2008 State of the Sox

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