2008 State of the Sox

May 31: Rays 2, White Sox 0

This is a shutout that's hard to get upset about.  Scott Kazmir is a very good pitcher, and the Sox hit a lot of balls hard.  Unfortunately, few of them found the turf, and the Rays did just enough against Javier Vazquez to take a second straight pitchers' duel.

The hard thing is when you're getting held in check by the Andy Sonnastines and Jered Weavers of the world, it makes the legitimate tough games harder to defend.

The Sox did hit a lot of balls hard.  Jermaine Dye smoked a liner to center with a runner on second in the first -- right at B.J. Upton in center.  Toby Hall, Brian Anderson and Nick Swisher had one of the harder-hit 1-2-3 innings that you'll see.

In the end, however, it's another loss with too little offense.  And Ozzie Guillen may have overmanaged in the late innings, when Jim Thome pinch hit for Alexei Ramirez and A.J. Pierzynski did the same for Hall.  Ramirez and Hall had two of the Sox's four hits, and both times, Joe Maddon had a lefty waiting in the pen.

Nothing worked, and Javier Vazquez got nothing to show for it aside from the first 10-strikeout game for any Sox pitcher this season.

Like Jose Contreras Friday night, Vazquez was good, especially after a shaky start.  He got into a two-on, one-out jam in the first when Orlando Cabrera dropped a pickoff throw at second.  Both runners advanced, but Vazquez struck out Carlos Pena with a changeup and Evan Longoria with a curve to end the threat.

The Rays scored the first run off him in the third thanks to some shaky defense by Carlos Quentin, who misread a liner and made an awkward dive when he apparently didn't need to.  Instead of a line drive out or a single, the ball got past him for a double, and put two runners in scoring position.  Another sensational diving play by Alexei Ramirez prevented two runs from scoring instead of one, but the Rays took a 1-0 lead.

That would be all they needed, but they added one more one inning later when Cliff Floyd homered for the second straight game on a hanging change.  Vazquez settled down after that, but it was all for naught.

Note: Nick Swisher made the second-best catch of the year, running deep into foul territory and making an over-the-shoulder catch on his knees after temporarily losing the ball in the ceiling.  It's safe to say Paul Konerko wouldn't have made that play.

Record: 30-25 | Box score | Play-by-play

May 30: Rays 2, White Sox 1

The Sox bullpens' no-unearned-run streak came to an end when Scott Linebrink gave up a game-ending homer to Cliff Floyd leading off the ninth.  Had the White Sox offense managed to convert a runner in scoring position, perhaps the team could've been able the first run scored against Sox relievers in 28 innings.  Alas.

Spoiling golden opportunities was the name of the game.  The Sox had the bases loaded with one out after Joe Crede singled with Jermaine Dye on second, but Nick Swisher grounded into a double play.

Alexei Ramirez and Orlando Cabrera singled to lead off the third, but A.J. Pierzynski struck out and Carlos Quentin grounded into a twin killing.

No double play ended the threat in the fourth after Dye hit a leadoff double.  Jim Thome struck out, and Paul Konerko and Crede grounded out.

Ramirez's solo homer was the only run the Sox could muster, and it was the brightest moment of a great night for the rookie.  Along with the two hits, he made a sensational diving play to his left (capped off with a throw from the seat of his pants), and another diving stab after ranging to his right.

The Sox could've used more of him -- especially Jose Contreras, who pitched a great game without a win to show for it once again.

Contreras wasn't as sharp as in previous outings, but he held the Rays to one run over seven innings, despite the constant threat of the stolen base.  The first inning set the tone, as he allowed a leadoff single to Akinori Iwamura and, after Iwamura stole second, walked Carl Crawford.

Contreras battled back, getting B.J. Upton to ground to short on a 3-2 pitch, and Cabrera started a 6-4-3 with a quick turn by Ramirez.  Upton would get Contreras back two innings later with an RBI single in a similar situation, and it was the only run Contreras allowed.

Record: 30-24 | Box score | Play-by-play

May 29: White Sox 5, Rays 1

Tonight showed that the Sox offense may not have to improve all that much with runners in scoring position -- as long as the pitchers step it up in the clutch like they did tonight.  If that's the case, a little bit of hitting goes a long way.

John Danks was in danger of squandering a 2-0 lead provided by a Carlos Quentin RBI single and a Jim Thome double when he started the bottom of the third allowing four of the first five batters he faced to reach.  Carl Crawford's single cut the lead in half, and Danks walked B.J. Upton to load the bases, it could have gotten scary in a hurry.

Danks manned up, striking out Carlos Pena and getting Evan Longoria to ground into a 5-4 fielder's choice, and his night was a little bit easier after that.

It might've been a walk in the park had he been able to hold runners -- or A.J. Pierzynski been able to throw them out.  Jason Bartlett stole second and third in the fifth inning, two of the Rays' four swipes on the night.  But Danks got two routine flyouts to center and a grounder to third to strand Bartlett at third, and ultimately shut down a very good offense by scattering six hits and a walk over six innings.  The eight strikeouts helped plenty.

It looked a little scary for the Sox offense early, when Jim Thome reached third with one out in the second inning and failed to score him.  Nick Swisher hit a shallow fly to left and Alexei Ramirez struck out to keep the game scoreless.

Paul Konerko extinguished another rally by grounding into a first-pitch 5-4-3 double play in the fifth, but Joe Crede started off the sixth with a blast to left field to stretch the lead, and the Sox gained their momentum back.  Swisher doubled off the left-field wall and scored on Orlando Cabrera's double -- although Cabrera eliminated the chance of Quentin coming to the plate by getting thrown out at third base yet again.

Konerko them picked himself up by crushing a first-pitch fastball into the catwalk for his first homer in 108 plate appearances, which was a career-long power drought.

The 5-1 lead made it unnecessary to use Octavio Dotel, in my mind.  Matt Thornton pitched a 1-2-3-4 (he should've been out after three, but Crede made an inexplicable throwing error again), and could've easily been used for two.  JHopefully it won't matter . It didn't tonight -- Dotel gave up a leadoff double to start the eighth but pitched around it, and Boone Logan closed it out for a much-needed win.

Record: 30-23 | Box score | Play-by-play

May 28: White Sox 6, Indians 5

Carlos Quentin came through with another big hit and the White Sox bullpen barely held onto a one-run deficit to give Gavin Floyd the win he should've received the last time around.

Down 5-2 after Floyd gave up his seventh homer of the season, the Sox defied expectations and retook the lead.  It started when Joe Crede reached on an Andy Marte error, and Alexei Ramirez lined a single to center.  Orlando Cabrera blew his second sacrifice bunt attempt of the day (and third in a row), but A.J. Pierzynski picked him up with a double to left field, on which Ramirez crossed the plate limping with a hamstring cramp.

Quentin then smashed a grounder between Marte and the third base line to give the Sox a 6-5 lead, which Octavio Dotel, Scott Linebrink and Bobby Jenks would keep intact despite some scares.

Dotel walked Grady Sizemore to lead off the seventh, and for some reason, Eric Wedge decided to sacrifice him over to second with Jamey Carroll instead of opting for the straight steal off A.J. Pierzynski.  Dotel was glad to take the out, and he struck out Ben Francisco and got Victor Martinez to strike out to end the inning.

Linebrink didn't have a runner reach scoring position, but the balls sounded scary off the bat -- first a warning-track shot by David Dellucci, then a crushed liner to third by Jhonny Peralta on which Crede made a Gold Glove-caliber play.

With Jenks on the mound, Crede's glove betrayed him in the ninth.  He booted a short hop on a Ryan Garko grounder, and a Jenks walk of Sizemore put the Tribe in business.  Another successful sac bunt by Carroll later, Cleveland had runners on second and third with one out.  But Francisco popped out to first on the first pitch and Martinez popped out to Cabrera to end the game.

Floyd improved to 5-3 despite allowing two big innings.  He could chalk up the first inning to bad luck -- a bunt, a seeing-eye single through the right side, a nubber off the end of the bat (followed by a Floyd error) and a cheap infield single by Martinez gave Cleveland a quick 2-0 lead with no outs.  But Floyd bore down, striking out Dellucci on an awesome 3-2 slider, getting Peralta to line out hard to Crede and striking out Aubrey to end the threat.

He started to miss spots in the sixth, and it was extra frustrating considering he started the inning getting ahead of Martinez 1-2.  On that count, Martinez called time as Floyd started his windup, similar to what Cabrera did to Paul Byrd in the opener Monday.  Like Byrd, Floyd unraveled.  He gave up three straight extra-base hits -- a double by Martinez, a double by Dellucci (misplayed by Jermaine Dye) and a homer by Peralta that gave the Indians the lead.

In between, however, Floyd looked great, retiring 15 of 17 batters at one stretch.  Most importantly, he pounded the strike zone.  He threw 76 of 107 pitches for strikes and didn't walk a batter while striking out seven.

Jermaine Dye hit his ninth homer in the fourth, and the Sox seized their first lead of the game an inning later.  The Sox loaded the bases after singles by Crede and Ramirez and a walk to Cabrera.  A.J. Pierzynski hit a chopper that could only be turned into a forceout at first to tie it, and Quentin put the Sox ahead with a sacrifice fly.  It wasn't hit deep, but Ramirez took off from third and managed to make it around Martinez with an acrobatic slide.

Record: 29-23 | Box score | Play-by-play

May 27: Indians 8, White Sox 2

The Sox were overdue for a piss-poor start.  Unfortunately, the guy who threw it was the guy who could least afford to, in terms of momentum and confidence.

Mark Buehrle gave up a grand slam to Franklin Gutierrez in the first inning, and that was just about the ballgame.  He had a chance to start over when Jamey Carroll scored on a sacrifice fly to empty the bases with two outs and the Indians only leading 1-0.  But two walks and a single later, Gutierrez came to the plate and emptied the bases himself. 

Buehrle made it through five, but he gave up a couple hard-hit doubles to begin the sixth, and that was his night.

Ehren Wassermann did a helluva job in relief.  He should've been credited with an inherited runner stranded, as he had Ryan Garko on third when he induced a grounder to second off the bat of Jamey Carroll.  But Paul Konerko inexplicably dropped Alexei Ramirez's throw to give the Tribe a fourth out, then gave them another when Wassermann fooled Carroll on a "fake to third, throw to first play." 

Wassermann threw to first, Konerko chased Carroll towards second but wasn't going to catch him.  He then wheeled around to throw home, but he short-hopped Toby Hall -- and also threw away from the third-base line -- allowing another run to come home.

Wassermann settled down, throwing three innings and allowing that one unearned run on Konerko's error.

The Sox offense wasn't going anywhere, though -- although once again, the bench wasn't to blame.

Toby Hall went 2-for-3, driving in the Sox's first run of the game with a double and scoring the second when Orlando Cabrera singled him home.  Pablo Ozuna reached scoring position with a double in the first, and his bunt single put a runner in scoring position with fewer than two outs once again.

But the rest of the lineup couldn't get much going -- especially Carlos Quentin, who had his roughest night in a Sox uniform.  He went 0-for-3, stranded five runners and, capping things off, managed to foul a ball off Little Carlos and his Quentins, somehow.  Dewayne Wise picked up his other at-bat.

Alexei Ramirez took over for Cabrera by making the requisite baserunning mistake.  After reaching with a fielder's choice and stealing second with one out, Brian Anderson hit a fly to left that Ben Francisco caught.  Francisco made it more difficult than he had to by starting back before coming in, but he didn't have to leave his feet.  Ramirez was running, though, and was a dead duck for the Sox's second double play of the night.

Record: 28-23 | Box score | Play-by-play

May 26: White Sox 6, Indians 3 (12 innings)

I don't know what got into the White Sox.

Locked in a 3-3 quagmire in the 12th inning, the Sox stopped hitting like the Sox, once again raising the question: Why don't they try doing that all the time?

What happened was a series of redemptions against Scott Elarton, a pitcher they don't hit all that well:

*Nick Swisher was in danger of going below the Mendoza Line after going hitless in his first four at-bats.  He started the night by singling back up the box.  Dewayne Wise replaced him as a pinch runner.

*Alexei Ramirez blew an attempted hit-and-run that hung Joe Crede out to dry in the ninth and then struck out, actually executed a tougher play.  He showed bunt, drew the infield in, pulled back and then took a half-swing past first baseman Victor Martinez to put runners on the corners.

*Orlando Cabrera, abysmal with a runner on third all season long, inside-outed a single over the head of Asdrubal Cabrera to drive in the go-ahead run.  Ramirez went to third, but Cabrera, for the second game in a row, made a stupid decision on the basepaths and was tagged out anticipating a missed cutoff man.

Elarton walked A.J. Pierzynski to bring up Carlos Quentin, who showed that even his nubbers are dreamy.  He could only get the end of the bat on it, but it spun off the foul line back into foul territory, and Martinez couldn't pick it cleanly.  Ramirez scored, and two batters later, Brian Anderson made Elarton pay for walking Jermaine Dye with a double over first base to give the Sox a three-run lead.

That's right -- four hits to center or the opposite field in one inning.  Crazy, huh?

Even more unbelievable was work by the bullpen, and most of the six relievers used worked their way out of high-pressure situations.

Octavio Dotel:  Worked a 1-2-3 inning thanks in part to a diving catch by Dye.  Found trouble in the eighth after he allowed a one-out single, then didn't notice the runner took off on a chopper back to the mound.  He threw to second, only to find that Franklin Gutierrez was easily safe.  Instead of two outs and one on, he had the opposite on his hands -- and he exacerbated the situation with a wild pitch to take away the double play.

He struck out Cabrera, and then entered...

Matt Thornton:  ...who struck out Grady Sizemore on four pitches.

Scott Linebrink:  Ha!  Everything's easy for him.

Nick Masset:  He fared OK considering the strike zone shrank dramatically when he took the mound.  He worked around a leadoff walk well enough after a sac bunt and a groundout to second, and in came...

Boone Logan:  ...who appeared to allow the game-winning single to Kelly Shoppach.  The problem for the Indians was that Shoppach hit it too hard, and it landed in the mitt of Dye.  Logan went 1-2-3 in the 11th and picked up his second win of the season.

Oddly enough, Bobby Jenks was the least-effective reliever.  He allowed the tying run to come to the plate in the 12th after back-to-back singles opened up the inning, but a 6-4-3 double play and a strikeout later, the Sox avoided what appeared to be a sure defeat.

Why did it look bad?  Because Javier Vazquez didn't look great, and the Sox offense looked worse.

The Sox had their chance against Paul Byrd in the first, when they greeted him with three consecutive singles to load the bases.  They only managed one out, as Dye struck out looking and Jim Thome grounded out to first to score the only run.

Vazquez failed to hit his spots all day long, and the Indians punished him with base hits of their own.  He gave up nine over six innings, and two left the yard.  It was the first time a Sox starter had allowed multiple home runs since Opening Day.

The Sox roughed up Byrd for 10 hits, but could only manage one run because they couldn't stay out of the double play.  They grounded into three against Byrd, including one started with a diving stab by Cabrera.  The Gentleman Masher hit his 10th homer (and fifth against the Indians) to finally break the rut and make it a 3-2 game.

They tied it up in the seventh, starting with a peculiar play involving Cabrera.  With two outs and two strikes, Paul Byrd chose a two-pump windup.  Distracted by the first pump, Cabrera called time -- and the umpire granted it to him.  Starting over, Byrd threw him a strike and Cabrera drilled a double to the left-center gap to chase Byrd out of the game.  It marked the second time an odd call by an umpire spelled the end for Byrd against the Sox.

Pierzynski tied it up with a soft single to center off Rafael Perez to make it a brand new ballgame.  His team would take advantage of it.

Record: 28-22 | Box score | Play-by-play

Week in a Box: May 19 - 25

Player of the Week:  Carlos Quentin.  As CQ goes, so go the White Sox.  He had consecutive 0-fers, and the Sox scored one run.  On the other hand, he provided all the offense in a win over the Angels and drove in the go-ahead run to finish the sweep of the Indians.  He also ran the bases extremely well.  (If you've lost count, he's been Player of the Week for five consecutive weeks).

Player of the Weak:  Nick Swisher.  He went 2-for-16 with no runs scored and one RBI, which should have been a double play if the Indians didn't have the infield in.

Pitcher of the Week:  Jose Contreras.  He beat C.C. Sabathia in U.S. Cellular Field for the first time in Captain Cheeseburger's career, and then struck out 10 Angels over eight innings.

Pitcher of the Weak:  John Danks.  He didn't pitch badly, but ineffiency limited him to only five innings and he ended up throwing the only non-quality start all week.

Fireman of the Week:  Scott Linebrink.  Picked up two wins with 1-2-3 innings, and struck out four over 2 2/3 perfect innings this week.

Gas Can of the Week:  Nobody.  The bullpen didn't allow one earned run all week.  Octavio Dotel did allow an inherited runner to score, but he also struck out the side in the same inning, so hey.

Super Sub of the Week:  Toby Hall.  They don't call him Three-Hit Toby for nothing, folks.  His third single against the Indians would come around to score, though pinch-running Brian Anderson would do the honors.

Super Scrub of the Week:  Nobody.  Brian Anderson is probably the closest, but along with scoring the go-ahead run, he hit the only extra-base knock off Jered Weaver.  Even Pablo Ozuna had two hits after Joe Crede was ejected.  The bench, weak as it may be, isn't the problem.

Gold Glove of the Week:  Alexei Ramirez.  He has looked like a natural at second, bailing out Joe Crede on bad throws and turning double plays with his strong arm.

Hands of Stone:  Carlos Quentin.  The cutoff man was Q-perman's Kryptonite.  He had two throws sail on him against the Angels for his third and fourth errors of the year.

May 25: White Sox 3, Angels 2

Sometimes Carlos Quentin is all the offense the Sox can muster.  But when Jose Contreras pitches as well as he did tonight, that might be all the offense the Sox needs.

Quentin ended the game with a walk-off homer -- the second on the evening for him -- and drove in all three of the Sox's runs and Jose Contreras struck out 10 over eight stellar innings to avoid the sweep.

John Lackey had his way with most of the Sox lineup all night.  In fact, he entered the ninth inning only having thrown 77 pitches.  But Quentin was the one hitter he'd yet to retire.  Lackey plunked Quentin in the first inning, allowed his 14th homer of the year in the third and an opposite-field single in the sixth.

So Q had to be feeling pretty good when he came up to the plate for a fourth time to lead off the ninth.  He was locked in on covering the outer half, swinging and missing on a fastball and holding up on one outside for a 1-1 count.  The next pitch, one tailed back toward the middle of the plate and Quentin deposited it into the left-field seats to end the game.

The only downside is that Contreras failed to get the win.  Scott Linebrink picked up his second win of the week with 1-2-3 ninth.

He deserved the W, because outside of a three-pitch stretch in the fourth, he was nearly untouchable.  Maicer Izturis ripped a single to right, and Gary Matthews Jr. hit a liner out of the yard two pitches later to tie the game at 2, a half-inning after the Sox grabbed the lead.

Before and after, Contreras shut them down.  The only other hit he allowed was a Garret Anderson double that hit off Quentin's mitt on a diving attempt.  But he rallied back, jamming Torii Hunter for a weak pop-out to second, getting Casey Kotchman to pop straight up and ending it by fanning Mike Napoli.

The Sox couldn't give him much support, however.  They only had two runners reach scoring position -- one was Quentin in the first after the HBP, and the other was Orlando Cabrera.  Sadly, Cabrera didn't get to stick around to enjoy it.  He doubled over the head of Torii Hunter, and was about to stop at second when he saw Sean Rodriguez bobble the cutoff throw.  Cabrera pressed his luck and was out easily at third.

Record: 27-22 | Box score | Play-by-play

May 24: Angels 2, White Sox 0

For the second straight game, Orlando Cabrera led off the Sox's offense by reaching base.

For the second straight game, he was stranded in scoring position.

For the second straight game, the Angels only scored in one inning.

For the second straight game, it was all the scoring they needed.

Of course, there were some differences.

For the fourth straight time, Jered Weaver shut them down.  Brian Anderson's double down the line in the fifth inning was the only extra-base hit off him, and he probably could've gone the distance, even at 106 pitches.  Instead, Francisco Rodriguez closed it down.

John Danks threw a lot of pitches but held the Angels scoreless through five.  But Vladimir Guerrero led off the fifth with a big blast for a 1-0 lead, and after Torii Hunter doubled, Danks' day was done.  Octavio Dotel, though his inherited runners stranded streak ended at 12 when Casey Kotchman slapped a single through the left side, kept the game a 2-0 affair by striking out the side.  He stranded runners at second and third, after Carlos Quentin's second terrible throw of the day.

Though Danks brought the Sox rotation's streak of quality starts to an end, pitching wasn't the problem.  Nick Masset didn't dominate but pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings, picking off Gary Matthews Jr.  Boone Logan got a pop-up with a runner on third and fewer than two outs, and Ehren Wassermann came in with the bases loaded and Torii Hunter up, and actually got him out.

Nope, this one's on the offense.

Record: 26-22 | Box score | Play-by-play

May 23: Angels 3, White Sox 1

Gavin Floyd, as Steve Stone might say, had a most unusual start.  He had no-hit stuff, collapsed, and then picked himself up and had no-hit stuff again.

Carrying a no-hitter into the fifth inning and throwing all his pitches for strikes, Floyd started the frame by striking out Garret Anderson on an awesome sequence: change, curve, curve, curve.  But then he made the confusing choice of throwing Torii Hunter a very hittable fastball, and as Hunter has done throughout his career any a time, he swung and knocked it into the left field seats for the first run of the game.

Floyd appeared to rebound by getting Casey Kotchman to foul out -- with Nick Swisher reaching into the first row to make the catch -- but he walked Mike Napoli on four pitches. Robb Quinlan shot a single through the left side, and then Floyd lost the strike zone.  He walked lightweight Sean Rodriguez, hit Maicer Izturis on a 1-0 pitch to drive in a run, then hit Gary Matthews with his first pitch to drive home another.

Vladimir Guerrero, of all people, bailed him out by swinging at the first pitch out of the zone and grounding into a 5-4 fielder's choice.

Kotchman would be the only batter to reach off Floyd the rest of the game.  He walked in the sixth and singled in the ninth, as Floyd rebounded from his meltdown to go the distance.

It would be the Sox's third complete-game loss of the season.  The Sox couldn't figure out Joe Saunders -- they had three hits and grounded into two double plays.  Don't blame Orlando Cabrera, though.  The night after I knocked him, Cabrera managed to be at the center of all the Sox's threats.

He scored the only White Sox run in the ninth when he led off with a single, advanced to second on a groundout, stole third and came around to score on Jermaine Dye's long single, which came off Francisco Rodriguez and put the tying runs on base.  Jim Thome struck out, and after pinch-running Dewayne Wise stole second, Joe Crede did too to end the game.  Having ruined the shutout and made the game closer than it needed to be, Rodriguez celebrated wildly.

Cabrera would be stranded in scoring position two other times, though.  He led the game off with a walk and A.J. Pierzynski followed with a beautiful bunt that hit third base, but they wouldn't go anywhere (Carlos Quentin flyout, Dye strikeout, Thome groundout).  He also doubled with one out in the seventh, but wouldn't score after Pierzynski grounded out and Quentin hit a routine flyout to center.

Record: 26-21 | Box score | Play-by-play

May 22: White Sox 3, Indians 1

It was only a couple days ago where we talked about Carlos Quentin's hitting and baserunning.  Well, he's given us a reason to talk about it again. 

Quentin delivered the game-winning single in the bottom off the eighth, then scored an insurance run thanks to being aware on the basepaths.  As a result, the Sox have now won eight straight.

The Sox had a tough time against Aaron Laffey because Laffey is two things the Sox can't hit: 1) a lefty, and 2) a control pitcher.  They got one on the board in the first, and Laffey kept them quiet until Toby Hall knocked him out of the game with a single through the right side leading off the eighth.  The single was Hall's third of the game, and Brian Anderson came in to pinch-run.

In came Masa Kobayashi, and the Sox got their revenge against the Cleveland bullpen once again.  Not Orlando Cabrera, though.  He failed miserably trying to get him over -- two awful bunt attempts and a strikeout on a low and outside slider.  A.J. Pierzynski, pinch-hitting for Alexei Ramirez, flew out to the warning track in center, but Anderson tagged and got to second.

Up came the hero of the first two months, Quentin.  He grounded a single through the left side, and then advanced to second on David Dellucci's throw home, which wasn't close to getting Anderson.  Jermaine Dye followed with a single that scored Quentin, and the Sox led 3-1.  Bobby Jenks retired the Indians 1-2-3 in the ninth, and that was the ballgame.

Scott Linebrink earned his first win in a White Sox uniform, and he deserved it as much as a guy pitching one inning in a pitchers' duel could.  He also breezed through a three-up, three-down inning in relief of Mark Buehrle, who lost the strike zone at times but compensated by limiting hits.

Buehrle, who entered the game allowing nearly 12 hits per nine innings, allowed only two through seven.  One of them was a Grady Sizemore double in the third inning that drove in the Tribe's only run.  Buehrle made the mistake of walking the Indians' eighth and ninth hitters, and Sizemore made him pay with a double off the wall in left.

The defense had his back, though.  With one out and runners on second and third, Cabrera gloved a rocket off the bat of Ben Francisco and Dye caught a Travis Hafner liner to keep the game tied at 1.

Buehrle walked two more -- leadoff walks, to boot -- but double plays erased them in the fifth and seventh inning.  The only error came on what should've been a strike-him-out-throw-him-out.  Buehrle struck out Hafner, and Hall's throw beat Francisco to second in plenty of time, but Cabrera failed to catch it and gave the Indians another life.  Buehrle pitched around it, though Kelly Shoppach provided a scare by flying out to the track in right-center.

Unfortunately, he didn't get the win because the Sox could only muster a run while he was in the game.  That came in the first, when Cabrera singled, moved to third on a Ramirez double and scored on a Quentin groundout.  Dye and Thome struck out to strand Ramirez at second.

The Sox would only have two other runners reach scoring position off Laffey.  Singles by Nick Swisher and Hall put runners on first and second with two outs in the fifth, but Cabrera grounded out to second.  One inning later, Quentin singled.  Dye struck out on an awful call -- he clearly checked up, but the ball got away and the ump ruled that he swung -- but on the play, Quentin advanced to second.  Shoppach's throw hit Quentin, and he moved into third.  He was stranded there when Thome struck out for the third time.

Record: 26-20 | Box score | Play-by-play

May 21: White Sox 7, Indians 2

One call went the White Sox's way, and they took care of the rest.

Paul Byrd had kept the Sox hitless through the first 4 2/3 innings, and it took until the fifth for the Sox to form their first threat when Orlando Cabrera led off with an opposite-field single and A.J. Pierzynski walked.

Carlos Quentin hit a bouncer to the left side for an apparent 5-4-3 double play, but first base umpire Paul Schrieber called Quentin safe -- replay showed the ball entered Michael Aubrey's glove just before Quentin's foot landed.  There were runners on the corners with one out instead of a runner on third and two outs, and Jermaine Dye turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead four pitches later.

Dye's blast marked the first of five batters to reach base.  Jim Thome and Paul Konerko singled, Joe Crede doubled over David Dellucci's head in left, and Nick Swisher was walked intentionally.  Alexei Ramirez nearly blew the game open for good, but Ben Francisco made a great diving catch to hold him to a sac fly and a 5-2 lead.

Dye and Thome would go back-to-back the following inning.  Dye was perfect on the day, with two homers, a plunking and two walks. 

Javier Vazquez deserved the support from his offense after his defense let him down in the top of the sixth -- Swisher in particular.  Francisco hit a hard liner to center, and Swisher broke in instead of back.  The ball went over his head for a double, and after a Travis Hafner double down the line, the Indians had a 2-0 lead.

Otherwise, outside of an Aubrey solo homer, Vazquez was just about perfect.   His only walk came in the first inning, and sixth inning aside, didn't find himself in any other trouble.  He retired 12 hitters in a row at one point.

Boone Logan made it a little more interesting than it had to be in the eighth when he gave up a leadoff single and walked Asdrubal on five pitches (one pity strike) with a five-run lead.  Ozzie Guillen came out to the mound, had some stern words, and Logan got Grady Sizemore on a check swing fielder's choice.  On the play, Crede once again pulled Ramirez off the bag, but this time the ump rewarded him for a tag out.

Scott Linebrink kept the runners on the corners, getting Francisco to pop out to shallow left and striking out Hafner.

Record: 25-20 | Box score | Play-by-play

May 20: White Sox 4, Indians 1

It took more than 2 1/2 seasons, but the Sox finally handed C.C. Sabathia a loss.

6-0 in his last 10 starts against the White Sox and 7-0 lifetime in U.S. Cellular Field, Sabathia found himself in uncharted territory thanks to a couple of solo homers and tough, tough pitching by Jose Contreras.

After falling into a 2-0 hole after home runs by Carlos Quentin and Jim Thome in the first two innings, the Indians had to resort to physical damage to get their only run across.  Casey Blake beat out a grounder in the hole, and then Jamey Carroll shot a potential double play ball off Contreras' achilles for another hit.  Contreras walked around gingerly, but ultimately wouldn't require much medical attention.

Asdrubal Cabrera tried testing Contreras' wheel, but his bunt went too far to the third base side and Joe Crede threw him out.  Two weak grounders later, Contreras was out of the inning, limiting the damage to one run.

Contreras did more than pitch with a bruise.  He worked around a leadoff double by snagging a one-hopper through the box and throwing behind David Dellucci to remove the runner from scoring position.  A couple of grounders should have ended the inning, but Alexei Ramirez committed his first error and brought Sox-killing Grady Sizemore to the plate.

Contreras struck him out with a nasty forkball to end the inning.

He lasted six innings, and was removed after a leadoff single put the tying run on first.  Matt Thornton picked him up with a 1-2-3 double play, and Octavio Dotel finished it off with a strikeout.  Scott Linebrink and Bobby Jenks went a quick six up, six down for the save.

Quentin provided some insurance off Jensen Lewis in the ninth.  He started with a leadoff walk, then caught Sizemore snoozing and went from first to third on a lined single to center by Jermaine Dye.  Quentin's aggressiveness not only got him to third, but Dye to second as well, forcing a Jim Thome intentional walk.

Paul Konerko had his worst at-bat of the season -- chopper foul, swing at a ball way out of the zone and frozen on a grooved fastball -- but Pablo Ozuna, who entered the game for the ejected Joe Crede, delivered with a doink single to right.  Nick Swisher should've taken a pitch in the shoulder for another run, but settled for an RBI groundout to give Jenks the biggest save cushion possible.

Crede was ejected in the fourth inning after his second strikeout --  the first on a fastball six inches off the inside corner, and the second on a changeup a couple inches off the outside corner.  He was right to complain.

Record: 24-20 | Box score | Play-by-play

Week in a Box: May 12-18

Player of the Week: Carlos Quentin.  This is the fourth consecutive week he's taken this award, and once again, it's well deserved for the game-breaking grand slam against the Angels and a big two-run shot against the Giants.  He's the only consistent threat in the lineup.

Player of the Weak:  Nobody.  If you want to give it to Jim Thome, go ahead.  But it's hard to justify it when he not only drove in a game-winning run, but picked up a teammate in the process.

Pitcher of the Week:  Jose Contreras.  Dazzled the Angels with his forkball for seven innings in a heated pitchers' duel.

Pitcher of the Weak: Mark Buehrle.  The defense betrayed him during his start against the Angels, though he rebounded to defeat Barry Zito in a must-win start.

Fireman of the Week:  Bobby Jenks.  Four outings, four innings, no runs, no threats.  He hasn't walked a batter in eight appearances.

Gas Can of the Week:  Ehren Wassermann.  Two of his three outings were failures, and he retired a single batter in the successful one.

Super Sub of the Week: Alexei Ramirez.  He drove in the only two runs against the Giants with his first career home run, and filled in well in place of a hurting Juan Uribe.

Super Scrub of the Week:  Brian Anderson.  Everybody on the bench contributed, but Anderson frustrated me with his bases-loaded strikeout after he was ahead in the count 2-0.

Gold Glove: Gavin Floyd.  Hey, if he doesn't glove that smashed comebacker to start the 1-4-3 double play, his start could've gone in a whole different direction with the crap he was throwing.

Hands of Stone: Joe Crede.  Botched a chopper that allowed the Angels to score the tying run, then threw wide to Ramirez at second in a bases-loaded situation.  While Ramirez did get back to the bag and the ump blew the call, Crede could've made a much better throw.  He was also part of the dismal group effort behind Buehrle.

May 18: White Sox 13, Giants 8

When Nick Magic is the only reliever of seven used by both teams who actually brought his stuff to the mound, you know it was a weird game.

With the Sox clinging to a 9-6 lead, Masset entered the game in the eighth inning after Octavio Dotel walked the bases loaded, and threw his last nine pitches out of the zone, and proceeded to record four outs on five pitches.

The first one didn't count.  Masset got Jose Castillo to chop a ball to third, and Joe Crede's throw to second pulled Alexei Ramirez off the bag.  Ramirez did get his foot back on the bag in time.  He also tagged Randy Winn.  The umpire didn't see either, and it was 9-7 with still no outs.

Masset kept the soft grounders coming.  Ray Durham tapped one to short for a 6-4 fielder's choice, but beat out the double play to narrow the lead to 9-8.  One more chopper to Crede, and the inning was over.

The Sox would pile on four more runs in the ninth off Giants closer Brian Wilson, and Masset would retire the Giants 1-2-3 in the ninth for his first career save.

The final out seemed like it was recorded in an entirely different game, as John Danks and Matt Cain appeared to be locked in a pitcher's duel.  The only damage off them in the first half of the game came off solo homers -- Danks allowed one to Rich Aurelia, Cain to Crede.  Then the Giants grabbed a 2-1 lead when Ray Durham's grounder up the middle hit the bag and bounced 10 feet in the air, over Ramirez's head.

That hop transformed the game into a tennis match featuring good hitting and/or spectacularly awful bullpen work.

Point, White Sox: Cabrera, A.J. Pierzynski and Carlos Quentin go single-homer-single -- Cabrera's barely reaching the seats, Quentin's a mighty blow -- for a 4-2 lead.

Point, Giants:  Aaron Rowand doubled and scored on two productive outs, but Danks stopped it there to exit with a quality start.

Point, White Sox:  Cabrera hits his second homer just past the wall after pinch-hitting Jim Thome walks.

Point, Giants:  After striking out his second hitter of the season, Ehren Wassermann begins the unraveling, allowing a triple to Winn and a Castillo single.  The Giants then feasted on Matt Thornton's first pitches -- a single by Durham and a Bengie Molina double down the right-field line.  Thornton stopped the bleeding with the game tied.

Point, White Sox:  The Sox put together their ugliest three-run rally of the season.  Paul Konerko pushed a single through the left side, Crede hit a soft liner into center and Ramirez's broken bat flare dropped into left to load the bases.  After an awful at-bat by Andreson, Nick Swisher hit a check-swing bloop that dropped into left field.  Ortmeier did a faceplant on the bullpen mound, and Swisher ended up with a bases-clearing "double" and a 9-6 lead.

It's about time the White Sox offense picked up the pitching, even if they had to do it repeatedly.

Record: 23-20 | Box score | Play-by-play

May 17: White Sox 3, Giants 1

I'll say this about the Sox offense:  They may have scored fewer runs than they should've against Barry Zito, but they at least appeared to have a plan.

The struggling San Francisco $124 million man allowed 14 baserunners over five innings -- the same amount of runners the Sox stranded on the evening -- but waiting him out and using the opposite field paid dividends for the two quick runs they did score.

Orlando Cabrera and Pablo Ozuna started off with two singles, and Carlos Quentin drove home the first run with a sacrifice fly.  The following inning, Alexei Ramirez scored an infield single, and Toby Hall flipped one out to center.  After a perfect Mark Buehrle bunt, Cabrera scored Ramirez with a sac fly for a 2-0 lead.

Unfortunately, the Sox spoiled some golden opportunities:

First inning:  With Ozuna on second and one out, Jermaine Dye hit a grounder to short and Ozuna ran right into it.  No excuses there.

Second inning:  Zito walked Ozuna on four pitches and Carlos Quentin on five to load the bases with two outs, but Dye hit a lazy fly to right to strand three.

Third inning:  Hall's broken bat single put runners on the corners with two outs, but Buehrle popped out weakly to first.

Fourth inning:  A walk by Cabrera and a Quentin single put runners on first and second with no outs, but Dye flew out to center and Paul Konerko grounded a ball he shouldn't have pulled to short.

Fifth inning:  Zito walked Nick Swisher, but Alexei Ramirez chased a changeup.  Hall followed with his third single, but Buehrle struck out trying to bunt an 0-2 12-to-6 curve and Cabrera bounced out to short.

When you factor in that both pitchers were working with a small strike zone, Zito had no control of his fastball and he allowed the leadoff hitter to reach in four out of five innings, the Sox should've done far more damage.  Giants color guy Mike Krukow put it well -- without his fastball, it was like a race car driver trying to win the Indianapolis 500 with three tires.

Only when Zito came out of the game could the Sox score with two outs.  Jermaine Dye singled and advanced to second when Keichii Yabu threw away a pickoff throw.  Konerko took an outside-corner fastball and lined a single to right-center for a 3-1 lead.

Buehrle himself could've been sharper himself, but he finally received some help from his defense.  Ozuna, playing third for a sore Joe Crede, erased leadoff runner Randy Winn in the first by snaring a line drive and throwing to first in time to get Winn for a double play, the first of three twin killings on the night.

He ran into trouble in the seventh.  Aaron Rowand led off with a double that short-hopped the left-field wall.  Rich Aurilia grounded out hard to Ozuna, but Jose Castillo's soft grounder to third was enough for a hit.

Buehrle nearly pitched around it by striking out Dan Ortmeier with a high fastball, but a tough walk to Steve Holm loaded the bases and ended his night.

Octavio Dotel came to the rescue once again.  He left his 10th, 11th and 12th consecutive runners stranded by overpowering Winn with fastballs, the last one registering at 95 m.p.h.

Record: 22-20 | Box score | Play-by-play

May 16: White Sox 2, Giants 0

Gavin Floyd continues to be a beneficiary of extraordinary luck -- and now it's happening when he's not even on the field.

Alexei Ramirez's first career home run broke a scoreless tie and provided the only runs Floyd and the Sox would need, as Floyd pitched six scoreless innings ... somehow.

It wasn't easy.  Not only did he not record one single 1-2-3 inning, but he stranded a runner in scoring position in every frame.  He allowed the leadoff hitter to reach in three of them, and even when he recorded the first two outs, he still found a way to have to pitch from the stretch.

The game did get a little easier for Floyd as it went on.  He faced immediate pressure in the first when he walked Fred Lewis on five pitches.  Lewis stole second and advanced to third when A.J. Pierzynski's throw sailed on him.

Floyd got Break No. 1 five pitches later when Omar Vizquel hit a hot shot stopped by a flopping drawn-in Paul Konerko.  Lewis couldn't advance.  He also couldn't advance on Randy Winn's weak pop-out to short, and he'd stay there when Floyd froze Bengie Molina on a curve.

Break No. 2 came in inning No. 2.  He hit Aaron Rowand to start the inning (the first of two Rowand HBPs on the day), and he'd go from first to third on Ray Durham's single to put runners on the corners with one out.  Jose Castillo then smashed a grounder, but Floyd made a great play to glove it and a good throw to second to start a 1-4-3 double play.

Molina was the early favorite to win White Sox Player of the Game.  Floyd would strike him out again with a runner on second in the third, and got him to ground out to Crede with a runner on second in the fifth.

Fortunately, Ramirez would take the title away from him in the top of the seventh.

The Sox offense had scuffled up until that point.  They threatened to score the first run of the game the previous inning when Pierzynski hit a two-out triple and Carlos Quentin walked, but Jermaine Dye went down swinging on a low and inside slider to end the inning.  Pierzynski had been only the second Sox runner to reach scoring position.

The seventh inning didn't look like much, either.  Paul Konerko and Joe Crede struck out, and Swisher barely kept it alive with a broken-bat single.  Up came Ramirez, who had lined out against Jonathan Sanchez earlier in the game and appeared to be seeing him well.  He removed all doubt of that when he took a 1-1 fastball and sent it into the left-field seats for a 2-0 lead.

Great relief work made the lead stand.  Ehren Wassermann worked his first successful outing -- one batter, one out -- and Boone Logan took care of the other side of the plate for the seventh, and Scott Linebrink went 1-2-3 in the eighth.  Bobby Jenks did allow a Ray Durham double in the ninth, but he was stranded on third when Rich Aurilia grounded out to short to end the game.

Record: 21-20 | Box score | Play-by-play

May 15: White Sox 4, Angels 3

Jermaine Dye owes Jim Thome a steak dinner.  Joe Crede owes Javier Vazquez an apology. 

Thome, in the midst of an 0-for-16 slump, came through with a two-out RBI single off Francisco Rodriguez in the ninth inning that ended up providing the winning run.  The single was a surprise in and of itself, but it also came after Jermaine Dye nearly crushed his team's chances.

A.J. Pierzynski led off the inning with a hustle double to the right-center gap off the Angels' closer.  Carlos Quentin executed his version of a sacrifice bunt -- a fly to right center on which Reggie Willits made a leaping catch at the wall -- setting the table for Dye.

Dye got his pitch -- a 3-1 curveball, thigh high and over the middle of the plate.  Dye popped it straight up, and Casey Kotchman caught it in foul territory for out No. 2.  But lo and behold, Thome took a 1-0 fastball and lined it over the second baseman's head to score Pierzynski.

Bobby Jenks retired the top of the Angels' order 1-2-3 to end the game relatively peacefully.

Thome's heroics may not have been necessary had Joe Crede executed a player he makes 99 1/2 times out of 100.  With a 3-2 game, runners on second and third in the bottom of the seventh with two outs, Ozzie Guillen called for Matt Thornton to face Garret Anderson.

Thornton did his job.  Anderson hit a weak chopper to third -- and it clanked off Crede's mitt.  Tie ballgame, runners on the corners, and still two outs.

Crede would eventually get the job done two batters later, when he handled a routine Casey Kotchman for a 5-4 fielder's choice.  Octavio Dotel, though he walked Torii Hunter, stranded two more runners (making it nine in a row), and went 1-2-3 in the eighth inning.

Of course, the Sox should've had a bigger lead considering the amount of baserunners they had on Jon Garland. 

They did score three off Garland in the second thanks to a boatload of good luck.  They loaded the bases on a weak single, a walk and another weak single.  Juan Uribe might've thwarted the inning singlehandedly had he not ended up on the winning side of two close calls.

The first -- Uribe's shattered-bat grounder to short.  Erick Aybar flipped it to Maicer Izturis for the forceout at second, and Izturis made a great turn -- but Uribe was called safe at first, perhaps incorrectly.  He may also been incorrectly called safe at second one batter later.  Orlando Cabrera hit a deep enough fly to right.  Uribe went to advance on Vladimir Guerrero's throw, but it was cut off and redirected to second.  Uribe slid and was called safe, when he may not have been.  And if he were called out, the run wouldn't have counted.

Uribe came around to score on Pierzynski's double (he went 3-for-5), and the Sox gained a 3-2 lead.  They made Garland throw more than 40 pitches in the inning, but they couldn't score on him again.  They stranded two in the first and one apiece in the third, fourth and fifth.

Vazquez outpitched Garland handily after a first inning in which the Angels touched him up for three hits and two runs.  He ran into trouble in the third after hitting Casey Kotchman to put two on, but worked out of it with a grounder down the first base line to end the inning.  He then went on to retire 12 out of the next 13.

Record: 20-20 | Box score | Play-by-play

May 14: White Sox 6, Angels 1

Carlos Quentin batted in the third spot for the first time all year, and he seemed to respond well to it.  He put the Sox on the board with a single in the first, then broke the game open with a grand slam in the eighth.

And it was exactly what Jose Contreras deserved.

Locked in a 1-1 tie, Quentin came to the plate with the bases loaded and nobody out in the eighth inning.  Juan Uribe led off with a single ripped to left off Scot Shields, and after failing on two bunt attempts, Orlando Cabrera hit a grounder deep in the hole.  Erick Aybar made an ill-advised throw to first, and it sailed over Casey Kotchman and into the seats to put runners on second and third.

Shields walked A.J. Pierzynski intentionally, and Quentin was grateful for the opportunity.  After taking two pitches out of the strike zone, Quentin sat dead red on a fastball and blasted a line shot over the center field fence for a 5-1 lead.

The slam gave Contreras a win, and he deserved it after dazzling the Los Angeles Angels with an array of junky forkballs all night long.  Pitching more like a knuckleballer than a sinkerballer, the Count kept the bases clear for most of the evening after stranding runners on the corners in the first inning.

The Angels scored their only run in the fifth when Maicer Izturis walked and stole second.  He went to third on Robb Quinlan's single to right, and scored on Mike Napoli's sac fly to left.  Contreras froze Gary Matthews with a forkball, but then plunked Aybar with one to bring Vladimir Guerrero to the plate with two on and two out.

Contreras struck Vlad out on three pitches, and the rest of the night was drama-free from a pitching perspective.  Torii Hunter was the only Angel to reach after that point, and he was picked off -- perhaps on Cabrera's counsel.  He visited the mound, Contreras held the ball for a long time, and Hunter tried stealing off Contreras before he threw the pitch.

Nick Swisher added his fourth homer of the year, and Scott Linebrink and Bobby Jenks finished the game with no damage done.

Record: 19-20 | Box score | Play-by-play

May 13: Angels 2, White Sox 0

The last time the White Sox faced Jered Weaver, they managed four hits off him over six innings, and Jerry Owens had three of them.

So it makes perfect sense that sans Owens, the Sox would only manage one hit.  It's simple math.

Weaver dominated the Sox over seven innings, without a single runner advancing into scoring position.  I'm pretty much numb at this point, but I feel bad for John Danks, who outpitched Weaver in some respects and had nothing to show for it.

Danks actually had a worse line -- he allowed seven hits over 6 1/3 innings -- but he wasn't facing an opponent that played like it was opposite field out.  Erick Aybar's first-inning double was the only one that went for extra-bases, and after Casey Kotchman's second-inning single, the Angels didn't pull another ball for a hit.  The Angels doinked five more singles to right, and Danks was up to the challenge almost every time.

In the third, he had runners on first and second, one out, and Vladimir Guerrero at the plate.  He got Vlad to ground into a soft 6-4-3 double play.  He also stranded a runner on second in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings after two-out singles and easy stolen bases, the only thing somewhat discouraging about Danks' night.

He was pulled in the seventh when a pair of soft opposite-field singles put runners on the corners with one out, and he followed with a walk to Gary Matthews Jr., during which Matthews called time while Danks started his delivery. 

Octavio Dotel manned up.  He struck out both Aybar and Guerrero to keep it a scoreless game.

Unfortunately, Dotel would also turn out to be the victim, saddled with a loss after giving up an infield single and watching the Sox defense take the rug out from under him under Matt Thornton's watch.

Jermaine Dye was the first perpetrator -- Garret Anderson hit a not-hard liner to right, and jogged down the first-base line thinking he was out.  Dye got a slow read on it, and with his acceleration, had to make an awkward dive at it.  It was unsuccessful, and runners were on the corners with no outs when an average right fielder has a chance at a 9-3 double play.

Then Nick Swisher joined in the fun.  On Mike Napoli's fly to center, he overthrew the cutoff man and allowed Anderson to reach second.  Without the miss, Anderson doesn't score on Robb Quinlan's single to right two batters later.

So when it comes down to it, every White Sox pitcher did his job, and none of them were rewarded for it.  The Sox managed twice as many hits off relievers Scot Shields and Francisco Rodriguez by -- perish the thought -- taking it the other way.  Joe Crede slapped a bouncer down the first-base line in the eighth for a single, but was erased with a 5-4-3 double play.

In the ninth, Carlos Quentin hit a one-out double off the wall in right-center, just out of Torii Hunter's reach.  He'd be stranded there when Jim Thome flew out and Dye struck out on three pitches to end the game.

Record: 18-20 | Box score | Play-by-play

May 12: Angels 10, White Sox 7

Orlando Cabrera received his Gold Glove Award from Mike Scioscia -- and then carried it with him into the field.

I'm not speaking figuratively here -- I'm speaking literally.  Between Cabrera and the rest of the Sox infield, they played like they were wearing the heavy metallic glove replicas mounted on the steal and wood base.

The defense treated Mark Buehrle like the bastard stepchild of the rotation once again, yet thanks to scorers generous by Little League standards, only one error was charged.  The most egregious crimes were committed in the fifth:

1. A Sean Rodriguez one-hopper eats up Cabrera.
2. Gary Matthews Jr.  hits a hard grounder up the middle at Uribe, but he can't get it out of his glove and can't throw to first either.  It was the second double play Uribe failed to start.
   

Instead of two outs and nobody on, Buehrle had the inverse on his hands.  After Vladimir Guerrero did his thing, the Angels had a 5-4 lead.

Then Joe Crede joined the party.  After Buehrle struck out the first two batters in the sixth, Crede charged a Matthews grounder but threw wide.  Erick Aybar hit a double off the end of his bat just inside the left-field line, and that was the end of Buehrle's day.

Ehren Wassermann did his thing -- facing two hitters, retiring none of them, and Boone Logan gave up a pair of singles to make it a 10-4 game.

Relief work by Octavio Dotel and Matt Thornton gave the Sox a chance to get back in the game, and that they did.  It started with finally getting to Chris Bootcheck, who came in with horrible peripherals (3.00 WHIP in 7 2/3 innings, namely) and promptly struck out Cabrera with the bases loaded to end a threat in the sixth.

Jermaine Dye and A.J. Pierzynski started the rally with back-to-back doubles (and A.J. brought back memories of Geoff Blum with his stutter-foot slide into second, avoiding the swipe tag).  Two batters later, Alexei Ramirez hit an infield single up the middle to score Pierzynski, cutting the lead to 10-6, but Scot Shields replacing Bootcheck and induced a 5-4-3 double play off the bat of Uribe.

The Sox got to Shields in the ninth, though, starting with a Cabrera infield single.  He'd score after a wild pitch and a groundout by Pablo Ozuna, but Jim Thome restarted the rally with a walk off Shields.  Scioscia called for Frankie Rodriguez, who got Paul Konerko to ground out weakly to first.  Jermaine Dye kept the Sox in it with another infield single, and that brought Pierzynski to the plate.

Pierzynski had a fine day at the plate, but he was looking fastball in the at-bat.  He struck out looking, as Cabrera froze him three times on offspeed pitches.

As much of a victim as Buehrle was, he couldn't be completely absolved.  The Sox staked him to a 3-0 lead off Nick Adenhart when five straight batters reached.  Dye singled, Pierzynski walked on four pitches, Swisher hit a flare to left and Crede followed up with an infield single incorrectly scored, since Erick Aybar should've been able to get the ball out of his mitt for a fielder's choice.

Uribe hit a shallow fly to center, and it landed at the feet of a non-diving Torii Hunter.  Either Swisher got a great read or got extremely lucky, because he was running on it while Pierzynski held up, and ended up scoring two steps behind Pierzynski after A.J. saw the ball hit the ground.  Cabrera, of course, ended the inning with a double play.

But Buehrle got the Angels right back in it.  He walked Buehrle-killer Robb Quinlan leading off, and he went from first to third on Garrett Anderson's single to right.  Two batters later, Sean Rodriguez singled, and Matthews fit a soft liner between Crede and Cabrera to cut the lead to 3-2.

Record: 18-19 | Box score | Play-by-play

Week in a Box: May 5 - May 11

Player of the Week: Carlos Quentin.  I should want to send him a fan letter for a week in which he hit .400 and drove in seven, including a three-RBI game against the Mariners, but I shouldn't want to type the letter on a death certificate.  Honorable mention to Juan Uribe.

Player of the Weak:  Nick Swisher.  Not a Swishalicious week by any means -- four 0-fers in six games including three strikeouts against the Twins and five stranded against the Mariners.  He also committed his third error the year on a bobble in right, and missed a slightly difficult catch down the right-field line later in the game that would've made up for it.

Pitcher of the Week:  Jose Contreras.  He benefits from only pitching once, though he gave the Sox seven strong innings against the Mariners.  This was Gavin Floyd's award to lose after a near no-hitter against Minnesota, and that he did with a lousy start against Seattle.

Pitcher of the Weak:  Mark Buehrle.  He took out his frustrations on a portable heater after getting knocked out by the Twins in the sixth down 7-0.

Fireman of the Week:  Octavio Dotel.  Dotel struck out five over two innings in key middle-relief work against the Twins, and then worked an inning-plus of scoreless ball against Seattle, although he was bailed out by Uribe and Toby Hall.

Gas Can of the Week:  Ehren Wassermann.  Mike MacDougal could pop out of his chest cavity in any appearance now, and nobody would be surprised.  He was roughed up by the Twins for five runs over two-thirds of an inning, and was knocked around by Seattle as well.  His ERA?  23.62.

Super Sub of the Week:  Brian Anderson.  Hit a three-run homer against Seattle and showed superior range in center.

Super Scrub of the Week:  Pablo Ozuna.  He came to the plate with the bases loaded and one out in a one-run game against Toronto and promptly grounded into a 1-2-3 double play.

Gold Glove:  Brian Anderson.  He made the catch of the year in center and nearly pulled off a better one the following night.

Hands of Stone:  Nick Swisher.  I would've given this one to Quentin for dropping a flyball that blew a potential shutout for Floyd, but if he doesn't make the error, maybe Floyd loses the no-no bid the following inning.  So Swisher gets this for some awkward play in right.

May 11: Mariners 6, White Sox 3

Gavin Floyd, meet Recession to the Mean.  Recession, Gavin.

That's the jist of what went down today.  Floyd looked like the guy the Phillies were all too happy to deal.  He struggled to find the strike zone at times, but given the way he left almost every breaking ball up, walking people may have been the safer alternative.

Floyd just plain didn't have it today -- even though the baseball gods were unduly kind to him once again.  In the second, he faced a bases-loaded jam with zero outs.  Wladimir Balentien hit a hard comebacker, but Floyd gloved it and started a 1-2-3 double play.  Yuniesky Betancourt grounded out, and Floyd escaped the inning with a 2-1 lead.

Luck was on his side in the third.  After Ichiro Suzuki hit a wounded duck single that barely left the infield dirt and stole second, Floyd hit the .105-hitting Miguel Cairo in the shoulder with a 2-2 pitch.  But Floyd appeared to be bailed out by a bad call when first base umpire Scott Barry ruled Adrian Beltre was out at first for a 6-4-3 double play -- even though his foot hit the bag well before Paul Konerko received the throw.

Floyd didn't take advantage.  He grooved a 3-0 fastball to Raul Ibanez, who promptly belted it roughly a billion feet into the patio section of Safeco Field, and the baseball gods decided to call it a day.  Floyd was chased in the fourth after giving up two more runs.  He left two baserunners for Nick Masset, but Jose Lopez flew out deep to right to end the inning.

Sox hitters missed their share of opportunities, too.  They had runners on the corners after Orlando Cabrera's single (the first of four on the day) with one out and a chance to build on their 2-1 lead, both Quentin hit a chopper off the plate and didn't run.  Kenji Johjima tagged him out, then threw to second to get Cabrera.

That wasn't the first or the last time the Sox failed to score a runner on third.  After starting the game with three singles for the first run of the game, A.J. Pierzynski doubled to right to give the Sox a 2-0 lead and put runners on second and third.  Joe Crede popped out in foul territory for the second out (the first of three pop-outs on the day), and Nick Swisher struck out to end the inning.

The Sox had another chance in the sixth thanks to nice relief work by Nick Magic, who held the Mariners scoreless over 2 1/3 innings.  Juan Uribe, Cabrera and Quentin hit three straight singles with one out to narrow the deficit to 5-3.  Lefty Arthur Rhodes came in to face Jim Thome, and promptly threw a wild pitch to take away the double play.

No matter.  Rhodes disposed of Thome, walked Paul Konerko and got A.J. Pierzynski to ground out weakly for the third out.  Brendan Morrow and J.J. Putz shut the Sox down in the ninth inning, while Ehren Wassermann looked erratic once again and gave Seattle an insurance run it didn't need in the eighth.

Record: 18-18 | Box score | Play-by-play

May 10: White Sox 8, Mariners 4

This game felt like it should've been easier after a six-run outburst in the second inning.

For one, Javier Vazquez didn't make it out of the sixth inning after cruising through the first five and using only 60 pitches.  He ended up throwing 27 in the sixth alone, only able to retire the first two batters.  His night ended when he walked Jeff Clement to bring the tying run to the plate after he was staked to leads of 6-0 and 7-1.

Octavio Dotel bailed him out by getting Kenji Johjima to pop up, but he ran into trouble in the seventh.  With Ichiro Suzuki on third and two outs, Dotel inexplicably walked the .172-hitting Willie Bloomquist.  Adrian Beltre now represented the tying run at the plate, and Dotel worked into more trouble when he fell behind 3-0 to Adrian Beltre.

But after Beltre took strike one, it was Bloomquist's turn for inexplicable action.  He went on first move, which made it a great time for Dotel to do the "fake to third, throw to first" move.  He had Bloomquist picked off, but he bounced the throw to Juan Uribe, who couldn't apply the tag.  But Ichiro then took off, and Uribe fired a strike to Toby Hall, who applied the tag for the final out.

Still... the Sox won by four, with little drama in the eighth and nine innings   That's pretty good.

They did the bulk of the scoring off Jarrod Washburn in the second, which is totally weird because Washburn is a lefty.  Paul Konerko led off with a single to right, and Joe Crede ripped a double to third.  Brian Anderson then hit his fourth career homer at Safeco Field (the only stadium he's homered in besides The Cell) over the center field fence for a 3-0 lead.

The Sox weren't done.  Juan Uribe walked (the first of two on the night for him), and Orlando Cabrera hit a deep fly that should've been caught by Raul Ibanez.  It glanced off his glove, and Uribe scored.  Carlos Quentin then hit another homer to center, and the Sox had a 6-0 lead.

Ibanez gave the Sox another gift run in the fifth when Nick Swisher hit a liner down the left field line.  Ibanez played a carom that actually never happened, and the ball rolled into the corner.  Jermaine Dye, who walked, scored from first.

Toby Hall scored the other Sox run when he doubled, advanced to third on a Cabrera sac bunt, and scored on Quentin's single.  Quentin had three hits and three RBI on the day.

One day after his wallbanging catch, Anderson nearly made another amazing grab when Ichiro belted one to deep right center.  Anderson had been shaded toward left, but he hauled ass and nearly made up the ground.  He dove, but the ball glanced off the heel of his mitt.  Guess we can't expect a Web Gem every night.

Record: 18-17 | Box score | Play-by-play

May 9: White Sox 4, Mariners 2

When compared to the Mariners' offense, the White Sox's offense looked downright functional.

Sox hitters didn't do anything flashy, but they did take advantage of the one time they had runners in scoring position with fewer than two outs, and that was enough to win.

Juan Uribe led off the third with a single off Carlos Silva -- his 20th hit off the former Twin in 38 at-bats.  Carlos Quentin singled two batters later, and a Jim Thome walk loaded the bases.  Up came Paul Konerko, who stood 1-for-10 with a runner on third and fewer than two outs.

Konerko made that 2-for-11 with a double down the right field line to score two, and Jermaine Dye made it a 3-0 lead with a sacrifice fly to center.  Thome scored on a bad Ichiro throw, and that was the first White Sox sacrifice fly since April 23.

Instead, it was the Mariners who struggled with a runner on third.  In the second, Adrian Beltre stood on third with nobody out after he singled, stole second and advanced to third when A.J. Pierzynski airmailed the throw.  But Jose Contreras bore down, striking out Jose Vidro and getting Richie Sexson to ground out to the drawn-in Joe Crede.  Crede nearly couldn't handle it, but he picked up the ball after dropping it and threw home in time to get Beltre.  The Mariners wouldn't score.

They would have to wait until the bottom of the third to score their first run in 25 innings, and it came courtesy of Contreras and Pierzynski.  Ichiro singled, stole second and advanced to third on a grounder.  But with two outs, Contreras threw a pitch in the dirt that Pierzynski probably should've handled.  It got past him, and Ichiro came around to score to make it a 3-1 game.

After that, the game was pretty much well in hand.  Jose Contreras was well in control, allowing one runs over seven drama-free innings, and Jim Thome and Wladimir Balentien exchanged solo homers for the only other runs.

It wasn't Pierzynski's finest hour -- a pseudo-passed ball, a throwing error, and he was nailed by Wladimir Balentien at second after he roped one to the wall.

On the other hand, Brian Anderson had himself a day with the glove.  He was unsuccessful diving on a Jeff Clement single to right in the second inning, but he snared the ball on the hop.  If the ball got past him, a runner would've scored.  Instead, Contreras had two outs with runners on the corners, and he got out of the ininng unscathed.

He followed up by making the catch of the year two innings later.  After Jose Vidro led off with a single, Richie Sexson blasted the ball to center.  Anderson sprinted back and made a leaping catch, crashing into the wall a split second after the ball landed in his mitt.  Not only that, but he had the presence of mind to throw to first, and nearly doubled up Vidro back at first.

Record: 17-17 | Box score | Play-by-play

May 8: White Sox 6, Twins 2

Hats off to Octavio Dotel, who pitched the relief outing of the year and showed Sox fans what he's capable of doing.

With the Sox leading 3-2, Dotel entered the game in the sixth inning and elevated the heart rates of Sox fans when Michael Cuddyer fought off several pitches before leading off with a single -- then stole second.  So the tying run was in scoring positon with no outs.

But Cuddyer was the last good Twins hitter he faced -- and Dotel seemed to realize it.  He struck out Craig Monroe after another battle, then struck out Delmon Young on three pitches (curve, curve, fastball) and Brendan Harris on four (fastball, curve, fastball, fastball).

After the Sox botched yet another golden opportunity, Dotel didn't let up.  He blew through Adam Everett and Carlos Gomez before getting Matt Tolbert to pop out to Joe Crede and preserve the one-run lead through the middle innings.

The Sox finally provided insurance runs for the pitching staff when Alexei Ramirez started a two-out rally by smacking a hanging 0-2 slider through the hole on the left side.  He stole second, and Carlos Quentin singled him home with a grounder through the middle to stretch the lead to 4-2.  They stretched the lead in the eighth when Jermaine Dye singled and Joe Crede walked off Pat Neshek to put two on with one out.  Neshek left with an injury, and Brian Bass followed up by walking Juan Uribe on four pitches.

Uribe turned what looked to be a blown scoring chance into two runs when Toby Hall grounded to third for what seemed to be a tailor-made 5-4-3 double play.  But Brendan Harris was on the wrong side of second to make the turn, and Uribe took the Minnesota second baseman ¡profundo! with a tremendous takeout slide to allow a run to cross the plate.  Another run came in when Justin Morneau dropped Tolbert's low throw on a grounder by Alexei Ramirez, and the Sox cruised to another comfortable victory.

Uribe was the one who gave the Sox the lead in the first place, hitting the Sox's first non-solo homer in 11 dongs -- including one by Jermaine Dye three batters before.  After Dye's big blast to left cut the Twins' lead to 2-1, Uribe followed up a Joe Crede double by showing the homer hands, putting a 3-2 fastball over the Sox bullpen for a 3-2 lead.

Of course, it wouldn't be a White Sox game without an embarrassing failure with runners in scoring position.  They Sox had runners in scoring position after Carlos Quentin walked, Jim Thome singled, and both of them advanced a base on a bizarre play.

Paul Konerko checked his swing on a 3-1 pitch from Matt Guerrier.  Joe Mauer was slow to ask for an appeal, and Konerko began removing his shin guard.  Seeing that, Quentin and Thome began jogging to the base ahead -- and started sprinting after first base umpire Ted Barrett called it a strike.  Quentin and Thome both had uncontested stolen bases, a confused Guerrier wandered around the field tagging everything, and an embarrassed Ron Gardenhire got himself ejected.

The Sox then embarrassed themselves.  Konerko swung at ball four and chopped a ball to third for one out, Nick Swisher saw an outside-looking pitch called for a strike one and his at-bat was doomed after that, and Crede popped out to end the threat.

John Danks received the rare five-inning win, which was disappointing but better than his first effort against Minnesota.  His biggest mistake was walking Harris after getting ahead 0-2 in the fifth.  Everett singled, Tolbert singled and Mauer singled to give the Twins a 2-0 lead.

However, Danks earned points in his catcher's ledger by actually holding a fast runner on.  After Carlos Gomez reached with a one-out single in the third, Danks threw over to first a few times with various pickoff moves, nearly getting Gomez on the last one.  That effort, paired with a slide step, delayed Gomez's jump and allowed Hall to actually throw him out.

Record: 16-17 | Box score | Play-by-play

May 7: Twins 13, White Sox 1

After Nick Punto's bases-clearing double in the sixth inning, Mark Buehrle was steaming mad.  After returning to the dugout when Ozzie Guillen pulled him with two outs and the Sox down 7-0, Buehrle made the dugout feel his pain with Juan Uribe's bat.

A double to Punto is bad enough, considering Punto had previously bunted into a 2-5-4 double play when he bounced it off home plate and chose not to run.  But Buehrle's biggest mistake was a 1-2 grooved fastball to Carlos Gomez the inning before.  Gomez entered the game with three walks over 115 plate appearances, so Buehrle didn't have to throw him anything good.

But Buehrle did, and Gomez laced it to the track in left-center for a triple to give the Twins a 2-0 lead.  Along with the three-bagger, Gomez led the game off with a homer, doubled and reached third on a Nick Swisher error and singled off Ehren Wassermann's glove (on a play Wassermann should've made) for the cycle.

The Gomez single started off a horrible night for Wassermann (1/3 IP, 4 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 1 K), made worse by Nick Masset, who gave up a two-run double to Mike Redmond and a three-run triple to Punto.

At least with the cycle, the fans got to see something happen, because the White Sox offense sure didn't provide any excitement.  In a sentence, Livan Hernandez used a variety of mid-50s breaking balls and nearly threw his first shutout since 2004, until Jermaine Dye spoiled it with a solo homer.

I'd go into more details, but let's save all the anger for Buehrle.  Instead, here's how to sum up the Sox offense tonight without raising the blood pressure.



Wait for it...



...wait for it...







AWW!  LOOK AT THE PUPPIES!

Record: 15-17 | Box score | Play-by-play

May 6: White Sox 7, Twins 1

Gavin Floyd flirted with a no-hitter earlier this season when he started out with 6 1/3 hitless innings against the Tigers April 12.  This time, he could actually see the finish line, but a good hitter beat a good pitch.

With 25 outs under his belt, Joe Mauer took an inside-half fastball and drove it to the left-center gap.  Nick Swisher made a valiant effort with a dive but didn't have a chance.  The ball hit the ground, bounced to the fence, and Mauer had broken up Floyd's shot at history with a double.

Ozzie Guillen pulled Floyd to a standing ovation from the crowd at U.S. Cellular Field, perhaps because Floyd had no shot at a shutout.  Thank Carlos Quentin for that one.  With nobody out and Mauer on first in the fourth inning, Quentin dropped a fly after a sizable run toward the line.  It was definitely an error, and Quentin's second drop of the year.  A couple of flyballs later, Mauer crossed the plate, giving the Twins one run on no hits.

Quentin aside, the Sox played good defense all night long.  Minnesota speedster Carlos Gomez tested Orlando Cabrera twice -- one on a hard grounder that Cabrera had to hit the turf to snag, and another one on a chopper that Cabrera had to run and gun to first, getting Gomez by a full step.

Though the finish was disappointing, it was unthinkable considering the way Floyd started, walking two batters in the first inning and facing a strike zone that was tight for both teams all night long.

And fortunately, when Mauer broke up Floyd's no-hitter, at least he didn't stand on second representing the tying run.  That's right: A White Sox starter actually received run support.

The Sox jumped on Nick Blackburn early for two first inning runs, even though it featured the patented blown opportunity with a runner on third and less than two outs.  Paul Konerko's flyball to center was too short for Cabrera to test Gomez's arm.

But Jermaine Dye picked up Konerko with a single through the middle for the first run of the game, and Quentin made it 2-0 with some excellent hustle.  He went from first to third on the single, and Gomez's throw to third got away from Lamb.  He got up and ran home, and while Lamb's throw beat Quentin by plenty, it was too low for Mauer to get a clean handle of it.  He lost control of the ball as Quentin slid in safely for a 2-0 lead.

The lead was the Sox's first since the first inning of their last game against the Twins April 30, and they'd stretch it throughout the night.  Juan Uribe followed in Dye's footsteps with a two-out single in the fourth after Joe Crede couldn't score a runner from third to make it a three-run game.  Jermaine Dye led off with a solo homer in the sixth (ninth solo shot in a row), Quentin scored two with a single up the middle in the seventh, and Crede doubled home A.J. Pierzynski in the eighth.

Record: 15-16 | Box score | Play-by-play

May 5: Blue Jays 1, White Sox 0

Javier Vazquez allowed a solo homer to Matt Stairs leading off the seventh.  It wasn't even a bad pitch -- a curveball on the outer half of the plate that Stairs managed to golf just over the right-field wall.

That was all the Blue Jays needed to hand the White Sox their sixth straight loss.

Of course, the Sox did have a few quality opportunities.  They  had runners on second and third with nobody out in the third after an infield single by Juan Uribe and Toby Hall's double down the third-base line, which was his first extra-base hit of the year.

Orlando Cabrera chopped out weakly to short on the first pitch, and with David Eckstein playing deep, Uribe should have run.  He didn't.  Carlos Quentin came to the plate and worked a 2-0 count, then 3-1.  He failed, too, flying out to short right field, where Alexis Rios possesses an excellent arm.  That left Jim Thome to try to come up with a two-out hit.  He struck out on a slider in the dirt.  Inning over.

That paled in comparison to the ninth, when B.J. Ryan walked three batters to bring up Pablo Ozuna with the bases loaded and one out.  Ozuna grounded into a 1-2-3 double play to end the game.

The Sox even played quality defense for Vazquez this time, which Mark Buehrle and John Danks didn't receive in their starts.  Paul Konerko snagged a grounded near the bag and made a good throw to second where Cabrera applied a tag for a 3-6 double play.  Cabrera made a heads-up play, cutting off a throw destined to third on a Scott Rolen single and catching Rolen between first and second.  Konerko froze the runner at third, Shannon Stewart, and Vazquez tagged Rolen after a brief rundown.

Vazquez stranded Stewart at third, one of three times he stranded a runner there over the course of the evening.  He nearly became the third Sox pitcher to throw a complete-game loss, but Ozuna couldn't get the ball out of his mitt in time to get Stewart out on an infield single.  He night ended after walking Rolen with two outs in the eighth with his 121st pitch.  Matt Thornton struck out Stairs with a high slider.

Ozzie Guillen tried to shake things up by slotting Orlando Cabrera in the leadoff spot for the first time all year.  He grounded out to short on the first pitch, and that set the tone for the White Sox offense for the rest of the evening.

Record: 14-16 | Box score | Play-by-play