2008 State of the Sox

April 30: Twins 4, White Sox 3

Truth be told, when a bullpen allows one run over five innings, it's a good day's work.  Still, if Boone Logan were just a little more careful to Justin Morneau...

Booner came in with the unenviable task of facing Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau with Carlos Gomez on second, after Gomez reached on a bunt single off Ehren Wassermann and advanced on a sacrifice bunt.  Why Gomez didn't try a straight steal on a guy with a bad pickoff move (Wassermann) and a catcher with a troubled arm (Toby Hall) is beyond me, but I don't think the Sox minded the free out from Gardenhire.

Anyway, Logan managed to retire Mauer on a weak grounder.  He went down 3-0, but he still didn't give Mauer anything to hit.  He ended up way out in front of a slider, and dribbled it weakly to Juan Uribe for the second out.

Up came Morneau, who was out in front of the first three Logan breaking balls.  Logan kept him honest with a beautiful inside fastball that jammed Morneau silly to push the count to 3-2.  Steve Stone suggested a breaking ball, since Morneau punishes fastballs.  Logan tried the high heat instead, and Morneau caught up to it for an opposite-field ground rule double to give the Twins a 4-3 lead.

It wasn't a bad pitch, but it played more to Morneau's strengths than an out-of-the-strike-zone slider would have.  Oh well.

Still, it'd help if the offense could score more than three runs.   They had their chances, and when the bottom three of Brian Anderson, Juan Uribe and Hall each have hits -- in Anderson's case, three of them -- the offense should manage more.  It's sort of like if the Bears ever got 135 rushing yards out of Cedric Benson and still lost -- it's that same level of inexcusable when the pitching holds up.

Hall actually played a pretty good game himself, too.  He had a single and nearly had a second one fall in.  He also should have been credited with throwing out Gomez at third, but when the ball got away from Joe Crede, he blocked the plate to prevent the run.

Anderson's third single against Joe Nathan put the tying run on base with one out, and pinch-hitting A.J. Pierzynski drew a tough walk, but a pinch-hitting (?) Pablo Ozuna flew out to center on the first pitch.  That itself was a curious decision, but I suppose Ozuna's career 0-for-3 performance against Nathan was better than Uribe's 0-for-9.

Also, Ozuna's at-bat was better than Nick Swisher's, who struck out on three pitches, looking at the last one clip the outside corner for the final out.

Swisher did contribute to the offense's cause with an RBI single that tied the game in the sixth, the kind of two-out hit with runners in scoring position the Sox have lacked lately.  They entered the game with five hits in their last 50 at-bats in such situations.

But the offense came in drips once again.  Swisher led off with a four-pitch walk, then scored on Jim Thome's double.  Thome tried to stretch it to three bags and was thrown out easily.  Carlos Quentin's solo homer provided the other run, and the Sox rarely threatened otherwise.

Nick Magic was erratic in his first start since the famed five innings against the Cubs last May.  It could've been worse, but it would've been hard for him to say the same about his control.  He nearly took the heads off a few Twins, walked Nick Punto on four pitches and also issued a free pass to the hard-to-walk Delmon Young.  On the other hand, he pitched around a first-inning triple by Joe Mauer and struck out Jason Kubel with two on and two outs in the third, so he managed to man up a couple times.

Matt Thornton and Octavio Dotel looked downright unhittable.

Record: 14-12 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 29: Twins 3, White Sox 1

Five ugly aspects of a boring loss:

No. 5. Watching Boof Bonser completely dismantle the Sox by getting ahead in the count.  Bonser faced 27 batters over seven innings, and only fell behind 2-0 to three of them -- and one was Juan Uribe.  He had all his pitches working, and the Sox helped him out plenty as well.

Joe Crede tattooed one deep into the left field seats, and outside of that and a Thome double off the baggie fence in right, there weren't a lot of hard-hit balls.

No. 4. Watching Jermaine Dye do anything.  Dye returned to the lineup after missing a few games with a groin injury.  He went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, and both Ks were with runners in scoring position.  The first was on a fastball in the dirt, and the second was on a 55-foot curveball for a three-pitch strikeout.

He made a couple of nice sliding catches, the second one preventing a run, but even those weren't graceful.

No. 3. Fourth-inning defense behind Gavin Floyd.  Floyd allowed a cheap double to Michael Cuddyer and an authentic homer to Jason Kubel to start out the fourth. 

But then Orlando Cabrera let a Delmon Young chopper play him, and he threw wide of the bag (it was ruled an infield single).  Young stole second, and A.J. Pierzynski airmailed the throw into center, allowing Young to reach third.  He'd score on Mike Lamb's sacrifice fly, and it probably should've been an unearned run.  Floyd pitched well otherwise.

No. 2.  Watching Floyd and Co. hold runners.  A perfect throw may have gotten Young on the aforementioned steal, but he didn't have a shot on Young's steal in the second, or Nick Punto's steal in the third.  Punto also had second stolen on Ehren Wassermann, but Carlos Gomez didn't pull off the bunt and ended up fouling it off.

No. 1.  Nick Swisher on the basepaths.  With Bonser out of the game in the eighth inning, Swisher tried to start something off Pat Neshek, looping a single to left.  After a Cabrera strikeout, Jim Thome hit a deep flyball to left that Young caught on the warning track.

For some reason, Swisher was about 15 feet past second when the ball was caught, and Young, possessing one of baseball's strongest outfield arms, hit the cutoff man with a 300-foot throw to start a 7-4-3 double play.  There was no reason for Swisher to be past second, because he wasn't the tying run.

If there was any good news, it was two scoreless innings out of the bullpen by Wassermann and Boone Logan.  The Baron got three groundballs (one infield single), and Logan picked him up by retiring Joe Mauer.

Record: 14-11 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 28: Orioles 4, White Sox 3 (Completed, 14 innings)

Update:  Carlos Quentin began the bottom of the 12th by hitting a high, deep fly ball ... that landed in Luke Scott's glove on the warning track.

Thus summarized the completion of this game.  The Sox hit plenty of balls hard -- including two line drives by Joe Crede in his return -- but they didn't drop.  Meanwhile, a Lou Montanez blooper dropped just beyond Juan Uribe's mitt for the game-winning run.

Ozzie Guillen pressed his luck by trying to get three innings out of Horacio Ramirez, but it didn't work.  He loaded the bases with one out in the 14th, and D.J. Carrasco couldn't stop a run from scoring.  He'd limit the damage by getting a grounder for a 1-6-3 double play, but the Sox stranded the tying run on third.

***


An ugly, wet mess of a day led to an ugly, wet mess of a ballgame, with the Sox blowing several opportunities to put the game away.

And then Juan Uribe of all people saved his team's bacon, going ¡Profundo! and showing the homer hands to tie it up again.  After that, the game had been stretched to its limits.  With no break in the rain from start to finish and standing water all over the field, the umps had to call it a day.

The Sox have nobody to blame but themselves.  Javier Vazquez pitched a whale of a game -- a solo homer by Aubrey Huff was really his only mistake -- so the Sox could've put an end to the madness a heck of a lot sooner -- especially since Daniel Cabrera couldn't find the strike zone for most of the day. For instance...

Second inning:  Alexei Ramirez grounds out with runners on second and third to end the inning with the Sox trailing 1-0.

Fourth inning:  Ramirez grounds into a 6-4 with the bases loaded to end the inning with the Sox trailing 1-0.

Fifth inning:  Nick Swisher walked to give the Sox their first leadoff man aboard on the day, and Orlando Cabrera erases him with a GDP.

Eighth inning:  The Sox have two on and no outs after Brian Anderson's infield single and a sac bunt by Ramirez that Dennis Safarte can't make a good throw on. Swisher then grounds into 4-6-3 double play and Cabrera pops out.  The Sox miss out an insurance run they'd end up needing.

Ninth inning:  Though he should've had more than a one-run lead, Bobby Jenks blows his second save of the season -- both against Baltimore -- when Brian Roberts doubles leading off, stealing third and scores on Melvin Mora's single. 

10th inning:  Carlos Quentin doubled to lead off the inning, then advanced to third on Joe Crede's flyout to right.  Ozzie Guillen calls for a squeeze, Anderson misses, Quentin is tagged out after a brief rundown, and Anderson ends up striking out.

Really, Quentin was the one guy who came through all game long.  He put the Sox on the board with a solo homer in the sixth, and finished 3-for-4 with a walk.

Fortunately for the Sox, the Orioles ran themselves out of a couple threats.  Mora was picked off after his single (a rarity for Jenks), and in the 10th, the Sox ended the inning thanks to a heads-up play by Cabrera.

With Adam Jones on second and two outs, Brandon Fahey hit a weak grounder to short.  The conditions made it impossible for Cabrera to throw Fahey out at first (Fahey would make an error on a Cabrera grounder in the bottom of the 11th), but he kept an eye on the situation over by third.  Jones rounded the bag a little too aggressively, and Cabrera threw behind him.  Crede placed the tag, and Scott Linebrink was out of the inning.

Linebrink then gave up his first homer of the season when Ramon Hernandez went deep leading off the 11th, but Uribe made up for it by belting a belt-high fastball well into the left-field seats to tie it back up.

Record: 14-10 | Box score | Play-by-play

Week in a box: April 21-27

Player of the Week: Carlos Quentin.  He's got a six-game hitting streak and a three-game HBP streak.  He drove in two runs alone with bases-loaded HBPs. He started the winning rally off Joba Chamberlain with a double, stole his first base and stole a run with some heads-up baserunning.

Player of the Weak:  Juan Uribe.  He started the week 2-for-3, and finished it 0-for-9.  He's just giving away at-bats, although if Paul Konerko hadn't hit two homers Sunday, this would likely be his award to take home.

Pitcher of the Week:  Jose Contreras.  He should have had two quality starts, but Ozzie Guillen left him in one batter too long against the Yankees and the bullpen blew it.  He bounced back nicely against the Orioles.

Pitcher of the Weak:  Javier Vazquez.  He shied away from the strike zone in the second inning against the Yankees, and they made him pay.

Fireman of the Week:  Bobby Jenks.  He pitched in three non-save situations this week, and did exactly what Ozzie Guillen asked of him.  He picked up two wins, even though he didn't look pretty throwing a scoreless inning against the Orioles.

Gas Can of the Week:  Octavio Dotel.  Not a week he'll want to remember -- he gave up a grand slam to Bobby Abreu, and then let a game get out of hand against Baltimore, even though Konerko can receive a fair share of the blame for that one.

Super Sub:  Brian Anderson.  He drove in the game-winning run with a single -- better yet, he did so while starting the at-bat 0-2.  That's a good week's work.

Super Scrub:  Alexei Ramirez.  Right now, the only reason to call him the Cuban Missile is because his bats explode with the best of them.

Gold Glove:  Bobby Jenks.  He made a helluva nice stab on Melvin Mora's comebacker to keep the game tied Saturday.  Nobody else stands out.

Hands of Stone:  Paul Konerko.  He committed three errors in the Baltimore doubleheader, although only two of them counted.  The other was charged to Dotel, who had the nerve to hit Konerko's wrist with a pickoff throw.

April 27: White Sox 6, Orioles 1

It sure is nice to see Paul Konerko beat up on opposing pitching instead of himself for once.  Konerko homered twice during a perfect day, with solo shots leading off the second and sixth innings, and providing all the scoring the Sox would need in the process.

Perhaps more unusual than the sight of Paulie hitting was the sight of the Sox making life hell for Ramon Hernandez by being highly active on the basepaths.  The White Sox were aggressive and smart all day long, and you need to look no further than the sixth inning, when the Sox stretched a lead by two runs by using their legs.

After Konerko's second homer and a single by A.J. Pierzynski that kicked starter Jeremy Guthrie out of the game, Alexei Ramirez executed a perfect sacrifice bunt to bring Brian Anderson, yesterday's hero, to the plate.

Anderson hit a chopper to short, but Pierzynski got a good jump and made Brandon Fahey rush the throw.  It skipped past Hernandez and Pierzynski safe for one run.  Quentin, who was hauling ass around the turn at third, kept the legs pumping and appeared to surprise Hernandez, whose throw to the plate was way off.

The scorers were kind and gave Anderson an infield single on the play, which salvaged an awful day at the plate.  He hit a short fly to right with the bases loaded and one out in the fifth, leaving the game tied at 1.  He stranded six on the day, and with a good throw from Fahey, it would have been eight.

Quentin had a busy day as well -- he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded for the second straight game and the third overall.  He also stole a base in the second off Hernandez, his first of the season -- though if Hernandez made a decent throw, he would've been out by three steps. 

Nick Swisher (who hit four balls hard, but only one hit to show for it) stole third while the shift for Jim Thome was on, and Orlando Cabrera stole third base in the eighth uncontested.

Sox pitching allowed the offense to take its time stretching the lead.  Jose Contreras nibbled early, walking three in the first three innings, but Brian Roberts' second-inning homer was all the offense Baltimore could muster.  He kicked the control problems and retired 12 of the last 15 hitters he faced, allowing only three singles, and one of the infield variety.

Unlike his last start against Baltimore, Ozzie Guillen pulled him at the right time -- with two outs in the seventh, and the tying run not yet at the plate.  Ehren Wassermann complicated matters by walking his first batter of the year on five pitches, but Matt Thornton cleaned up his mess, striking out Nick Markakis to end the threat. 

Thornton struck out three of the four batters he faced, and Octavio Dotel went three up, three down in the ninth, with Cabrera capping the victory with a jump-throw from the hole.

Record: 14-10 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 26: White Sox 6, Orioles 5 (Game 2)

I think it's safe to say Brian Anderson needed this.

With two outs, the bases loaded and the game tied at 5, Anderson went down 0-2 to Randor Bierd (a name somebody made up), taking a pitch right down the middle and going down to one knee swinging at a breaking ball that was both low and outside.  In other words, it looked like 80 percent of Anderson's at-bats.

But BA, to the surprise of many, regrouped.  He took ball one, fouled off a pitch and took another one outside the strike zone.  Then on a 2-2 fastball, Anderson drilled a grounder through the hole on the left side to slay the mighty Randor, and in the process saved the asses of a few of his teammates:

No. 1: Boone Logan.  The search for a pitcher to work the seventh continues, as Logan blew a two-run lead.  Logan struck out Ramon Hernandez to start the inning but unraveled after that, beginning with a single by Eider Torres, his first career hit.

Brian Roberts hit the first of two grooved pitches for a triple to the left-center gap -- like they were in game 1, the center fielder was shaded the wrong way.  Anderson may have made a mistake by diving on the track, which allowed Roberts to get three bases instead of two.  But when Melvin Mora roped a double to left on a hanging slider, I doubt it mattered.  Fortunately, he got Nick Markakis to fly out to center before Scott Linebrink retired Kevin Millar to keep the game tied.

No. 2:  Paul Konerko.  The Sox should have had more than a two-run lead, as Konerko came to the plate with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the sixth.  On the first pitch, Konerko hit a nubber off the end of the bat back to Dennis Safarte, who started an easy 1-2-3 double play.

Konerko also booted a grounder earlier in the game, his third miscue and second error in the doubleheader.

Bobby Jenks could have been on the list had he not pitched out of a major jam in the ninth.  He gave up a leadoff single to Luis Hernandez, but was given an out when Brian Roberts popped up a sacrifice bunt attempt.  Hernandez stole second (that one was on Pierzynski, as a good throw gets him), then went to third on Melvin Mora's infield single.  Jenks blew out Mora's bat, but the big shard came at Jenks, and it looked like he hesitated identifying which moving object was the ball.  Orlando Cabrera had no chance.

Jenks complicated matters by throwing a wild pitch to take away the double play and forced him to intentionally walk Nick Markakis.  But he hunkered down, getting Kevin Millar to ground into a 5-2 forceout, and then snared a comebacker by Aubrey Huff to keep the Orioles off the board in the ninth.

Mark Buehrle pitched well enough considering the circumstances, meeting the minimum for a quality start.  He had his flaws, mainly in the second when the Orioles scored two runs after Buehrle retired the first two hitters of the inning.  Luke Scott hit an infield single, but Buehrle walked Adam Jones, and they both came around to score on Ramon Hernandez's double.

He could've been in more trouble two innings later, but he pitched around two defensive miscues.  Huff reached when Konerko booted a grounder, and then the storm clouds gathered when Buehrle plunked Scott.  But instead of walking Jones, he struck him out, and he followed by getting Hernandez to hit a grounder to short.  It should've ended the inning, but Cabrera's feed was wide to Pablo Ozuna, and he couldn't make a clean exchange.  Buehrle got Torres to pop out to keep it a  3-2 game.

The Sox made it a short night for Steve Trachsel, making up for the Mike Mussina debacle nicely.  They waited him out -- he walked five and threw 85 pitches over three innings and two batters.  Anderson doubled for the first run of the game, and an Ozuna grounder tied the game.  Carlos Quentin scored Paul Konerko from first on a double (Konerko made it the last 90 feet thanks to Scott missing the cutoff man), and then Nick Swisher gave the Sox a 5-3 lead with a homer into the picnic tables.

Record: 13-10 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 26: Orioles 5, White Sox 1 (Game 1)

The White Sox shouldn't have been able to bring the tying run to the plate when they finally got to the Orioles bullpen, but it happened.  It started, as most rallies do, with a Toby Hall singled.  He was erased after a one-out fielder's choice, but Jim Thome walked and Paul Konerko singled to load the bases.

After a bases-loaded HBP by Carlos Quentin (his second of the season), Joe Crede came to the plate.  He couldn't pull off the heroics two games in a row, as he flew out to right to end the game.

Of course, fate was way too kind by even allowing them a run across the plate for two reasons:

No. 1:  The Sox couldn't do anything against Brian Burres.  You know the deal -- a lefty who stays away from the plate, using a changeup to keep hitters off balance.  Hall was the only Sox player with two hits, and Cabrera was the first runner to reach scoring position in the ninth.  Only when (hey hey hey, it's) Matt Albers entered the game could the Sox finally get their offense going.

No. 2:  The Sox didn't support John Danks with the defense or the bullpen, either.  Adam Jones broke up Danks' perfect game bid in the fifth, then stole second on Hall, who is a catcher without an arm.  Guillermo Quiroz's first career homer later, the Orioles had all the runs they needed.

Octavio Dotel picked up Matt Thornton by erasing his inherited runner, but collapsed in his second inning of work.  Aubrey Huff led off with a single, and after Jay Payton's sacrifice bunt, a shanked ball ate up Paul Konerko, and the error allowed a run to cross the plate.  Konerko then let a pickoff throw by Dotel handcuff him, which took off the force.  A walk and a wild pitch later, the O's had runners on second a third.

Dotel struck out Luke Scott, but Brian Roberts hit a line drive right into the massive gap in right-center.  Had Alexei Ramirez been playing at regular alignment and depth, it would've been easy.  Instead, the ball glanced off the end of his mitt after a long run and a dive, and that would seal the deal.

Record: 12-10 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 24: White Sox 7, Yankees 6

JOOOOOE! CREEEEEEEEEEEDE!

It doesn't quite have the same ring on a single, but the result's the same -- a big win to avoid a crushing sweep by the Yankees, and off the Bombers' biggest arm to boot.

Joba Chamberlain looked downright unhittable in his first inning of work, but a funny thing happened in the ninth.  A.J. Pierzynski started off with a flyball to deep center ("Stretch!" bellowed Hawk Harrelson) off a hanging Chamberlain curveball, and yet Joba kept going back to the breaking ball.

The Sox made him pay, starting with a double off the base of the wall by Carlos Quentin ("Stretch!" bellowed Hawk), who slid in safely to second just before Hideki Matsui's throw.  He'd score three pitches later when Chamberlain -- you guessed it -- hung another breaking pitch to Crede.  This time it was a slider, and Crede lined it softly over short.  Quentin didn't get a good jump -- and he looked like he was doing a tire drill rounding third -- but Melky Cabrera's throw bounced off the mound and Quentin scored uncontested for a White Sox winner and Chamberlain's first career loss.

(Melky had two outfield assists against the Sox at the plate the last two years, throwing out Jerry Owens last June and Crede in July 2006, so I would've put Quentin's odds at 50-50 when he stepped on third.)

Crede's hit delivered the Sox from evil, which came in the form of spectacularly unclutch pitching from the Sox staff, as five of six Yankee runs crossed the plate with two outs.

It's hard to knock Gavin Floyd, who lasted six innings despite rain delays of 30 and 51 minutes.  He actually looked worse before the second break, as another Bobby Abreu extra-base hit to left field gave the Yankees a quick 3-0 lead after two.  But the Sox may have not had to sweat this one out had Floyd been able to seal the deal in the sixth.  With two outs, Jason Giambi doubled, and Melky followed up with a two-run homer to close the gap to 6-5.

That wouldn't be the end of shoddy Sox pitching:

*Matt Thornton retired the first two hitters in the seventh, but his control abandoned him after Abreu singled to prolong the inning.  A four-pitch walk to Hideki Matsui, and he was out of the game.

*Scott Linebrink wasn't much better.  He got ahead of Morgan Ensberg 0-2, but couldn't put him away.  After a close call on ball 3 (it may have been just inside), he grooved a fastball, and Ensberg sent it back through the middle to tie the game.  After another four-pitch walk to the hard-to-walk Robinson Cano, he got Jason Giambi to pop out in foul territory, with Crede making a nice catch by the tarp after a long run.

Hats off to Boone Logan, who worked a 1-2-3 eighth and retired Abreu after Derek Jeter led off with a single.  A Matsui single forced Logan's exit, and Ozzie Guillen called for Bobby Jenks.  Jenks realized that the secret was to not get the Yankees to two outs, and thus retired pinch-hitting Jorge Posada with a 4-6-3 double play.

Guillen made the right calls with the bullpen all night long -- he just didn't get the results.  This is another situation to add to Linebrink's case file, since he didn't start the inning.

The offense didn't give up either, although they were helped out when Yankees starter Philip Hughes was done after two innings (which is why Floyd's six were so important).  They finally found their groove against Ross Ohlendorf in his second inning of work.

Ensberg would be a target through the entire third inning.  Orlando Cabrera was safe by a step on a grounder down the line, on which Ensberg made a sliding stop, and Cabrera got the line moving.  Jim Thome walked, Paul Konerko scored Cabrera with a single to left-center, and then Jermaine Dye blistered one off Ensberg on a bad hop for the Sox's second run.

Pierzynski finally found a ball he could pull and ripped a double over Abreu's head in right to tie the game.  Dye would give the Sox a lead when he scored on Quentin's chopper hit at -- you guessed it -- Ensberg.  Ensberg didn't have a clean exchange from glove to hand, and his throw was just left enough to allow Dye to get his foot in.  After a Joe Crede flyout, Alexei Ramirez earned his first RBI with a ground-rule double just inside the right-field line.

The Gentleman Masher hit his 513th home run to give the Sox a sixth run they would need off LaTroy Hawkins in the fifth.

Other notes:

• Dye left the game in the sixth with a strained left groin.  Nick Swisher moved to right, Ramirez moved to center and Uribe came in to play second.  He started the double play that ended the ninth.
• Swisher and Cabrera failed to execute a hit-and-run in the seventh off Kyle Farnsworth, with Cabrera throwing his bat at the ball and Jose Molina gunning Swisher down at second.

Record: 12-9 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 23: Yankees 6, White Sox 4

Considering the way the Sox attempted to combat the Mike Mussina and his 63 m.p.h. curveball, I didn't expect the Sox to bring the tying run to the plate in the eighth inning.  Mussina had to leave the game for it to happen, though.

Down 6-2 in the eighth inning, Nick Swisher -- who had a terrible game up to that point -- walked to start LaTroy Hawkins' inning.  Orlando Cabrera slapped an opposite-field single to put runners on the corners, and Jim Thome drove in Swisher to make it a 6-3 game, the second game LOOGY Billy Traber failed to retire him.

That forced Joe Girardi to bring in Mariano Rivera to face Paul Konerko, representing the tying run.  He hit a first pitch sac fly -- not a bad move with one out -- but Jermaine Dye couldn't continue the rally.  Dye popped up on a full count, and Rivera went 1-2-3 in the ninth to close it out.

Up until then, the only offense the Sox could muster came in the form of solo homers by Joe Crede and Carlos Quentin.  Otherwise, they couldn't do anything against Mussina's super-slow assortment of junk.  The only other hits were an Orlando Cabrera single through the left side, and a Jim Thome excuse-me check swing single to third base against the shift.

Javier Vazquez didn't have his best stuff -- he needed 30 pitches to get through the second inning after two walks, a single off his glove and an infield single gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead.  But he deserved a better fate from there on out.   Swisher allowed an extra run to score in the fifth with poor judgment, diving for a ball he had no shot at.  Instead of keeping Jorge Posada to a single, the ball deflected away from him and allowed the Yankees to stretch the lead to 3-0.

In the sixth, cheap hits spelled his early exit.  He got Jason Giambi to break his bat, but he still muscled a single to right.  Melky Cabrera lifted a jam shot just over Paul Konerko's head and inside the first base line, putting runners on second and third.  A double and a single later, the score was 6-1 and Vazquez was out of the game.

After a questionable decision yesterday, credit Ozzie Guillen with correct bullpen usage today.  Boone Logan got out of the sixth with no more runs scored, and Nick Masset did his job by pitching two scoreless.  After the Sox narrowed the lead to 6-4, he brought in Bobby Jenks, who actually survived more drama than Masset faced.  A double over Swisher's head and a groundout put a runner on third with two outs, but Jenks got Morgan Ensberg to ground out to end the threat.

Record: 11-9 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 22: Yankees 9, White Sox 5

Octavio Dotel looked to be the savior of the game when he struck out Derek Jeter with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh.  He then took the loss three pitches later, when a grooved 2-0 fastball to Bobby Abreu ended up in the left field seats for a grand slam.

I'd have an easier time getting upset at Ozzie Guillen if it weren't April, and it were against a division opponent.  But Dotel had just struck out Derek Jeter twice in one at-bat (he didn't get a call on an inside fastball), and didn't give him anything to hit in the entire at-bat, so, sure, let's see if he can knock out Abreu.

I subscribe to the theory that the more pitchers you bring into a ballgame, the better chance you have of finding a guy who doesn't have it that day.  Dotel definitely looked like he had it.  Then he didn't.

When you figure tonight and Opening Day, Dotel would have to build up some serious cred before he sees a lefty in that kind of situation again -- right now, I'm thinking only if it were extra innings and the only guy left in the pen is Nick Magic.

Fortunately for Dotel, he wasn't the only goat in this game.  And Matt Thornton, who was available during the Abreu at-bat and came in to relieve Dotel before the inning was over, gave up a three-run homer to left-handed Johnny Damon to prove that he may not have gotten the job done, either.

It wasn't all on the pitching -- the Sox shouldn't have had a one-run lead entering the seventh inning.  After Paul Konerko "doubled" (he actually singled, but he and Thome were able to run on Damon's nothing arm) to put runners on second and third, Jermaine Dye failed to get Thome home by striking out, and A.J. Pierzynski grounded out to end the inning.  It should've been at least 4-2, and with the way Chien-Ming Wang was leaving pitches up in the zone, the Sox should've expected 5-2.

After all, when Juan Uribe ropes a two-run double into the corner on a hanging 0-2 slider, it was clear Wang didn't have his best stuff.

Alas, Contreras was only staked to a one-run lead entering the seventh after six solid innings.  He'd been scored upon the first two innings -- Konerko couldn't handle a hot smash by Damon, who came around to score for the game's first run.  Jason Giambi hit a solo shot the opposite way -- just like Abreu -- in the second.

If anything, Guillen's biggest mistake may have been leaving in Contreras one batter too long.  The Count got Giambi to line out into the shift, but he walked Morgan Ensberg.  I probably would've pulled Contreras there, ensuring a quality start, which is all one should hope for with Contreras.  Instead, Contreras gave up a first-pitch single to Melky Cabrera to put runners on first and second, and Boone Logan would end up loading the bases despite doing his job -- getting a soft chopper from Damon.  That set the stage for Dotel.

The Sox did have a chance to tie it up and then some in the bottom of that inning.  Thome watched Billy Traber pull a Damaso Marte and walk the only batter he faced, and Brian Bruney walked Konerko to put runners on first and second.  Dye struck out, but A.J. Pierzynski reached when his hard grounded deflected off Giambi's mitt and Bruney didn't cover first.

In came Joba Chamberlain, who struck out Carlos Quentin by throwing him off his rhythm right away with a first-pitch slider.  He didn't have much of a chance.  Joe Crede had the nerve to not hit a grand slam, although he drew a walk to close the gap to 6-4.  Uribe then got a pitch to hit -- another hanging slider -- but he popped it straight up, and it fell into Jorge Posada's mitt to end the threat.

The Sox left 13 on base, a season high.  Hey, if nothing else, a Pierzynski homer and Quentin walk off Kyle Farnsworth in the ninth made Mariano Rivera get up.

Other notes:

• Nick Swisher struck out in a way I'd never seen before -- the bat broke while he swung, and while his hands were up, the barrel of the bat was down -- and heading towards the White Sox dugout.  The ball ended up in Posada's mitt, and Swisher ended up with a toothpick in his hands.  Take that, Bo Jackson.
• While Dye had a rough day at the plate (six left on base), he made a nice play in right field that won't show up in a box score.  After Robinson Cano doubled to lead off the fourth, Giambi hit a deep fly to right.  Dye set up nicely, catching it with his momentum moving forward, then launched a perfect throw to third that prevented Cano from advancing.  The crowd gave him an awesome ovation, and rightly so -- Cano advanced to third on a groundout and was stranded there when Contreras struck out Melky Cabrera on a 3-2 forkball.
• The 3-2 forkball was preceded by a crucial scoop by Pierzynski on a ball inside to the left-handed Cabrera.  Pierzynski was set up outside, and managed to make a clean pick even though he nearly fell over afterward, saving a run.
  

Record: 11-8 | Box score | Play-by-play

Week in a Box: April 14 - 20

This week's "Week in a Box" brought to you by 11-7.  11-7: Good for first place in the AL Central three weeks into the season since 2007.

Player of the Week:  Jim Thome.  His week began with an ejection, but The Gentleman Masher quelled doubters with three homers and 10 RBI -- including a titantic blast off the catwalk in the Tropicana Dome -- giving Sox pitchers an early lead to work with each time.

Player of the Weak:  Juan Uribe.  Even by his standards, ¡Profundo! is struggling.  He had a two-hit game, but he also went 0-for-19 in the at-bats surrounding those hits.

Pitchers of the Week:  John Danks and Jose Contreras.  Danks had two great starts as opposed to Contreras' one, but a rare vintage performance by The Count is too good to ignore.

Pitcher of the Weak:  Mark Buehrle.  He lost both starts, although he pitched well enough to win against Oakland.  On the other hand, his loss to the Rays featured a vintage Buehrle meltdown.  At least he went seven innings both times.

Fire Man of the Week:  Matt Thornton.  Thornton struck out three over two innings of work this week, and has looked virtually unhittable since getting touched up for a run Opening Day.

Gas Can of the Week:  Bobby Jenks.  His struggles against Baltimore continued with his first blown save of the year.

Super Sub of the Week:  Alexei Ramirez.  He hasn't done much at the plate yet, but his throw that nailed Emil Brown at second Tuesday set the tone for terrific defensive work all game long.

Super Scrub of the Week:  Brian Anderson.  He went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts against the Rays, looking like the same Anderson everybody knows.

Gold Glove:  Carlos Quentin.  He made two catches while crashing into the wall, and unlike some of his teammates who also made outstanding defensive plays, he didn't have any headscratchers, either.

Hands of Stone:  A.J. Pierzynski, Pablo Ozuna, Orlando Cabrera, Juan Uribe, Paul Konerko.  By my count, this is a list of everybody involved in the two blown rundowns in the final two games of the series against the Rays.

April 20: White Sox 6, Devil Rays 0

Now that Jon Garland has moved on to the land of surfboards, the Sox rotation has an opening for a Stopper Jon.  Aside from the unnecessary "h" in his first name, John Danks is filling the role quite nicely.

For the second game in a row, Danks took to the mound following a disheartening offensive performance the day before and dismissed talks of a losing streak.  He held the Rays scoreless, allowing only three hits and zero walks while striking out eight.  He only allowed one runner to reach scoring position, when Carl Crawford led off with a single.  He advanced to second and third on a pair of fielder's choices, but was ultimately standed there when Evan Longoria popped out to Nick Swisher to end the inning.

The Rays never threatened otherwise.  Perhaps the most impressive part of Danks' game is that he wasn't all that impressive in throwing first-pitch strikes -- he was just over 50 percent in that category.  However, he never fell behind 2-0 to any of the 24 Tampa Bay hitters he faced, and the result was a quite economical 96 pitches over seven innings.

Meanwhile, the Sox offense shook off their first shutout of the season by chasing Edwin Jackson out of the game in the fifth inning.  With one out in the fifth, Nick Swisher fell behind 0-2, only to watch Jackson throw him four straight pitches out of the strike zone.  Thus began the game-sealing rally.

Elliot Johnson couldn't glove Orlando Cabrera's chopper to put runners on first and second, and Jim Thome lined a single to center for his third straight run-scoring hit in as many at-bats, with Swisher getting his foot in just before Shawn Riggins' tag (though he didn't carry the ball with him).  Jermaine Dye spelled the end for Jackson when he lined a 3-2 fastball through the left-center gap into the deepest part of the park.  It was a two-run triple for Dye, his first since Sept. 9, 2006.

Dye would score on an A.J. Pierzynski single, and although the inning would end with strikeouts of Joe Crede and Brian Anderson, the Sox had all the runs they needed.  Anderson had a particularly rough go of it, striking out three times in four at-bats.

Thome drove in the Sox's first two runs of the game, beginning with his 512th career homer in the first inning, a solo shot.  He also singled to center to score Juan Uribe in the third, after Uribe walked and went from first to third on a dumb play by Riggins.  Uribe took off with a full count, and with the pitch way out of the zone, Riggins threw to second anyway, overthrowing it in the process.

Boone Logan sealed the deal with two scoreless innings, rebounding well from his unraveling against Baltimore.

Record: 11-7 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 19: Rays 5, White Sox 0

I only watched bits and pieces of this game, but here are the key nuggets:

The Sox botched a rundown for the second straight game -- after Mark Buehrle picked off Jonny Gomes, his second of the game -- except this time, they made an even bigger mistake by running Gomes back to the base ahead.  A Buehrle meltdown ensued, and four straight singles later, the Rays had a 3-0 lead.  And yes, this all occurred with two outs.

The rundown was awkward on a number of levels.  Konerko seemed to do the right thing by running Gomes three-quarters of the way there before flipping to Orlando Cabrera.  Cabrera got rid of the ball a little too quickly, and Juan Uribe then held onto the ball too long, and once he realized he couldn't outrun Gomes, he flipped it to Cabrera, who was standing five feet in front of Joe Crede, who was covering second and ready to catch the ball.  Cabrera missed the tag.

Buehrle allowed 12 hits, two walks and a hit batter over seven innings, but was bailed out by three double plays.

The problem was that his counterpart, Tampa Bay starter Andy Sonnastine, induced two himself.  He probably could've gotten more, if only the Sox had more men reach base.  Instead, Sonnastine held the Sox to three hits and a walk, and only faced two over the minimum.

The Sox only had one runner reach scoring position, when Orlando Cabrera reached on a bunt and moved to second on Jim Thome's groundout to second.  He was stranded there when Konerko grounded out to Evan Longoria.

Toby Hall started for the Sox and singled to center before being erased on the double play.  With Hall catching in place of A.J. Pierzynski and Alexei Ramirez giving Jermaine Dye a night off, the Sox had five guys with batting averages under the Mendoza Line.

Record: 10-7 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 18: White Sox 9, Rays 2

After a bitter defeat, a win in which the White Sox thoroughly outclassed their opponent cleanses in the palette in quite a refreshing manner, hmm?

Foppish ledes aside, that's basically the storyline.  The Sox were better in just about all facets in the game, and after a shaky start, that's the way things played out.  As an added bonus, they actually beat up a pitcher they'd never faced before in Jeff Niemann.

Javier Vazquez pitched around a curious second inning that featured Mike DiFelice leaning into a strike for a free base, and the Sox botching a rundown when Pablo Ozuna got rid of the ball too quickly, and Orlando Cabrera didn't run hard enough to cover third base.  At least they didn't give up the base ahead.

Anyway, Vazquez got former Piranha Jason Bartlett to ground into a 6-4-3 double play, and it was smooth sailing after that, starting with a defensive lapse on the Rays' part.

Juan Uribe grounded to third, but Evan Longoria's throw was high and pulled Carlos Pena off the bag.  Nick Swisher walked (the first of three), and after an Orlando Cabrera popup, Jim Thome hit the catwalk with a mammoth homer, the 511th of his career that seemed to travel 511 feet, to give the Sox a 3-0 lead.  It was the second time he hit the roof of the Tropicana Dome in the at-bat, as a foul ball deflected off another ring into the seats.

Paul Konerko then went to left field to give the Sox back-to-back homers for the second straight game.

They piled on four more runs in the fourth (the big-inning trend continues) with a Uribe RBI double inside the left-field line, a Cabrera RBI single up the middle, a bases-loaded HBP from Konerko on an 0-2 count and a Jermaine Dye sacrifice fly.

Uribe ran hard all day and was rewarded with an RBI infield single in the fifth for his first multi-hit game of the year.

Record: 10-6 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 17: Orioles 6, White Sox 5 (10 innings)

Pitching and defense had been the key to most of the White Sox's victories early in the season.  Tonight, they didn't have enough of either.

Two errors led to three unearned runs, and Bobby Jenks and Boone Logan, two relievers who had been so good, couldn't hold it down.

First, Jenks came in with a two-run lead and watched it evaporate, starting with a chopped infield single behind the third base bag by Brandon Fahey.  He hung a curve to Brian Roberts and watched it get smacked to the right-field wall for a one-run double.  Melvin Mora was down 1-2, but worked the count full before tying the game with a bouncer through the middle.

Logan couldn't record one out in the 10th , walking Kevin Millar after getting ahead 0-2.  He had Luke Scott down 0-2, too, but after he didn't get the call on what looked to be a perfectly good outside-corner fastball, doom soon followed.  He walked Scott, too, and after an Aubrey Huff flyout, Adam Jones ripped a double down the left-field line to win the game.

Of course, the bullpen might not have been put in that position had the White Sox defense held up their end.  Paul Konerko's first error of the year led to two unearned runs.  Konerko couldn't handle a hot shot off the bat of Luis Hernandez to lead the inning off, deflecting off his glove and into right field.  Gavin Floyd got a couple groundouts, but Nick Markakis took a low, inside fastball and ripped it over the scoreboard in right to tie the game at 2.

It was a rare bad pitch for Floyd, who should've been staying away from Markakis with the base open, two outs and right-handed Kevin Millar on deck. 

Two innings later, Scott Linebrink, who should've been out of the inning when he struck out Millar for the apparent third out.  Instead, the ball got away from Pierzynski, and his throw to first pulled Konerko off the bag.  A Luke Scott double later, the Orioles cut it to 5-3.

The Sox offense didn't quite look on track, but they provided runs when they needed to.  After a 2-0 lead (provided by a Joe Crede single and a Nick Swisher sac fly) evaporated starting with the Konerko error, Carlos Quentin gave the Sox the lead right back with a solo homer -- and Crede made it 4-2 by going back-to-back.

Quentin also went the other way for his first multi-homer game in the eighth, but that would be all the offense the Sox could muster off the Baltimore bullpen.

Record: 9-6 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 16: White Sox 3, Orioles 1

Hi, I'm Jose Contreras.  Remember me?

No, not that Contreras.  You're thinking of the guy who was one of the worst pitchers in baseball the last year or so.  The guy who dropped down way too much, walked too many batters, then struggled with baserunners.

I'm just the guy with the good forkball.  Because I had it, I cut down on the drop-downs, and when I threw sidearmed, I actually located off the outside corner.  Kevin Millar had no chance against my rising slider.

Jim Thome's first inning, three-run homer was all I needed.  Sure, I ran into a little trouble in the fifth -- a hit and run put runners on the corners with one out, and then Joe Crede made a pointless throw on a ball behind the bag that put runners on second and third in a two-run game.  But Luke Scott couldn't figure out my forkball, so I kept throwing it until he struck out.  Adam Jones pounded one into the ground at Crede, and Joe made a good throw to end the inning.

They didn't threaten after that.  I didn't mess around.  I didn't walk anybody, struck out six, got nine groundouts to six flyouts, and only threw 91 pitches after seven.  I can't blame them for going to Scott Linebrink, but I could've thrown one more.  Fortunately, Liney got the job done, and Bobby Jenks went 1-2-3 after that.

Would I have liked to have more run support?  Who wouldn't?  I have to admit that I was bummed when Thome was thrown out at third after Nick Markakis couldn't make a diving catch, or when Orlando Cabrera was thrown out at the plate on an A.J. Pierzynski single.

The other Contreras probably would have buckled.  I just kept throwing that forkball until they proved they could hit it.  They never did.

I know -- I missed you too.

Record: 9-5 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 15: White Sox 4, Athletics 1

Pitching, defense and well-timed homers.  Where have we seen this recipe before?

Carlos Quentin's big three-run shot -- punctuated by a massive bat flip -- was all the offense the birthday boy, John Danks, would need.  After struggling with the singling Twins, Danks got in an early groove and let his defense go to work behind him.  And work they did.

*Danks himself kicked it off by picking off Mark Ellis after a one-out walk in the first inning.

*Alexei Ramirez, starting in center field as Nick Swisher shifted to first, made an incredible throw to nail Emil Brown as he tried to stretch a single into a double leading off the second.  Ramirez snagged the ball as it headed into the right-center gap, and in one motion spun and fired to second, where it landed in Orlando Cabrera's mitt on the fly with plenty of time for a tag.

*Leading off the sixth, Joe Crede went three steps and a flop to his right, popped up and fired to Swisher to get Ellis by a step.  Swisher made a beautiful pick on the play.

*On the very next play, Orlando Cabrera slid to his right and threw Daric Barton out handily.  Mike Sweeney grounded out on the next pitch, leading to an eight-pitch, 1-2-3 frame for Danks.

*Leading off the seventh, Quentin (for the second straight game) ran into the wall at the same time Emil Brown's deep fly landed in his mitt.  It rattled around in the leather a bit, but it gave Danks another quick out.

*Leading off the eighth, Swisher picked up Cabrera, by coming off the bag and tagging Denorfia after Cabrera snagged a hot shot on a weird hop.

Danks, to his credit, let his defense work for him after getting the run support.  He temporarily fell out of sync in the fifth, getting behind 3-0 on Chris Denorfia and 2-0 on Donny Murphy in two consecutive at-bats.  After a mound visit, he froze Murphy for a strikeout and went on to throw first-pitch strikes to eight of the last 10 hitters he faced.

Oakland's defense helped Danks feel more comfortable as well by allowing an insurance run.  Third baseman Donny Murphy tried to nail Jermaine Dye after catching Paul Konerko's hard liner, but bounced the throw past Daric Barton.  Joe Crede followed by muscling a fastball into right-center for a 4-0 lead.  They threatened to add more when Bobby Crosby dropped a popup in the middle of the infield, putting runners on the corners, but Ramirez struck out -- after his requisite breaking of the bat on a foul ball, of course.

Other notes:

• Dana Eveland tried emulating Greg Smith's formula for success -- changeups away -- but the fastball-throwing Eveland didn't have the goods.  He didn't look comfortable, and Quentin's homer finally capitalized on his diminishing control.  He began the inning by plunking Paul Konerko and walking Crede.
• Ramirez had an interesting day, along with the throw and the broken bat.  He was about a foot away from his first homer (it resulted in a double) and flew out deep to left another time, but he also stumbled twice after big swings, twisting his ankle the second time.
• Pablo Ozuna is the front-runner for Super Scrub of the Week, going 0-for-3 including an ugly strikeout when he failed to move the runner over, and he also let a grounder eat him up.  It wasn't called an error.
• Scott Linebrink got into a bit of unnecessary trouble, walking Barton to start the ninth inning with a four-run lead.  Barton came around to score on a sacrifice fly, but Bobby Jenks ultimately shut the door by getting three outs on two pitches.

Record: 8-5 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 14: Athletics 2, White Sox 1

Bad timing to expound upon how enjoyable the Sox are to watch, because they showed how they can often be the furthest thing from fun....

...when the Sox face a pitcher (Greg Smith) they've never faced before and make him look like the second coming of Sudden Sam McDowell and Catfish Hunter combined.

...when that pitcher throws with his left hand.

...when in situation where the Sox managed to reach base, they were picked off twice (Nick Swisher, Jermaine Dye).

...when Jim Thome is forced to face a lefty in a big situation (he was dead meat against Alan Embree).

...when Mike Sweeney finds a way to hurt the Sox even though he's wearing a different uniform.

...when Mike MacDougal gets booed for being unlucky.

It wasn't all for naught -- Mark Buehrle pitched well enough to ward off doubters who thought he might be hurt when the Sox held him back a couple days.

Boone Logan also did a terrific job cleaning up the mess MacDougal left.  With runners on first and second, Logan faced Jack Hannahan and threw him some low and outside sliders of varying speeds that were impossible to bunt.  He struck out lefties Hannahan and Travis Buck before getting Mark Ellis to pop out, ending the threat.

If nothing else, A.J. Pierzynski keeps hitting, lefties or not.  He went 2-for-3 to raise his average to .421, and he had the Sox's only extra-base hit of the night.

Record: 7-5 | Box score | Play-by-play

Week in a Box: April 7-13

And now a look back at the week that was.  As always, if your opinion differs, state your case.

Player of the Week:  Joe Crede.  Two grand slams -- including one to break open the home opener -- will do that

Player of the Weak:  Jim Thome.  Went 2-for-14 with no extra-base hits this week, and he's missing pitches he ordinarily hammers.

Pitcher of the Week:  Gavin Floyd.  He took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning against the Tigers, improving to 2-0 with a 2.05 ERA on the season and stopping a two-game losing streak.  Now, if he can manage it against a team besides Detroit.  Honorable mention to Javier Vazquez.

Pitcher of the Weak:  John Danks.  The Minnesota Twins deployed their Death By Singles attacked, and Danks succumbed, lasting only 2 1/3 innings in a 12-5 loss to the Twins.

Fireman of the Week:  Matt Thornton.  He didn't work anything resembling high-leverage innings, but he threw three scoreless innings, striking out four Twins over a two-inning stint, and retiring three Tigers on six pitches, all of them strikes.

Gas Can of the Week:  Nick Masset.  Nick Magic played a big part in two five-run innings in that 12-5 loss to the Twins, allowing all three of Danks' inherited runners to score on top of his five earned runs.  He helped turn a 7-3 game into a 12-3 game.

Super Sub of the Week:  Brian Anderson and Toby Hall.  Both did what they were supposed to do in their spot starts.

Super Scrub of the Week:  Nobody.  With two off days, Ozzie Guillen hasn't had to use his bench much.

Gold Glove of the Week:  Juan Uribe.  Continues to be a double play-turning machine.

Hands of Stone:  A.J. Pierzynski.  It's mostly the pitchers' fault, but teams are running wild on him right now.

April 13: White Sox 11, Tigers 0

It seems like the White Sox have had more easy victories against Detroit in the last week than they had all last year against any opponent.  Two grand slams provided a hefty cushion, and Javier Vazquez didn't mess around.

The end result: A second straight shutout of the Tigers.

Paul Konerko broke out of his slump in a big way, driving in the first five runs of the game off Kenny Rogers.  After it appeared Rogers would skate from an early jam in the first when Jim Thome grounded into a 4-6-3, Konerko shot one through the left side for a one-run lead.

He then broke it open with a grand slam in the fifth, taking an 0-1 curveball just left of dead center for his second homer of the year.  He nearly doubled his season total of RBI in one game.

Nick Swisher started both rallies, singling to lead off the first, and walking to lead off the fifth.  Orlando Cabrera followed suit with a walk and his first infield single, respectively, as the top of the order continued to do its job.

Rogers' day ended on the strangest play of the young season.  Thome hit a sky-high pop-up behind third base, and Miguel Cabrera fell into Doug Eddings while trying to track it.  The ball ended up dropping just behind third base for an infield single.  Zach Miner came in and struck out Konerko, but Jermaine Dye picked him up with an RBI double.

After A.J. Pierzynski's third intentional walk of the season, Joe Crede did what Joe Crede does with the bases loaded, crushing a no-doubter into the left field stands for his second slam of the season.

It was all icing on the cake for Vazquez, who was as sharp as ever today.  He struck out Clete Thomas -- who entered the day 10-for-23 -- three times and made him look like a rookie for once.  He struck out nine over seven innings, allowing only five hits and zero walks.  Only one Tiger reached scoring position, when Gary Sheffield led off with a double.  He was stranded there after two flyouts and a strikeout.

Here's how easy it was at the end: Javier Vazquez and Matt Thornton combined to throw 24 straight strikes -- Thornton went 6-for-6 in his ultra-quick inning of work.  Nick Masset broke the streak with his first pitch of the ninth, but sent the Tigers home scoreless by stranding two runners after a walk and a single.

Record: 7-4 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 12: White Sox 7, Tigers 0

In the early going, Floyd attempted to be rivaling Danny Wright for the ugliest no-hit bid in recent Sox history.  Not only did he walk batters, but he walked leadoff batters, and he walked them when he was ahead 0-2.

He also couldn't hold runners.  Clete Thomas and Gary Sheffield both went on first movement, and both were easily safe.  Brandon Inge would've had one as well, but he didn't trust his outstanding jumps.

Fortunately, the defense kept giving Floyd a reason to trust it.  Joe Crede had a couple terrific plays in the first two innings, throwing out Thomas at the plate when he ran on contact in the first, then made a diving snare to his left, popped up and threw out Miguel Cabrera in the second.

Floyd also had double plays as a friend to clean up the walks:

• A 6-4-3 from Placido Polanco after Floyd walked the first two hitters in the third.
  
• A 5-4-3 from Magglio Ordonez after Floyd walked leadoff man Sheffield in the fourth.  Juan Uribe made a beautiful turn on an awkward (but quality) feed from Crede.

Eventually, Floyd stopped nibbling and took matters into his own hands.  He had all four pitches working after that second double play -- he froze Miguel Cabrera with an awesome inside corner curveball, then got Ordonez and Jacque Jones to swing through changeups.

Unfortunately, Jones would be the last batter Floyd retired on the day.  Edgar Renteria came up and dropped an opposite-field single between Nick Swisher and Jermaine Dye to end Floyd's no-hit bid at 7 1/3 innings.  It also ended his day, as he was at 107 pitches and about to face the Tigers lineup a fourth time through in a one-run game.

Scott Linebrink picked up where Floyd left off.  On his second pitch to Ivan Rodriguez, he snagged a chopper hit right back at him and started a 1-6-3 double play to keep Floyd's line intact.

After Floyd left, the question was whether he'd get the win for his efforts, as Orlando Cabrera's solo homer -- his first in a Sox uniform -- was the only support he'd received, and A.J. Pierzynski's double was the only other hit off Justin Verlander...

...until the eighth.  Once again Verlander saw his ERA take a hit after he left a ballgame, though he was to blame for most of it.  He walked Nick Swisher with one out, hit Orlando Cabrera in the head (he was OK) and gave up a hard line-drive single to Jim Thome to load the bases.

Verlander had Konerko down 0-2, but Konerko took a page from the Carlos Quentin playbook and let a fastball clip his jersey to drive in a run.  Jermaine Dye nearly popped into a double play, but Polanco didn't see Konerko far off first base when he caught it with his back to first, and threw it home instead.

The Sox took advantage of that second chance.  Pierzynski stroked a two-run single to right-center, Quentin hammered a single through the left hand side to make it 5-0, and after a walk to Crede, Uribe drove the final nail in the coffin with a two-run single through the right side.

Record: 6-4 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 11: Tigers 5, White Sox 2

If tonight's game was any indication, Nick Swisher better not miss any serious time.

Swisher sat out his first game as a member of the White Sox to rest a sore hip flexor, and the rest of the Sox offense sat too -- at least after Dontrelle Willis left.  The Detroit starter hyperextended his plant knee and didn't make it out of the first inning, but the Sox only managed single runs in the first and second innings before shutting down the rest of the night.

While I said this start was important for Jose Contreras, Mark Buehrle probably wouldn't have made much of a difference either.  Unbeknownst to him at the time, Contreras lost the game in the third inning.  Edgar Renteria doubled off the left center wall on a middle-in fastball from a three-quarter arm slot.  He advanced to third on Ivan Rodriguez's groundout to second, and scored when Brandon Inge inside-outed a middle-in fastball from the three-quarter slot.

Contreras should've gotten out of the inning when Placido Polanco chopped a 35-foot roller -- he just happened to put it in the right place to put runners on the corners.  He probably made a mistake walking Carlos Guillen on four pitches, and Magglio Ordonez made sure Contreras erred in judgment with a two-run single up the middle (on a drop-down fastball) to give the Tigers a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

He provided a scare when he walked Jacque Jones on four pitches to start the fourth, He pitched well enough afterward, giving up only one run over his last 3 2/3 innings, but Renteria grounded back to Contreras, who made a perfect throw to second to start a 1-6-3 double play.  He cruised the rest of the night, but the Sox couldn't muster a rally.

The Sox scored a run without a hit when Dontrelle Willis started his night by walking Carlos Quentin (hitting leadoff for the first time) and Orlando Cabrera to start the night.  Willis hyperextended his knee on his first pitch to Cabrera, and stayed in for only eight more pitches, including one wild one that allowed Quentin and Cabrera to advance a base.  Paul Konerko hit a sac fly to right to give the Sox an early 1-0 lead.

Brian Anderson received his first start and came through in the second, smacking a single through the box, advancing to third on Toby Hall's first hit of the season and coming around to score on Quentin's single through the left-hand side.

From that point on, the Sox resembled their 2007 selves.  Aquilino Lopez earned the win with four innings of one-run baseball as the first man out fo the pen.  Jason Grilli, who allowed three runs on three pitches in his first appearance against the Sox, threw three shutout innings.

In fact, the only fight the Sox showed ended up directed at the umpire.  With one out in the fifth, Grilli hit Carlos Quentin and Orlando Cabrera to put two on and one out.  With a 3-2 count, Grilli threw a curveball to Jim Thome that appeared to be quite low, but home plate umpire James Hoye rung him up.  The Gentleman Masher, perhaps irked by a low and outside fastball called for the first strike, was ejected after not-so-gentlemanly conduct.  Paul Konerko tried to revive the Sox with a walk, but Jermaine Dye grounded hard into a fielder's choice.

The Sox went 12 up, 12 down the rest of the way.  Dye did single in the eighth, but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double with two outs for reasons I don't understand.

Other notes:

• The Sox utilized their oddest lineup of the year to date: Quentin, Cabrera, Thome, Konerko, Dye, Crede, Anderson, Uribe, Hall.
• Boone Logan gave up his first run of the year in an unlucky fashion.  He started the eighth by allowing a weak single to Carlos Guillen that got past a sliding Orlando Cabrera in the hole (a play that Juan Uribe might make).  He left and Octavio Dotel entered.  Guillen stole second off Dotel and Hall, advanced to third on a grounder to Cabrera, and scored on a nice single by Miguel Cabrera.
• Orlando Cabrera, however, showcased his range to his left by diving on a grounder up the middle and flipping it to Juan Uribe to start a terrific 6-4-3 double play in the first inning.
  

Record: 5-4 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 9: Twins 12, White Sox 5

The Twins may have a new look, but this performance was straight out of the Piranha error -- at least with regards to balls in play.  They didn't do anything spectacular on the mound or basepaths, and they committed two errors, but it seemed that every time they made contact off John Danks, it managed to find a hole.

The only problem was that Danks added to the misery with poor control, and thus he found himself hitting the showers after 2 1/3 innings.

His day started ominously when he walked a guy he couldn't afford to walk, Carlos Gomez, leading off the game.  He ended up picking off Gomez, but Brendan Harris then chopped one over the first base bag and that set the tone for the rest of the evening.

Danks gave up two in the first, but seemed to settle down with a 1-2-3 inning in the second, but he'd only record one more out -- a bases loaded strikeout of Delmon Young.  Around that: four singles and a walk, one to Craig Monroe that ended his night.

Nick Masset came in and immediately poured gasoline on the fire -- his first pitch was stroked into right by Mike Lamb, and all of the inherited runners came around to score.

A walk also spelled the end of the Sox's night in the top of the sixth inning -- after the Sox climbed back to 7-3 with three solo homers by Nick Swisher, Paul Konerko and Joe Crede, Masset had two outs with runners on the corners and Young at the plate.  He got ahead in the count 0-2, but Young won the battle by drawing his first walk of the season.  Jason Kubel followed with a grand slam, and that was the ballgame.

More notes:

• Along with his solo shot, Swisher made a beautiful sliding catch on the warning track to end the second inning.
• Brian Anderson (1-for-2 with a double) got his first hit of the season, and Alexei Ramirez saw his first action in four games (0-for-2, another shattered bat).
• After the game was well in hand, Pierzynski broke up a potential double play with a huge takeout slide, barreling into Brendan Harris and forcing an errant throw.
• Crede made a nice play behind third base in the ninth inning, sliding to one knee, popping up and making a perfect throw.
  

Record: 5-3 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 7: White Sox 7, Twins 4

JOOOOOOOOOOE!  CREDE!

We know the drill by now. Two outs, tie game, one of baseball's toughest righties on the mound in the seventh inning, and Joe Crede takes him deep.  Making matters more exciting, the bases happened to be loaded, so Crede happened to pick a great time for the first grand slam of the year.

Jim Thome started the seventh by drawing a walk from Matt Guerrier.  Paul Konerko shot a single to right-center to get Thome to third, and in came the tough Pat Neshek.

Jermaine Dye then followed up with a terrific at-bat off Neshek -- he fell behind 0-2, then fouled a couple pitches off before throwing his bat at a low, outside slider and shooting it back through the box to tie the game at 3.

After an A.J. Pierzynski strikeout, Carlos Quentin lined a single to Delmon Young.  Jeff Cox held Konerko at third, as he would've been a dead duck at home.  You can call it either station-to-station baseball or building the drama, because Crede ripped an inside fastball just inside the left field foul pole for his fifth career slam.

Scott Linebrink was touched up for his first run thanks to an unwise walk of leadoff man Denard Span in the eighth inning, but Bobby Jenks worked his calmest ninth in quite some time.  He allowed a one-out single to Matt Tolbert, but erased him with a double play from Carlos Gomez.

The bullpen work preserved a win for Javier Vazquez, who worked a little too hard at the beginning of a game before picking it up later this time around.  His struggles were due to his inability to retire the leadoff man, as the Twins' first batter reach in each of the first three innings.  Vazquez kept the ball in the yard, but he was dinged up by singles and doubles, including Mike Lamb's one-out two-bagger that stretched Minnesota's lead to 3-1.

Once he hit the fifth, Javy put it into cruise control.  He retired the last 11 batters he faced and struck out eight on the day.

Up to hte seventh, the question was whether he'd receive enough run support to get the win.  Nick Blackburn spoiled a good scoring opportunity for the Sox early.  The Sox started with three straight hits off Blackburn, but with runners on first and second and no outs after a Thome RBI single, Blackburn struck out Konerko and Dye before getting Pierzynski grounded to short.

Record: 5-2 | Box score | Play-by-play

Week in a Box: March 31 - April 6

After nearly a year off, this feature returns.  Hopefully you'll add your own highs and lows, and feel free to disagree with my selections, because I can be persuaded.

Player of the Week:  A.J. Pierzynski.  You know things are going well for A.J. when he's intentionally walked twice in the same game, and once with a seven-run lead and two outs.  He also provided the winning runs in the opener against Detroit with a three-run homer, and was one of the few to show up against Fausto Carmona.

Player of the Weak:  Juan Uribe.  He struck out in his first three at-bats of the year and went 1-for-7 with runners on this week, although he hit a big solo shot against the Indians.  If he's having the worst week at the plate of all the regulars (4-for-20), the lineup isn't in bad shape.

Pitcher of the Week:  John Danks.  Danks held the Indians to two hits -- one of which should have been caught by Jermaine Dye -- over 6 2/3 stellar innings to lead the Sox to their first win of the year, sparing a bullpen that was worked hard over the first two games.

Pitcher of the Weak:  Jose Contreras.  This had Mark Buehrle's name all over it until he rebounded with seven strong against Detroit Sunday night.  Now it goes to The Count, and his dropping down 89.3 percent of the time.

Fireman of the Week:  Scott Linebrink.  Others can make a good case for this one, like Bobby Jenks (three saves) and Boone Logan (excellent situational relief work), but Linebrink handled the eighth inning with ease not once, not twice, but thrice.  Three innings, one hit, no walks, three strikeouts -- just like Kenny Williams drew it up.

Gas Can of the Week:  Octavio Dotel.  Dotel spoiled a comeback effort from the Sox offense by giving up a three-run double to Casey Blake in the opener.  He did gain his revenge, at least.

Super Sub of the Week:  Carlos Quentin.  After Alexei Ramirez's early struggles, Ozzie gave Quentin a shot, and Quentin has given the Sox a shot in the arm with seven RBI in four games, plus a couple homers he missed by a matter of feet.  He delivered twice with the bases loaded against Detroit Sunday, and then there was his throw.

Super Scrub of the Week:  Toby Hall.  He looked overmatched at the plate in his one appearance, and scouts say he's the easiest catcher to run on.

Gold Glove:  Nick Swisher.  This had Carlos Quentin's name all over it until he dropped an easy fly ball against Detroit Sunday, which is something that can't be done when Mike MacDougal's on the mound. He made a couple nice catches against Detroit and one against Cleveland, and his steady play in center might keep Jerry Owens out of the starting lineup.  He was charged with an error, but he didn't deserve it.  Who did?

Hands of Stone: Jermaine Dye.  Dye missed a couple catches a better right fielder likely would have made, and had the penchant for running into his center fielder; the second incident resulted in an error charged to Swisher.  He did make a nice sliding grab to close out the opener against Detroit, and started an excellent relay to nail Ramon Santiago at third to keep an inning from getting out of hand.

April 6: White Sox 13, Tigers 2

This time, Mark Buehrle got to watch the other team's pitching unravel.

Coming off his shortest start ever, Buehrle pitched seven strong innings and lowered his ERA on the season to 8.31.  More importantly, he pitched like a No. 1 starter, going toe to toe with Justin Verlander under bad defense and bad luck undermined the Detroit ace.

With a 3-1 lead in the fifth, the Sox pulled away with the most underwhelming of starts.  Paul Konerko grounded to third, but Carlos Guillen didn't stride into the throw at first and dropped the ball.

Jermaine "Doubles" Dye lived up to his name, and an intentional walk to A.J. Pierzynski loaded the bases.  Carlos Quentin flashed his incredible HBP skills, and drew first blood by drawing a fastball to his side.  Joe Crede followed with an RBI infield single to short, with Quentin sliding in before Edgar Renteria's attempt to force him at second.  Four of the Sox's five baserunners at this point reached without getting the ball out of the infield.

Verlander got the second out of the inning by striking out Juan Uribe, but Nick Swisher -- who homered off Verlander to lead off the game -- looped a single to center.  Verlander departed, and Orlando Cabrera cleared the bases with a double to right-center to extend the Sox's lead to 9-1.

Buehrle didn't allow the Tigers to get back in the game.  The double play was his biggest friend all night, as the Tigers grounded into them four times.  Tigers cracked him for their only earned run in the seventh, when A.J. Pierzynski didn't catch a high fastball and it hit home plate umpire Jeff Kellogg on the side of the mask, bringing in the run from third with two outs.

The Tigers' best chance to rock Buehrle was in the third, when Joe Crede threw wide to first on a Brandon Inge, resulting in a three-base error, the first of two Crede errors on the night. Inge scored on Ramon Santiago's double, but Santiago got greedy and tried turning it into a triple.  A perfect relay from Dye to Uribe beat Santiago to third by plenty, and he didn't reach the bag on his slide.

Other notes:

• Both times Pierzynski was intentionally walked, Quentin made them pay.  The first IBB was understandable, but Leyland called for the free pass to load the bases with two outs, and the Tigers down 7.  Quentin launched one over the head of center fielder Clete Thomas for a bases-clearing triple.
• Crede had three RBI singles, and Pablo Ozuna could probably make fun of him for how soft they were.  The infield single drove in one, a single that somehow got past Carlos Guillen to the right side, and he blooped one over the head of the second baseman the third time around.
• The day after making the greatest throw in recent White Sox history, Quentin dropped an easy fly to extend Mike MacDougal's night.  MacDougal walked Inge to load the bases, but induced a fifth double play to end the game.
• Uribe had a nice game defensively.  Along with the relay throw, he also made a diving snare of a liner to his left, and had a perfect night on the pivot.

Record: 4-2 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 5: White Sox 5, Tigers 3

The great thing about today's game is that it makes it harder and harder to find room for Jerry Owens.  If Nick Swisher can routinely play center nearly as well as he did today and Carlos Quentin keeps hitting -- and throwing -- Ozzie Guillen will have his easiest job setting the outfield since Scott Podsednik hurt himself in August 2005.

Not only did Swisher set the tone at the top of the lineup, drawing three walks on 20 pitches off a wild Dontrelle Willis, but he made two of a bevy of great plays by Sox outfielders.

Swisher made a beautiful running catch on a ball hit directly over his head by Carlos Guillen in the fifth, then kept Ivan Rodriguez from collecting his 2,500th hit with a two-handed sliding grab in the ninth.  To Swisher's left, Jermaine Dye kept Edgar Renteria at first by reading a carom off the sidewall correctly, which set up the play of the day:  Carlos Quentin's throw.

With no outs, Rodriguez followed Renteria by hitting a solid liner to left, but one hit directly at Quentin.  The catch was routine, but the same can't be said about the throw.  With Renteria holding up near the second base bag before retreating, Quentin launched a rocket from left field that may have surprised not just Renteria, but his teammates.  It flew about 250 feet, right into Paul Konerko's mitt a split second before Renteria arrived for a 7-3 double play.

That play turned out to be huge, because Floyd walked Jacque Jones (after getting ahead 0-2) and Brandon Inge homered to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead.  Had Quentin merely flipped it back to the infield, the Tigers could've built an even bigger lead.

The Tigers needed that run, because Willis couldn't find the plate.  He didn't allow a hit until the sixth inning, but it was only a matter of time until the Sox figured him out.  Quentin nearly missed a three-run homer off Willis in the top of the fourth before grounding into a double play, the second time he's seen the same series of events happen to him.

In the sixth, the Sox offense finally clicked.  Swisher drew a seven-pitch walk, Orlando Cabrera walked on four pitches and Jim Thome doubled to left to score Swisher.  Jim Leyland had seen enough of Willis, who walked seven on the day.

Zach Miner couldn't strand the runners.  He got Konerko to chop out, driving in one run, but after a walk to Dye, Quentin delivered with a single back through the box to tie the game.

Another small play by Dye that led to big results -- on Quentin's single, he ran hard into second, which allowed him to get to third when Clete Thomas couldn't field the ball cleanly.  He scored the Sox's go-ahead run on Joe Crede's sacrifice fly.

Then he dropped the small stuff and gave the Sox a 5-3 lead with his second homer of the year off Francis Beltran.

Gavin Floyd continued his string of success against Detroit with six strong innings, with really only Jones and Inge hurting him.  Along with the homer, Inge had an RBI double to drive in Jones.

Jones and Inge made a ballgame of it in the ninth inning with two outs.  Jones singled and Inge walked to put the tying runs on the bases, but Joe Crede flopped on Thomas' hard grounder to the left side and forced Inge at second for Bobby Jenks' third save in as many days.

Record: 3-2 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 4: White Sox 8, Tigers 5

For the third time in four games, the Sox received a less-than-optimal outing from a starter.  For the first time, the Sox offense managed to overcome it.

And it was cold!  You could see their breath and everything!

The difference right now is the hot hitting of A.J. Pierzynski, who provided the winning margin with a three-run homer off Jason Grilli in the seventh inning.   The Sox treated Grilli like a batting practice pitcher -- Paul Konerko doubled to left on the first pitch, Jermaine Dye got some work in on his inside-out swing, looping one to right on the first pitch he saw.

Pierzynski followed up by launching the first pitch he saw deep into the right field seats for his second homer of the season.  It had to feel especially sweet since Pierzynski didn't come through with two on and one out in his previous at-bat, as he broke his bat and flared out to Edgar Renteria.

The Sox failed to add more in the seventh -- Carlos Quentin and Joe Crede followed with singles and each advanced a base on a wild pitch, but bad baserunning cut the inning short.  Juan Uribe grounded to Brandon Inge, and for some reason, Crede was off on contact.  He ran past Inge, who gave Crede a funny look after looking Quentin back to third, and fired to first for one out.

Crede then started back to second, but Quentin freaked out and ran home, where he was eventually caught in a rundown.  But Crede ended up on second, so not only did they run into a double play, but they lost a base as well.

It felt like that would come back to haunt them, because Sox pitching -- OK, Jose Contreras -- failed to hold the two leads given to him.  Battling poor control and dropping down way too much, Contreras allowed 14 baserunners and threw two wild pitches in five innings.

Yet he kept the Sox in it, thanks to the Tigers' own bad decision on the basepaths.  With runners on second and third and one out in the fifth, Jacque Jones hit a grounder to second that a drawn-in Uribe snagged, and he threw to first for one out.  Konerko alertly saw the runner on second, Ivan Rodriguez, strayed way too far off the bag and made a perfect throw to Orlando Cabrera, who slapped the tag down for the 4-3-6 double play.

That would be it for Contreras, and fortunately for the offense, the bullpen was able to hold a lead.  Boone Logan came in with a runner on in the sixth and threw a scoreless inning, Octavio Dotel only gave up an inside-out single to Magglio Ordonez, Scott Linebrink dominated for a 1-2-3 inning and Bobby Jenks got the ball.

Big Bobby didn't look nearly as sharp, needing 25 pitches to close out the game.  He walked two batters, inc