2008 State of the Sox

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