-4 tie. Young was thrown out at third but the damage was already done. The Tigers led 7-4 and the Sox wilted the rest of the way.
Jake Peavy wasn't good either. He lasted 6+ innings responsible for six of the Tigers' runs. Tigers' starter Doug Fister didn't impress, but the Sox let him off the hook in just about every inning.
The 7-4 loss puts the Tigers 2 games behind our division leading Sox with the series continuing Saturday and Sunday night.
It would be nice not to get swept, boys.
Friday, August 31, 2012
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Non-stressful win
A four run first inning was all spot-starter Dylan Axelrod needed in tonight's 8-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles. Axelrod was everything the Sox needed and more tonight going 7 1/3 innings for the injured Gavin Floyd, giving up only one run and three hits.
Lots of positives to go around tonight. Aside from the stellar start by Axelrod, the offense put up 8 runs without the use of the long ball. Gordon Beckham went 3-4 at the plate and knocked in three of the eight runs while Alexei Ramirez and Adam Dunn both knocked in two.
A balanced 12-hit attack on Joe Saunders and Kevin Gregg through seven innings kept the Sox out of trouble and contributed to the big win.
To make things even better,Bruce Chen decided to beat another team other than our Sox. He twirled an eight inning gem over the Detroit Tigers helping K.C. in the 1-0 over Detroit.
The Sox now have a 3 game lead in the A.L. Central with 33 games left on the schedule. Tomorrow at 11:30am the Sox will wrap up this four game series then head to Detroit for a three game series.
Lots of positives to go around tonight. Aside from the stellar start by Axelrod, the offense put up 8 runs without the use of the long ball. Gordon Beckham went 3-4 at the plate and knocked in three of the eight runs while Alexei Ramirez and Adam Dunn both knocked in two.
A balanced 12-hit attack on Joe Saunders and Kevin Gregg through seven innings kept the Sox out of trouble and contributed to the big win.
To make things even better,Bruce Chen decided to beat another team other than our Sox. He twirled an eight inning gem over the Detroit Tigers helping K.C. in the 1-0 over Detroit.
The Sox now have a 3 game lead in the A.L. Central with 33 games left on the schedule. Tomorrow at 11:30am the Sox will wrap up this four game series then head to Detroit for a three game series.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Orioles pull a White Sox
Bruce Chen and now Wei-Yin Chen.
There's something with the Sox and lefty pitchers with the last name Chen. Generally something frustrating.
Tonight, the Sox began the first of four in Baltimore and seven on the road.
Coming into tonight the Sox have a 5-6 record in "the town of the big house" since 2009. Which is kind of surprising to me because I generally feel a sense of doom whenever the Sox play in Camden Yards.
Anyway, Lew Ford and Nate McLouth provided the big blasts tonight in the Orioles 4-3 win. Ford got the O's off to a 1-0 lead in the 2nd with his first home run of the year. Figures.
McLouth came up big for the A.L. Wild Card leading Orioles in the 8th. He blasted a 2-run home run over the right field scoreboard to give the O's a 4-3 lead which they didn't surrender.
Orioles starter Wei-Yin Chen threw what seemed like an effortless game going six innings only giving up two runs (one earned) and surrendering four hits while striking out eight Sox hitters.
Francisco Liriano threw a lot of pitches in his five innings of work. 104 to be exact. Brett Myers was the loser tonight serving up the eventual game winning bomb to McLouth.
The loss puts the Sox at 71-56 on the season and now 2 games up on the Detroit Tigers who were off tonight. There's no use feeling bad about this one as tomorrow Chris Sale (15-4, 2.65ERA) will start against the O's Chris Tillman (6-2, 3.71ERA) who has been solid this year.
In other news, it has been reveled that Gavin Floyd has an elbow strain. Right now he isn't heading to the D.L. but his Friday start against the Tigers is going to now be Jake Peavy's start. The Sox are undecided who to start on Wednesday in place of Peavy.
There's something with the Sox and lefty pitchers with the last name Chen. Generally something frustrating.
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| Chen's reaction to hearing he would be facing the White Sox tonight. |
Tonight, the Sox began the first of four in Baltimore and seven on the road.
Coming into tonight the Sox have a 5-6 record in "the town of the big house" since 2009. Which is kind of surprising to me because I generally feel a sense of doom whenever the Sox play in Camden Yards.
Anyway, Lew Ford and Nate McLouth provided the big blasts tonight in the Orioles 4-3 win. Ford got the O's off to a 1-0 lead in the 2nd with his first home run of the year. Figures.
McLouth came up big for the A.L. Wild Card leading Orioles in the 8th. He blasted a 2-run home run over the right field scoreboard to give the O's a 4-3 lead which they didn't surrender.
Orioles starter Wei-Yin Chen threw what seemed like an effortless game going six innings only giving up two runs (one earned) and surrendering four hits while striking out eight Sox hitters.
Francisco Liriano threw a lot of pitches in his five innings of work. 104 to be exact. Brett Myers was the loser tonight serving up the eventual game winning bomb to McLouth.
The loss puts the Sox at 71-56 on the season and now 2 games up on the Detroit Tigers who were off tonight. There's no use feeling bad about this one as tomorrow Chris Sale (15-4, 2.65ERA) will start against the O's Chris Tillman (6-2, 3.71ERA) who has been solid this year.
In other news, it has been reveled that Gavin Floyd has an elbow strain. Right now he isn't heading to the D.L. but his Friday start against the Tigers is going to now be Jake Peavy's start. The Sox are undecided who to start on Wednesday in place of Peavy.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Youk slams Yankees
Boy, the Yankees are no Royals!
For the second consecutive night the Yankees got off to an early lead but the Sox fought back and pulled out another win against the A.L.'s best team.
Francisco Liriano gave up two runs in the first inning but settled down to keep the Yankees off the board for the rest of the game and allowed the Sox to march back.
With the game tied at two in the fifth inning, Kevin Youkilis hit a fly ball that looked like it would be a long out. But the ball kept carrying and Nick Swisher kept going back to the wall. The ball carried over the fence and landed in the Yankees bullpen for a grand slam off Yankee starter Ivan Nova to give the Good Guys at 6-2 lead.
The Sox rolled the rest of the way and pulled out a 7-3 win which maintains the Sox two game lead in the A.L. Central with a record of 67-55.
It's pretty amazing that in games started by Chris Sale, Jake Peavy, and Jose Quintana against the Royals the Sox failed to win any of them. But in games started by Gavin Floyd and Francisco Liriano against the Yankees, the Sox pound away and erase the bad taste of the weekend sweep.
Tomorrow Chris Sale (14-4, 2.72ERA) will lend his golden arm to try and sweep away Phil Hughes (12-10, 4.23ERA) and the Yankees.
For the second consecutive night the Yankees got off to an early lead but the Sox fought back and pulled out another win against the A.L.'s best team.
Francisco Liriano gave up two runs in the first inning but settled down to keep the Yankees off the board for the rest of the game and allowed the Sox to march back.
With the game tied at two in the fifth inning, Kevin Youkilis hit a fly ball that looked like it would be a long out. But the ball kept carrying and Nick Swisher kept going back to the wall. The ball carried over the fence and landed in the Yankees bullpen for a grand slam off Yankee starter Ivan Nova to give the Good Guys at 6-2 lead.
The Sox rolled the rest of the way and pulled out a 7-3 win which maintains the Sox two game lead in the A.L. Central with a record of 67-55.
It's pretty amazing that in games started by Chris Sale, Jake Peavy, and Jose Quintana against the Royals the Sox failed to win any of them. But in games started by Gavin Floyd and Francisco Liriano against the Yankees, the Sox pound away and erase the bad taste of the weekend sweep.
Tomorrow Chris Sale (14-4, 2.72ERA) will lend his golden arm to try and sweep away Phil Hughes (12-10, 4.23ERA) and the Yankees.
Monday, August 20, 2012
1 1/2 game lead with 42 games left
I fully expected a series loss in Kansas City over the weekend. What I didn't know was that it would raise a lot of questions about the team in the final 42 games of the season.
There hasn't been many things to question Robin about this year. Sure some moves here and there (As all managers.) but there was some mind boggling decisions made. The one big one was to keep pitching to the only bat in the Royal lineup...Billy Butler.
This guy kills the Sox and especially Jake Peavy. Coming into the series Butler batted over .400 against Jake.
Peavy pitched twice to Butler with first base open only to result in runs being scored.
The usually steady defense also looked bad in committing four errors in Saturday's game.
Injuries were abound as well. Alejandro De Aza looks like a DL trip is in order as he has a sore oblique. Kevin Youkilis did not play on Sunday because of a sore knee.
Can you chalk this up to the Royals being the new boggieman?
On a nice note Adam Dunn hit his 400th career home run Saturday night in a losing effort. Dunn's blast was also his 35th bomb of the year.
The Baltimore Orioles did help the cause by taking their series against the Tigers. So for now the Sox still hold on to the lead in the AL Central.
There's no use in dwelling on the series because the Sox now host the New York Yankees at The Cell starting tonight.
Freddy Garcia will get the ball for the Yankees and Gavin Floyd will battle his demons for our Sox.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
So much for sucking in Toronto...
The White Sox used and abused Blue Jays pitching the last couple nights blasting eight home runs in the last two games. Tonight four solo runs and an Alex Rios three run home run helped the Sox control a 7-2 win over the Blue Jays.
As noted on Monday, Toronto has been no place for our beloved. Coming into this series the Sox have only won three games north of the border in the last four years. Tonight, they won their third consecutive game and really, they should've swept this sorry team if not for dropping Monday's contest.
Francisco Liriano pitched very well tonight only giving up two runs in the 2nd off a Moises Sierra home run. Liriano worked 6 1/3 and gave up only three hits in addition to the two runs.
The Sox fought back right away cutting the Blue Jay lead to 2-1 with a Dewayne Wise solo shot. Dayan Viciedo and Tyler Flowers went back to back in the 5th to give the Sox a 3-2 lead.
Alex Rios belted a three run home run in the 7th which shut up loud Toronto fans that were ragging on Rios the whole series. Granted, I among many other Sox fans ragged on Rios over the last few years so Alex has done a great job with silencing his critics this year.
Alexei Ramirez added one more home run in the same inning just for good measure to secure the victory. This is the first time since 2005 the Sox have won the season series against the Blue Jays.
On to more good news; Paul Konerko is expected to join the team in Kansas City tomorrow and play in the opening of a three game series against the Royals. His bat will be needed as the Royals (for some reason) only love to play well against our Sox. So far the Sox are 4-5 against K.C. and Kauffman Stadium is another house of horrors for the Pale House.
As noted on Monday, Toronto has been no place for our beloved. Coming into this series the Sox have only won three games north of the border in the last four years. Tonight, they won their third consecutive game and really, they should've swept this sorry team if not for dropping Monday's contest.
Francisco Liriano pitched very well tonight only giving up two runs in the 2nd off a Moises Sierra home run. Liriano worked 6 1/3 and gave up only three hits in addition to the two runs.
The Sox fought back right away cutting the Blue Jay lead to 2-1 with a Dewayne Wise solo shot. Dayan Viciedo and Tyler Flowers went back to back in the 5th to give the Sox a 3-2 lead.
Alex Rios belted a three run home run in the 7th which shut up loud Toronto fans that were ragging on Rios the whole series. Granted, I among many other Sox fans ragged on Rios over the last few years so Alex has done a great job with silencing his critics this year.
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| Alex saluting the Blue Jays crowd in 2010. |
Alexei Ramirez added one more home run in the same inning just for good measure to secure the victory. This is the first time since 2005 the Sox have won the season series against the Blue Jays.
On to more good news; Paul Konerko is expected to join the team in Kansas City tomorrow and play in the opening of a three game series against the Royals. His bat will be needed as the Royals (for some reason) only love to play well against our Sox. So far the Sox are 4-5 against K.C. and Kauffman Stadium is another house of horrors for the Pale House.
Monday, August 13, 2012
This could be a rough week
There are several places that usually spell disaster for the Sox. Minnesota (especially the old garbage dome), Oakland, Kansas City, and more of a recent phenomenon Toronto.
Since 2007 the Sox are 4-16 in the Rogers Center and generally play uninspired baseball.
Tonight was no exception as the Sox struck out 15 times at the plate and aside from Adam Dunn and Jake Peavy, the rest of the team was swinging and missing at everything a Blue Jay pitcher was tossing.
Dunn hit is 397th and 398th career home runs tonight. His first came in the 4th inning to give the Sox a 1-0 lead. The second of the night came in the 9th to tie the game 2-2.
Peavy pitched well enough to win. He went eight innings only giving up two runs. One of those runs came off the bat of Moises Sierra (I don't know who he is either.). Sierra hit is first career home run that gave the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead in the 7th.
This is one of those games you'd wish they just had lost in nine innings because you knew at some point they would fall.
Thankfully, the game didn't go on too much later. The bottom of the 11th inning saw Leyson Septimo come on with one out and nobody on to relieve Jesse Crain. Septimo wasted no time in starting the process in getting his team back on the bus. He walked Kelly Johnson to make way for Nate Jones who gave up a single to Edwin Encarnacion to put runners on 1st and 3rd. David Cooper drove in Johnson with a single to end the game in a 3-2 Blue Jays win.
A disapointing but expected start to the road trip which will have the Sox playing in Toronto three more times this week then visit Kansas City for a three game weekend series.
Before the game Robin Ventura gave some encouraging news about the status of Paul Konerko. Robin said Konerko checked out fine today with doctors and will be ready to begin light exercises on Tuesday.
It's unlikely Konerko will return on Friday when he is eligible to come off the seven-day D.L. as Ventura said that "everything would have to be perfect for that to happen."
Still, the news is promising as losing Paulie would be a big blow to the playoff push.
With the loss the Sox fall to 62-52.We'll see how the A.L. Central standings shape up after the Tigers/Twins game ends tonight. A Tigers loss will keep the Sox in first place by two games.
Tomorrow Jose Quintana will start for our Sox against Henderson Alvarez (7-9, 4.58ERA). Game time is the usual 6:07pm Canadian first pitch.
Since 2007 the Sox are 4-16 in the Rogers Center and generally play uninspired baseball.
Tonight was no exception as the Sox struck out 15 times at the plate and aside from Adam Dunn and Jake Peavy, the rest of the team was swinging and missing at everything a Blue Jay pitcher was tossing.
Dunn hit is 397th and 398th career home runs tonight. His first came in the 4th inning to give the Sox a 1-0 lead. The second of the night came in the 9th to tie the game 2-2.
Peavy pitched well enough to win. He went eight innings only giving up two runs. One of those runs came off the bat of Moises Sierra (I don't know who he is either.). Sierra hit is first career home run that gave the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead in the 7th.
This is one of those games you'd wish they just had lost in nine innings because you knew at some point they would fall.
Thankfully, the game didn't go on too much later. The bottom of the 11th inning saw Leyson Septimo come on with one out and nobody on to relieve Jesse Crain. Septimo wasted no time in starting the process in getting his team back on the bus. He walked Kelly Johnson to make way for Nate Jones who gave up a single to Edwin Encarnacion to put runners on 1st and 3rd. David Cooper drove in Johnson with a single to end the game in a 3-2 Blue Jays win.
A disapointing but expected start to the road trip which will have the Sox playing in Toronto three more times this week then visit Kansas City for a three game weekend series.
Before the game Robin Ventura gave some encouraging news about the status of Paul Konerko. Robin said Konerko checked out fine today with doctors and will be ready to begin light exercises on Tuesday.
It's unlikely Konerko will return on Friday when he is eligible to come off the seven-day D.L. as Ventura said that "everything would have to be perfect for that to happen."
Still, the news is promising as losing Paulie would be a big blow to the playoff push.
With the loss the Sox fall to 62-52.We'll see how the A.L. Central standings shape up after the Tigers/Twins game ends tonight. A Tigers loss will keep the Sox in first place by two games.
Tomorrow Jose Quintana will start for our Sox against Henderson Alvarez (7-9, 4.58ERA). Game time is the usual 6:07pm Canadian first pitch.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
The week of A.J.
A.J. Pierzysnki had an unprecedented week belting five home runs in five games. Today's being a big time two run shot that gave the Sox a 3-2 lead in the 7th inning when he came on to pinch hit for Tyler Flowers. This week also saw A.J. calling Twins' pitcher Nick Blackburn "a piece of shit" when he crossed home plate on Tuesday night in Minnesota. So it's been an entertaining week watching the White Sox with the verbal insults, walk off wins, and a 4-2 week. A.J. also gave Comcast Sports Net reporter Sarah Kustok a shaving cream pie in the face after Friday's walk off win when she was interviewing Alex Rios.
The Sox ended up winning this afternoon's contest 4-2 and won the weekend series against the Angels. The Sox have now gone 12-2 over their last 14 games at The Cell and 9-3 since getting swept by the Tigers.
And speaking of pieces of shit, it's a good thing the Sox were able to pull out the win today because the Cleveland Indians have become one of the more useless teams in baseball. The Tribe found a way to blow a three run lead in the 10th inning with two outs and nobody on for the Tigers. The Tigers scored 5 times in the 10th to stay 1 1/2 behind our Sox.
This week the Kansas City Royals come to town for a Monday through Wednesday series. This weekend will see the Oakland A's and their magical moneyball ways invade. Chris Sale will make his first start since July 27 for tomorrow's contest against Luis Mendoza who pitched pretty well against our Sox a few weeks ago in K.C.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Sox still appreciate the game and first place
We're four months into the season and the Sox currently stand 2 1/2 games in the A.L. Central lead heading into August.
July shaped up to be an interesting month. They played 16 of 19 on the road and went a respectable 10-9 with a four game series that they lost in Boston and were swept in Detroit. Through it all, the Sox stand victorious so far. All those questions posed at the start of the season have been bascially answered in the positive. Rios? You could argue he's been the MVP of the team. Dunn? 31 home runs. Peavy? Healthy and productive. Sale? Stud. Robin? So far, so good.
Still, as we head into the final two months there are some concerns with the club...
-The defense has been piss poor as of late and has started to cost games.
-Sale looked tired in his last start and he's already been pushed to have 10 days rest. Shutting down Sale for a long period of time could be a big blow to the rotation. If the Sox do make the playoffs would he be a reliable arm?
-Will Peavy stay healthy? That's always a concern.
-Does the trade for Francisco Liriano turn out to be the steal of the year?
-The bullpen has been a little shaky, especially Addison Reed in the closers role. He doesn't seem to like 1-2-3 innings.
-Humber/Floyd. This combo is such a wild card. Floyd has been better but Humber doesn't seem reliable. The Sox look like they're going to a 6-man rotation to give Sale and Quintana extra days rest. But how does that affect the rest of the staff?
Time will tell.
The Sox have played better at home as of late which is a good thing. They open a 9 game homestand this weekend and will have a 6 game stint at home at the end of the month. There's also a road trip to Toronto and Kansas City. Two places that give the Sox hell. All of this will lead up to 7 games against the Tigers in a 14 day stretch that begins August 31.
July shaped up to be an interesting month. They played 16 of 19 on the road and went a respectable 10-9 with a four game series that they lost in Boston and were swept in Detroit. Through it all, the Sox stand victorious so far. All those questions posed at the start of the season have been bascially answered in the positive. Rios? You could argue he's been the MVP of the team. Dunn? 31 home runs. Peavy? Healthy and productive. Sale? Stud. Robin? So far, so good.
Still, as we head into the final two months there are some concerns with the club...
-The defense has been piss poor as of late and has started to cost games.
-Sale looked tired in his last start and he's already been pushed to have 10 days rest. Shutting down Sale for a long period of time could be a big blow to the rotation. If the Sox do make the playoffs would he be a reliable arm?
-Will Peavy stay healthy? That's always a concern.
-Does the trade for Francisco Liriano turn out to be the steal of the year?
-The bullpen has been a little shaky, especially Addison Reed in the closers role. He doesn't seem to like 1-2-3 innings.
-Humber/Floyd. This combo is such a wild card. Floyd has been better but Humber doesn't seem reliable. The Sox look like they're going to a 6-man rotation to give Sale and Quintana extra days rest. But how does that affect the rest of the staff?
Time will tell.
The Sox have played better at home as of late which is a good thing. They open a 9 game homestand this weekend and will have a 6 game stint at home at the end of the month. There's also a road trip to Toronto and Kansas City. Two places that give the Sox hell. All of this will lead up to 7 games against the Tigers in a 14 day stretch that begins August 31.
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