posted on Saturday, May 31, 2008 9:21 PM
by
Jim
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 |
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