Sox Earn Another Sweep

Freddy Garcia dominated the Tigers this afternoon, throwing a complete game as the Sox won 6-1. Garcia had retired 14 in a row at one point in the game and I believe retired 23 out of the final 25 batters in the game. He finished with 8K's and surrendered 1 run on 5 hits.
The offense was dormant against the Tigers starter Mike Maroth up until the 5th inning when Joe Crede touched him up for a 3R HR to put the Sox on top 3-1. Everett followed the next inning with a 2R shot of his own on the first pitch he saw from Maroth in the AB.

The Rumor Mill: San Fran had their scouts at last nights game in Detroit, most likely taking a look at McCarthy. Sox scouts were reportedly at a Giants game last week, at a game in which their ace, Jason Schmidt, started. Schmidt has battled arm problems in recent seasons with frequent trips to the DL since winning the Cy Young Award a few years back. The Giants are supposedly asking too much for the Sox to part with, which could be great or terrible news. Hopefully whatever they are asking is too much for KW to stomach giving up, and he stays away. Worst case scenario, he pulls the trigger and sends McCarthy, a reliever, possibly Vizciano, and probably a top-tier minor leaguer such as Anderson or Sweeney to the Giants.
McCarthy is still a bit too raw for the majors, so I can understand the idea being considered if they don't think Duque will get better soon. The problem I have is with this is that the Sox can't afford to part with much more young talent. Their system is already rather depleted, especially in pitching. Why give up what could be huge pieces of your future for a guy who would become a free agent after his $10.5M option next season? On top of that, he's no better bet than Duque to stay off the DL. All around, this just seems like a bad idea.
I recently decided that I think KW should just ride with who he has and let the chips fall where they may. The players that the Sox already have still own the best record in baseball nearly 1/2 way through the season. Why try to fix what isn't broke? I'll take a .250 avg with 15-20 HR and 70RBI from guys like Crede, Uribe and Dye if they keep playing defense the way that they have. If the Sox do anything, I think they should just add a solid bat to the bench (ie replace Timo), or maybe pick-up one more good arm for an already strong bullpen.

Two Nailbiters, Sox Style

Dustin Hermanson came on to try and record the save in the 9th inning of yesterdays ballgame and promptly gave up a lead-off triple to Ivan Rodriguez. That shot would have gone out in any other ballpark in baseball, but in Comerica it bounced at the wall in right-center, about 420 feet from home plate. Hermanson went on to get the following batter to hit a IF pop-up, and retired the next two hitters on ground balls leaving I Rod on 3rd and earning himself the save.
Tonight was nearly the same story from a different book. Deadlocked at 3 runs apiece in the 13th inning, Frank Thomas hit a solo HR, his 8th of the year, to give the Sox a 4-3 lead. Shingo Takatsu had pitched in the 12th and stayed on for the 13th to close things out. In the 13th with one out and the tying and go-ahead runs on base, Shingo intentionally walked Nuke Logan to load'em up. That proved to be the right move, as Shingo retired next 2 hitters to end the game. In his last few outings Shingo has looked as if he has turned the corner.
McCarthy had his strongest outing since facing the Cubs in his first major league start, finishing the game with 6IP while surrendering 3ER. He had a shot at his first career ML win, but thanks to Pod being in CF, what would have been a routine flyball out for Rowand was turned into a triple. The kid was pulled after that play and Cotts ended up allowing that runner, the tying run, to score, although again it was more Pods fault than anyone else. With the tying run on 3rd, Cotts got the batter to pop up to short-mid center, the runner tagged and took off with the catch but Pods weak throw did not make it to the plate in time.
The Sox had ample opportunities in this game to give it away, but just refused to do so. In a tie game in the 8th Politte had the bases loaded with nobody out and managed to strike out Rodriguez before getting an inning ending double-play to end the scroing threat. Another great play came in the ninth with a man on 3rd and 2 out on a ground ball that was hit to the hole between short and third. Uribe came up with it and made a great throw from short left field to gun down the diving Polanco at 1st, saving the run and the game. Plays like that make one hope that if a big bat is brought in before the deadline, they had better have one hell of a glove to go with it.
With the W the Sox moved to 22-8 in 1 run games this season and also gained back a game on the Twins, moving to 10 games up.

Sox Lose Series To Cubs

The Sox offense was nearly completely shutdown in the final 2 games of the series vs. the Cubs. The only runs they've produced in their last 18 innings came on solo-back-to-back homers off of Maddux in Saturdays contest. That wasn't enough to even get a lead though, as Contreras gave up a grand slam in the first inning and did so before his pitch count had even reached double digits. He started the game allowing lead-off bunt single, a HBP, and a walk to load the bases setting up the grammy for Ramirez. On Sunday the Sox only managed to get one hit in the ballgame. ("One hit?! You mean to tell me we've only got one god damned hit?" -Harry Doyle)
Tomorrow the Sox open up a series in Detriot against the Tigers and will be sending Buehrle (9-1, 2.48) out to face Robertson (3-5, 3.66). The Sox will just miss the return of "Thats not enough Money-io", who just began his minor league rehab tonight in AAA, going 1-2 with a double and a walk. He had gone hitless in his only 3 starts on the season before going on the DL with a hernia in April.

Around Baseball: Minnesota snapped their skid on Sunday and won again today to climb back to 9 games behind the Sox.
Julio Franco hit his 8th career grand slam tonight at the ripe old age of 46. In 116 AB's this season, Julio is hitting .276 with 6HR's and 20 RBI. Last season in 320 AB's, he hit .309 with 57 RBI.

Offensive Onslaught

The Sox won their 8th straight ballgame when they crushed the Cubs this afternoon by a score of 12-2, the largest margin of victory for either team against one another since interleague play began in 1997. This marks the third time on the year that the Sox have won 8 straight, their season high. With the win the Sox moved to 10.5 games up on the Twins and became the first team in the majors to win 50 games this season. (They were also the first team to 10, 20, 30, and 40.)
Freddy Garcia neutralized the Cubs bats by holding them to just 1 run on 3 hits in his 7IP. His lone mistake in the game turned out to be a high fastball to Hollandsworth which was deposited deep into the right field seats.
Frank Thomas opened the door for the Sox barrage with his 1st inning 428 foot solo HR to left, which just happened to be in his first at bat of the year that I saw him have in person. I love to watch that man hit. The game stayed close early with the Sox blowing a few scoring opportunities in the first couple innings, but they broke loose after pulling ahead 3-1 in the 3rd. AJ knocked a 2R HR and Crede a 3R HR, there were a few sac flies, 2 wild pitches with men on third, and most importantly, 2 out hits. I don't think I've ever seen a Sox team hit so often and score so many with 2 outs. All in all, it was a pretty balanced offensive attack. On top of all of that, the hit and run was executed perfectly on numerous occasions throughout the game.
Aside from the heat, it was a great ballgame to be at. Cubs fans were plentiful but were drowned out early into the game. I guess having only 3 hits through 7 innings isn't enough for even them to cheer about, as they were pretty silent after the first couple innings. It was a bit funny hearing them get exited over a hit later in the game though, down by 10 or 11 runs. I'd say the crowd was at least 60-40 Sox fans over Cubs fans.
The only drawback of my day was when we first got to our seats and sat down, I noticed that when I leaned forward my back was sticking to my chair a little. I turned around to find some jag-off stuck a wad of gum on the backrest my seat, and it was stuck all over the back of my jersey. My guess is that it was probably the Cubs fans sitting a couple of rows behind us. J/K, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was.
The Sox will be sending Contreras to the hill tomorrow to face the Cub's future HOF'er Greg Maddux.

Sox Sweep & Win 7th Striaght

Streaks, streaks, and more streaks. Mark Buehrle won his 8th consecutive decision with his win over the Royals this afternoon and pitched into at least the 6th inning for the 43rd straight start. His scoreless innings streak was snapped though, due to a Jermaine Dye throwing error. The Sox moved to 9-0 on the season against KC and are winners of their last 7.
Minnesota lost for the 4th time in a row today, thier longest losing streak of the season to date, and fell to 10 games behind the Sox. The Sox double digit lead could possibly only last a day though, as they're off Thursday while the Twins will be wrapping up their series against Detroit. Detroit starters have thrown complete games in their last two games against Minnesota.
I had a stroke of luck today when I was offered two UD tickets for Fridays opener against the Cubs for only $35 a pop. I've never been to a Sox-Cubs game. At that price, especially considering the ridiculous amounts of money that people shell out for tickets to these games, I could care less if the seats are in the top row behind the foul pole, I was not turning them down. This is most difficult ticket to get in town every summer, regardless of how either team is playing, and it's the first time I've ever even had a chance to go. I can't put words to how much I'm looking forward to the game. I can't wait too feel the energy of the sold out crowd. This will be the first sellout Sox game I've attended since game 6 of the ALCS in '93. Freddy Garcia (6-3 3.75) will face the Cubs Sergio Mitre (2-2 4.19).

Quick update about those Scrubs: They lost tonight to the Brewers as Carlos Zambrano was roughed up for 8 runs in the second inning, the most he's ever given up in a start. He was pulled after only 1 2/3. Carlos Lee continued to kill the Cubs, racking up 2 hits in that second inning alone, one of which was a 3 run bomb. He also hit one more solo shot later in the game for good measure. He finished 3-4 with 4 RBI, increasing his RBI total to 64 on the season, good for tops in the Major Leagues. Its funny that with how well the Sox are doing, that doesn't bother me one bit. The only drawback to that trade was that we should have gotten a better pitcher than Vizciano has been.

Sox Notch 6th Straight

Jon Garland became the first 12 game winner in baseball tonight after his 8.1 IP 4H performance against the Royals. With tonights victory the Sox moved to 8-0 on the season vs. KC and also gained a game on both the Tribe and Twins, extending their lead in the Central to 9 games over Minnesota.
The Sox racked up 10 hits on the evening, all of which were singles, and scored 5 runs off of the KC starter, Zack Greinke. Greinke had a career high 8K's on the evening, which is much more indicative of how he pitched than his runs surrendered on the evening would lead you to believe. Greinke once again was dominating the Sox through 4+ innings before they scored 2 runs in the 5th, and then Greinke exited in the 6th with 2 men aboard after giving up 1 more. The reliever who replaced him allowed both inherited runners to score. He came into tonights game with a 1-7 record and an ERA close to 6.00, but every time I've seen him pitch against the Sox he has been great.

Tomorrow's Matchups: Howell 1-1, 4.09 vs. Buehrle 8-1, 2.67

Sox Win 11-8 over KC

The White Sox put on a show of just about every component of a complete offensive team tonight, hitting 3 home runs, stealing 4 bases, drawing walks, using sacrifice bunts/flyouts/hits to advance runners or score runs, hitting to the right side. You name it, the Sox probably executed it Monday night, albeit against Jose Lima and a few relievers whose ERA's were all above 7.00. Every hitter in the Sox line-up was able to pick up a hit, highlighted by AJ who was 3 for 4 with a huge bases loaded 2-run single to put the Sox ahead for good in the 6th, Iguchi went 3 for 5 with 3 runs scored, Konerko was 3 for 5 and hit a 3-run homer in the 1st, Frank hit a solo HR in the 4th, his 6th of the season (more on than momentarily), and JD went 2 for 4 with a solo HR, 2 RBI's, 2 runs scored and a walk.
Brandon McCarthy held a 5-1 lead through 3 innings and a 7-3 lead through 4, but he was not able not able to escape the 5th for a chance at his first major league victory. Not that it would have mattered anyway, as Ozzie left Vizciano in to pitch the 6th after relieving McCarthy in the 5th, and he surrendered 2 solo home runs allowing KC to tie the game at 8. The pitching held strong after that though with Cotts, Shingo and Hermy closing the door. When the offense is scoring like they were this evening, the pitching can afford to give up some runs, but they have to be able to put their foot down when the time comes, and that is exactly what the Sox were able to do tonight.

A quote from Paul Konerko following Monday nights contest:
"It's good to hit behind [Thomas]," Konerko said. "Even when he has a tough game, he usually squeaks out a walk, makes the pitchers throw. I've got to think, that no matter how he's going -- good or bad -- the other team focuses on him a lot. Sometimes I get a good pitch to hit because it seems so much energy is [devoted] to him. There might be a let-up."

And Ozzie Guillen says the toughest part of his job is deciding wheather to play Crazy Everett or Frank Thomas at DH. I highly doubt that any teammate of Everetts, at any point in his career, has said anything close to what Paulie said about Franks presence in the line-up. The guy has hit 6 home runs in 32 AB's this season, has a career OBP of .429 and OPS of .997. If he's healthy there is absolutely no reason that Frank should be anywhere else but in the line-up, every day. Once again I'm going to quote a saying that I first remember hearing from an old teacher of mine, Mr. Montgomery, when I say "Common sense is not so common."

One more quick quote by some Cubune columnist that I caught on a clip of a sportsblab show Monday evening. The quote is regarding the biggest difference between the Cubs and Sox players mindsets because of thier respective bullpens when hitting in late inning RISP situations:

"When a Sox player, like Aaron Rowand last night, is at the plate, they know that if they do something, its actually going to matter"
I think he went on to say that Cubs players get a go-ahead hit and then think, "OK, now how are we going to screw this one up?"

Pale Hose Sitting Pretty After Sweep of Dodgers

The Sox moved to 7 1/2 games up on the Twins in the Central with their two come from behind victories over LA on Saturday and Sunday to complete the sweep. The Sox were down to their last strike on more than one occasion in the 9th inning in Saturday's contest, trailing 3-1. After coming up with 2 runs to tie it up, AJ hit a 2-run walk off blast to left-center.
Much of the credit for Sunday's victory should be credited to sPod in my opinion. After being dominated by Jared Weaver through the first 7 innings, (yet again making a pitcher with mediocre numbers look like Nolan Ryan for much of the game), Scotty's speed turned the whole game around. In the 8th with Pod on 1st, Weaver became preoccupied with holding him on and tripped while turning on one of his throws over to 1st, throwing the ball into the stands and advancing Pod all the way to 3rd. (Why the umps gave him 3rd is a mystery to me) That ended up being the turning point in the game. Another clutch hit from Aaron Rowand later in the inning gave the Sox a 1 run lead which they would not relinquish. Hermy came on for the save in the 9th, albeit an ugly save. (He gave up a couple walks and nearly gave up a game tying HR, but it hooked just foul.)
The Twins dropped 2 of 3 to San Deigo over the weekend, falling to 7.5 games behind the Sox as I stated earlier. Cleveland has come on strong, winners of 9 straight, climbing to just 1 game behind Minnesota in the Wild Card standings, 8.5 back of the Sox. Detroit is also in the mix, just 4 back of the WC lead.
If Twins were to go 58-39 (.600) the remainder of the season, they would need the Sox to go 50-46 (.520) to force a tie for 1st place in the division. (Stat courtosy of SuperNova at BlackBetsy) Even if the Twins exceed that .600 win percentage and win 60-65 games (.619-.670) the rest of the year, the most the Sox would have to win to still hold a lead in September is 58 games, a win percentage. of .604, which is still below the pace they are currently on. (.676) Although it is unrealistic to expect them to keep up the pace they are currently on, (if they do, they'll wind up with about 110 wins) it is hard to imagine them playing much worse than about .600 the rest of the way.
Through 68 games, the Sox lead the central in runs scored with 323, ahead of the Twins 311 and Tigers 299, and are second in all of baseball in runs allowed with 261, one behind the Indians 260 and ahead of the Twins 272. (LAAAAA is 3rd in MLB with 265 RA, and the Twins are 4th, so the AL owns the top 4 pitching teams in MLB. I'd bet that the AL has never had the top 4 teams in RA this far in to a season)
Tonight the Sox face KC and will send Brandon McCarthy to the mound for his 3rd career start. Tonight marks the beginning of an audition of sorts for the kid, as El Duque has been put on the DL for the second time in a month and KW doesn't sound very happy about it. According to the GM, McCarthy has a shot at solidifying a spot in the rotation if he handles his next few starts well. I wouldn't put much stock into that happening because in my opinion it was just posturing on KW's part to try and light a fire under Duque's arse. Not only that, but I doubt the Sox brass will be very enthusiastic about paying Duque's contract if he is only throwing out of the 'pen.

Wall Street Journal Rips Sox Attendance

The Wall Street Journal, the most renowned business publication in the world, featured our Chicago White Sox on page 1 Wednesday. The article focuses on the Sox struggle to pack the place while on the other side of town sellouts are commonplace, among other observations and misconceptions.

"Despite a mediocre performance most of the year, the second-place Cubs have played to 98% capacity, and nearly had a sellout April 23 when they lost to the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates in near-freezing temperatures with 25-mile-an-hour winds blasting off Lake Michigan."

You know what I'd like to know? Where the hell were all those "Die Hard Cub Fans" sticking out the cold and rainy April day back in 98' when Ferry Wood had 20 K's in the game? The next time you see a clip of that game, look at all the green seats in that park. There could not have been over 15,000 people there that day. The Cubs attendance exploded when they won the Wild Card during the year of the home run race between Soso and McGwire and has peaked the last couple of years since their NLCS choke job in 03'. The writer of course also neglects to mention how Wrigley is as much of a tourist attraction as it is a ballpark, for example bringing in fans from Iowa by the busload every homestand throughout the summer. Moving on...

"But, as of yesterday afternoon, the Sox led the American League's Central Division by five games. They've built their 42-21 record on strong pitching, speedy base-running and late-inning comebacks. Mirroring the South Side's rough-and-tumble image, the team consists mostly of scrappy, low-priced, no-name players."

Really? Low-priced, no-name players? Frank Thomas is a 2-time MVP, (would be 3 if it were not for the Juiced Giambi), and Paul Konerko, a former All-Star, are both making $8 million + this season. Mark Buehrle, Freddy Garcia, El Duque, Jermaine Dye, AJ are all well known, established, solid and productive major league ballplayers. Excuse us if we aren't the Yankee's or BoSox with a $100, $200 million dollar payroll while getting the lead in every night on Sportscenter. If some of these guys played on the other side of town, not to mention in NY or Boston, they'd be household names across the country.

One last point I wanted to make was regarding how the neighborhood surrounding the park was portrayed. He quotes Mike North as saying that the Sox get the most ink (space in the paper) when a crime occurs near their park. In following the White Sox I can't recall one story about a fan leaving a game being a victim to a crime. I do however remember a Cub's fan being shot and killed 100 yards away from beautiful Wrigley Field last year or the year before. If you go a few miles west, southwest of Wrigley, the neighborhood you'll find yourself in will not be much better then the ghettos surrounding Comiskey Park, which are nowhere near as bad as they had been 10 years ago.

"Some of Chicago's toughest housing projects loom beyond the outfield fence."

Those projects have come down (which leads one to believe that the writer has not been to Sox Park in years, if ever) and the whole area around the park is being rebuilt or renovated. There are brand new townhomes a stone's throw away from the park that are going for $150, $200K. In 10 years the Bridgeport area may be much more similar to Wrigleyville than some, like this moron, would have you believe. As far as his statement that the park is flanked by "a rust-stained concrete wall, train tracks and an interstate highway", this only proves that the writer was most likely told this by a source and did not see it for himself. I honestly do not remember ever noticing rust on the retention wall of the train tracks (which by the way is a Metra line and if the Sox brass had any common sense, they'd work on getting a station put in at 35th) and the interstate (Dan Ryan) on the other side allows easy access to and from the park. I'd prefer having that over having airplanes buzzing the field every 10 minutes like at Shea Stadium. The Cell was built across the street from where the original park was located, it's at where it's at. Are the Yankee's plans for building a new park across street from The House That Ruth Built any different a circumstance? I realize that space is at a much higher premium in NY compared to Chicago, but there has to be a more desirable location than the Bronx for a new stadium. I'm not sure if those stadium plans were announced before this article was published, but this is just one of many opinions in the article that are a blatent New York media-bias.

In conclusion, I just want to say that I have absolutely no problem with going to games at a ballpark that is half-full. I'd rather not have to wait 15 minutes to take a leak or miss an entire inning waiting in line for curly fries or nachos. I like not having packed parking lots and being able avoid traffic on the Ryan by sneaking out the back exit of lot C and cutting over to I-55. If the Sox turn into the best thing since sliced bread, these advantages will be no more. Let the Johnny-Come-Lately's, many of whom have never gone to a game and are afraid that if they ever do, they'll be mugged, believe whatever they'd like so that they stay away from our park. When it comes down to it, let whoever say whatever they'd like to about our team, our park, our fans. All I care about is what the Sox are or are not doing come October, but regardless, I'm just going to keep going on wearing my Sox fandom like a badge of honor.

Watch A Sox Game, Have a Heart Attack

The White Sox were in a 1-1 ballgame in the 5th inning when out of no where the wheels came falling off. Joe Crede booted a double play ball, Konerko dropped the ball on the transfer when he would have easily gotten the runner trying to score with a good throw, then Garland gives up a 3 run bomb. All of the sudden it's 6-1 D-Backs after 4 1/2. Then, again out of nowhere, a Frank Thomas solo shot began a bombardment as the Sox exploded for 10 runs in the 6th. Uribe homered, Konerko homered, Dye had an RBI, everybody chipped in. The Sox also caught a few breaks from errors by the D-Backs, including one by former Sox SS Royce "Swing for the Fences" Clayton. RC also botched a routine grounder when he couldn't decide what to do and ended up holding on to the ball as a run scored. This was the first time in the series that the Sox were able to rough up a D-Backs starter to get into their generous pen. Watching this game I was thinking to myself, as I thought my Sox were about to be swept for the first time of the season after that horrific defensive inning, that maybe this was going to turn out to be the turning point of the season. Four games in a row the Sox starters had been roughed up, the offense had begun to look like last years, unable to score without homers, (they had gone 28 innings without scoring a run that wasn't via the homer, a steak that wasn't broken until the 6th inning tonight). Altogether things were just not looking good. It's amazing what a 10 run inning can do to cheer somebody up. After the game I was back to pondering who I would want to start the first three games of the ALDS. I just hope that the 6th inning outburst was a sign of things to come because the offense hadn't looked too pretty the last couple of games.

Buehrle goes to the hill for the Sox on Friday to try and break the streak of no decisions he has received over the last month or so. The Dodgers will send Houlton, 2-0 5.72, out to the bump for what will be a rematch of the 1959 World Series. I believe it will be the first time that these two teams have met since then, a span of 46 years.

Memo to Jose Contreras

To: JC
From: Sox Fans
Subject: 2nd inning Monday night

Jose- You looked a bit lost in that second inning, just thought I'd remind you of a few things. When the catcher sets up on the outside of the plate, that means he wants you to throw it away from the batter, not middle-in. And guess what? When he sets up inside, that doesn't mean to throw it right down the middle. Also, stop trying to use your forkball to try and get ahead of guys. You don't throw it for strikes consistently, and the hitters know that. It makes no difference if they've never faced you before. They'll only chase it with 2 strikes, if they do at all. I thought you'd figured that out this season. Speaking of over-using that fork...Did you forget how to throw any other pitch during that 2nd inning? Out of the 25-30 pitches you threw in that inning, at least 20 were splitters. By the way, when you throw the splitter/fork, it helps a lot when the ball actually splits (or drops off the table, however you'd like to put it) instead of floating up to the plate like a BP fastball.

Quick Recap: Contreras was odviously terrible tonight, surrendering 8 runs in 6IP. The fact he lasted 6 innings was a miracle, as he was touched up for a 6 spot in the 2nd after giving up a run in the 1st. Contreras gave up a total of 4 HR's in the game.
At the plate, the offense was shut down by Shawn Estes, who threw a complete game while giving up just one run on a solo homer hit by Big Frank, his 3rd HR in his last 8 AB's. All there is left to say about this game is that you win some, you lose some, and early on into the game this one was tallied in the latter category.

Billy Koch Sighting on Saturday Night

Dustin Hermanson did his best Billy Koch impersonation when he blew his first save of the season Saturday night, spoiling a shutout gem thrown by Mark Buehrle. Clinging to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth, Hermanson allowed a solo home run to tie the game before giving up a couple hits to put runners on 1st and 3rd. He then intentionally walked the next batter to load the bases before allowing a walk-off single to the following batter. Hermanson only managed to record one out in the inning.
The blame should not be put squarely on Hermy's shoulders though, as Ozzie did another bone-head job of managing late in the game that most likely cost the Sox at least one run. With runners on 1st and 3rd and NOBODY out in the 8th inning and Buehrle due up next, Ozzie elected to let Buehrle hit and try to put down a bunt. Why? I don't even think Ozzie knows. There is no logical answer to that question. By sending Buehrle up there to bunt you are guaranteeing yourself an out and at the same time giving yourself just about no chance of scoring that run from 3rd on the play. Sure enough, Buehrle fails to get one down and goes down on strikes. Now granted, they still had 2 outs left to work with, but regardless, there is still no way Buehrle should have been allowed to get to the plate in that situation. The number of games where Ozzie's decisions have cost us are adding up. BTW, the Sox blew another scoring opportunity when Paul Konerko was thrown out at home trying to score all the way from first base on a routine double in the corner. The slowest runner on the team was waived home by Joey Cora, who was almost correct in sending him as the relay throw to home was wide, but the catcher was able to recover and dive back towards the plate to tag Konerko just in time. So had the throw been more accurate, Paulie would have been out by 5-10 feet at least.

Garland Earns 10th W

Last night the Sox, fresh off their sweep of the Rockies in Coors Field, took the first game of the series vs. the Padres 4-2. Jon Garland surrendered only one run and had a 2-hit shutout going until the 7th inning when he was touched up for a wall-scraping solo homer which was followed by 3 consecutive hits. Garland got lucky to escape further damage that inning thanks to Aaron Rowands spectacular diving catch saving 2 runs on a line drive hit by Khalil Greene to short center field to end the inning. Garland had a no-hitter going through 4 1/3 innings. JG is the first pitcher in the AL and the second in all of baseball to earn 10 victory's. (Dontrell Willis being the first)
The offense scored just enough to win yet again, with Jon Garland even chipping in with an RBI single. Crede went 2 for 3 and AJ hit a solo homer in the 7th off of Woody Williams to add what turned out to be the winning run.
At the plate the Sox collectively have looked better and better as of late, highlighted by the explosion in the 8th and 9th innings Wednesday in Colorado. The Sox scored 5+ runs in an inning for the first time this season and 10 runs altogether in those 2 innings. (The Sox scored 5+ runs in an inning twenty-something times last season) Players of note who have been on fire lately are Aaron Rowand, who has raised his average to .287 but had a 13 game hitting streak come to an end Friday night, and Jermaine Dye who is hitting .260, which does not sound very roubust unless you know that just one month ago he was at about .200, possibly below. JD was hitting over .400 in the last 8 ballgames going into last nights game, in which he went 1 for 4 with a run scored.
Due up: Buehrle 7-1, 3.15 goes up against Stauffer 1-2, 4.55

Freddy Dominates

Freddy Garcia put on a show last night that will serve as an example of how to pitch in the dreaded thin air of Coors Field. His lone mistake was allowing a 3 run homer in the 1st. Garcia then settled in and retired the next 22 consecutive batters faced, finishing the evening with 10K's in 8IP allowing just 2H and 3R.
The offense was also clicking, racking up 9 runs on 15 hits and drawing 6 free passes but managed to leave 12 MOB. Konerko had a 2R homer in the 1st and the middle of the order, including JD, AJ, Konerko and Uribe all racked up multiple hits. The theme of the evening seemed to be 2 out scoring rallies, which the Sox managed to do for almost every run that they scored. Many of those scoring rallies began with 2 outs and nobody on base and without the benefit of a homer, a beautiful thing to see from an offense that has struggled in the begining of the season. The lone Sox starter to draw the collar was Iguchi, who was 0-5 with a walk. (Freddy we won't count as a hitter)
The Sox have a great chance to clinch winning this series tonight, as they go up against Byung-Yun Kim while sending Contreras to the hill whose fork-ball and splitter should still be effective in the mountain air.

Sox Hang Tough But Choke In Extras

Sunday's game was most likely the longest of the season, lasting 12 innings and over 4 hours. Dustin Hermanson was on in the 12th and he began the inning by walking the first 2 batters. The next hitter laid down a bunt back to Hermanson who fielded it and turned to throw to 3rd for the force on the lead runner, but the throw went a bit wide and ended up down the line by the tarp as Crede was unable to come up with it, costing the Sox the first of 2 unearned runs. The error went to Hermanson, although Crede did short arm the catch a bit as he was trying to find the bag at he same time. Ultimately though, Hermanson gave up the 2 lead-off walks to put those runners on, so he should take the fall for this one.
The Sox stayed close throughout the game and battled back to tie it up twice but were never able to pull ahead. Trailing 3-1 in the 7th with 2 out, the Sox chased Sabathia out of the game when Ozuna knocked an infield single. Iguchi followed that with a bomb to left off the fresh Indian reliever Betancourt tying the game at 3. The Sox fell behind again in extras when in the 10th Marte served up a HR to Travis Hafner putting the Sox down 4-3. Bob Wickman came on for the Tribe to earn the save but blew it when he gave up a friendly bounce, line drive, solo home run to the Big Hurt to tie things back up. Wickman has only surrendered 3 home runs all season, all of which were hit at USCF. This one could just have easily gone for a double, as it caught the top corner of the wall in front of the Sox bullpen in left, but he hit it on such a line that its forward momentum just carried it over. Seeing Frank come through in the clutch was the most beautiful sight of the day.
The Sox head to the Mile High City to begin inter-league play against the Rockies with a taxed bullpen and their back half of the rotation schedualed to pitch. Freddy and the Cubans need to last as long as possible in their starts because the pen has also been touched up a bit lately. They have their work cut out for them though, as Colorado is a much better team playing in the thin air at Coors Field than on the road. (or so says their record)

Harris To Be Demoted?

Chisox.com has an article regarding who is most likely to be sent down with the return of Gload from the DL. The powers that be seem to believe that Willie Harris is less of an asset than Timo Perez, both of whom still have options remaining and would not have to clear waivers if sent down to AAA. I could not disagree more. Perez is more of a liability than an asset. Willie Harris is as solid a defensive secondbaseman as you'll find and is also a sufficient centerfielder or shortstop. Perez is the worst defender on the roster, and odviously can not play in the infield as he showed on Monday in his start at 1B. So that limit's him to the OF, where he is not much better than he would be in the infield. They both bat left handed, so that's a wash. (Keeping Timo as a left-handed bat off the bench) As far as speed goes, I won't even bother getting into it. On top of all of that, Timo is hitting .197 to Willie's .275 this season. Add all of this together and you wonder what the hell Timo's veteran presence is doing to help this team.
The Sox won 6-5 yesterday with Garland earning his 9th victory of the season. The offense was solid, fouling off countless pitches and running the Cleveland starter's pitch count above 100 in 4 2/3 innings. Konerko and Crede homered, and Rowand went 2-3 and has been looking spectacular at the plate these past few weeks. The Sox are sending Buehrle out to the hill this afternoon to go for the sweep.

Sox Win...Chavez Coming to Chicago?

The Sox won 6-4 over Cleveland tonight, scoring all of their runs whithout hitting a HR. The best example was in the 1st when the Sox put a huge rally together, much of it with 2 outs, and scored 4 runs by just making contact, putting it in play and getting lucky to find holes in the infield. That whole inning reminded me of how the Sox used to be beat by the Twins. It's great to see the table's turned, although it wasn't against Minnesota.
Whispers around the rumor mill today have the Sox shipping out Joe Crede and future ace Brandon McCarthy to Oakland for 4 time gold glove third baseman Eric Chavez. Chavez is currently hitting around .230 on the season with 5HR and 28 RBI and has struck out 49 times. He is a .274 career hitter over his 6 seasons in Oakland and he is a proven all-star caliber player, but I don't think it's a great move to replace a struggling third baseman to with one who is struggling this year himself. There is no problem with Crede's defense, the Sox need him to hit. Why bring in a guy who this season is barely hitting any better and has twice as many strikeouts than Crede does? On top of that, the A's are not in need of pitching, they need position players. They received an abundance of young arms for Mulder and Hudson from the Braves and Cardinals. After what happened to the Sox in the 5th starter spot last year, I hope KW is smart enough to not give McCarthy away for anyone. He is the best insurance policy that the Sox have, and the only one they've had in years, and they already have needed to use him this season. The Sox need a third baseman, but this trade could hurt us more than it could help. I won't believe it until I see it, and if I see it I will not be pleased.

Worst Game of the Season

The Sox lost 10-7 last night in a game that was excruciating to watch. Ozzie Guillen decided to start Timo Perez at 1st, which cost the Sox 2 unearned runs when he was unable to come up with a low throw that my mother could have caught, and also had the bright idea to use Kevin Walker in relief with a 1 run lead. The only thing Walker was effective in doing was making sure that lead evaporated in his 1/3 of an inning pitched.
These are the kind of managerial decisions that Sox fans will be putting up with for years to come, as the Sox this week signed Ozzie to a 2 year extension that will keep him in town until at least 2008. You can't deny that he seems to get the most out of his players and they seem to love him, but he makes bonehead moves (a la last night) way too often. These are the types of things that can not happen in crunch time late in the season or in the playoffs. I think it would have been wise to wait and see where Ozzie has led the team when all is said and done at the end of the year. I'd be willing to bet that ANY manager in baseball would have the led the Sox to at least as good a record, if not better, than we have right now with 5 starters performing the way the Sox starters have performed. To me, Ozzie is just one more person proving that common sense isn't so common.

On This Day: In 1941, Lou Gehrig passed away at age 37.

Sox Take First 2 vs. Angels By identical Scores

Jermaine Dye hit a walk-off homer in the 9th last night to lead the Sox to another 5-4 victory and up the Sox record in 1 run ballgames to 17-7. He also had an outstanding diving catch in short right field and was able to double up the runner who had been at 1st.
Garcia had a so-so start, as he was falling behind hitters and using much more off-speed stuff than he had in his past two outings. He exited after 5 1/3 with a hamstring problem having surrendered just 3 runs. Neil Cotts and Cliff Politte both looked great in relief with Politte looking the best in his 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
The Big Hurt was not in the line-up, as expected, but was available to pinch hit. He will not be back in the line-up until the weekend at the earliest.