2008 State of the Sox

June 30: White Sox 9, Indians 7

This game should've been a more satisfying victory, what with Nick Swisher hitting a grand slam -- again -- and homering from both sides of the plate -- again.  But Joe Crede and his 16th error would have none of that.

A big early cushion provided by a mighty three-run swat by The Gentleman Masher and a Swisher slam nearly went to waste courtesy of Joe Crede's 16th error of the season.  He airmailed a routine throw once again, and the Tribe used the extra outs to score a couple runs off Nick Masset and Matt Thornton which brought the tying run to the plate in the form of Casey Blake.  Blake, however, hit a floating liner to right to end the game.

It gave Gavin Floyd his ninth win of the year, one he earned by setting a career high with 10 strikeouts.  He gave up a quick run on a Jhonny Peralta double in the first inning, but after he got the lead, he didn't give much reason for worry.  In fact, Five-Hit Peralta was the only real thorn in his side.  He hit a solo homer off Floyd to make it an 8-2 game, then scored the third run of the game when he doubled and scored on Shin-Soo (Big League) Choo's RBI single.

The other run would be unearned, because Choo took off for second on a strikeout, and while Toby Hall did his job by throwing down to second, somebody didn't do their job on the receiving end.  The ball skipped into center field, and Choo would score on an infield single off a leaping Alexei Ramirez's mitt.

Ramirez had an uneven day.  He drew derisive laughter from Ryan Garko when he tried an ill-advised headfirst slide into first on a bunt.  He wasn't close to being safe, but he tried selling it to the umpire anyway. 

He made Ben Francisco the butt of a joke the next half-inning.  After singling to left, Francisco rounded first casually as Carlos Quentin's throw bounced back into the infield.  Ramirez saw him retreating a little too slowly and fired to Swisher before he could get back to the bag for a clever out.

Toby Hall gave him a run for his money in the laugh category.  Like Brian Anderson before him, Hall granted himself time while the umpire did not with two strikes, and he was unsuccessful on his running swinging attempt back in the box for strike three.

Later in the game with Tom Mastny on the mound, he called time while Mastny was about to deliver the pitch, but maintained perfect posture in the batter's box.  The ump gave it to him, and Mastny noticed at the last second.  His pitch dribbled toward the plate.

Record: 47-35 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 29: White Sox 5, Cubs 1

Some bullet points, since I haven't watched it yet.  An hour and a half delay on my flight made me miss the whole thing, and I ended up watching some of it on GameCast and some highlights on Baseball Tonight.

*The defense continues to work for Mark Buehrle, and Buehrle's returning the favor.  Alexei Ramirez played a part in two nice double plays -- a bizarre 4-3-6 caught on a liner for one -- and almost started a third with a glove flip.

*Buehrle also did his part with five strikeouts.

*Joe Crede's 15th error, a shot through the wickets, led to the only run, but Buehrle staved off the big inning.

*A double play also helped Scott Linebrink work out of bigtime trouble, as he started the eighth inning with the dreaded leadoff walk while trying to hold a two-run lead.

*Carlos Quentin and Jim Thome each struck mighty blows.

*Brian Anderson blew a hit and run by hitting a two-run homer.

If there's anything else, feel free to fill it in.

Record: 46-35 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 28: White Sox 6, Cubs 5

Take some time out of your day to shower Jermaine Dye, Carlos Quentin and the bullpen with praise.

Record: 45-35 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 27: White Sox 10, Cubs 3

Bullet points:

• The Sox knocked Ryan Dempster out during a seven-run third inning, punctuated by a Nick Swisher grand slam.
• Jermaine Dye had three hits and three RBI, and also made a few nice catches in the outfield.
• Carlos Quentin had a four-hit day, and took advantage of Eric Patterson's rough day in left by scoring on a bad throw.
• Jose Contreras gave up three homers, but all of them were with the bases empty.
• Of course, two of them were back-to-back, which means the Cubs have done that in all four crosstown games.

Record: 43-35 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 26: White Sox 2, Dodgers 0

Bobby Jenks recorded his first 1-2-3 inning in more than a month, and it provided a fitting end to one of the strangest games of the year.

John Danks didn't record a single three up, three down frame.  He escaped only one inning with the bases empty thanks to a one-out double play, but otherwise faced some sort of trouble every other inning.

He even saw Juan Pierre reach base twice due to errors, and he ran wild on him.

And yet he lasted six scoreless innings.

Meanwhile, the Sox seemed like they had Clayton Kershaw figured out, as the highly touted southpaw couldn't make it out of the fifht.

And yet the two runs he gave up were the only ones the Dodgers allowed.

It was that kind of game, as the offenses kept finding ways to see potential rallies come to sudden ends.  Occasionally it was thanks to brilliant defense, and other times, it was simply a failure to execute.

Danks ran into trouble immediately when Toby Hall dropped a Juan Pierre pop-up behind the plate.  He'd eventually single after a battle, and he's steal second and third.  Danks found himself with runners on second and third and one out, but worked out of it with a soft lineout and a can of corn to right 

Pierre reached on another error two innings later when Orlando Cabrera couldn't handle a hard grounder to his left, and he'd make it to third on Matt Kemp's single with nobody out. 
But Danks bounced back by striking out Russell Martin with one of the best cutters he ever threw, and then getting James Loney to ground into a 4-6-3 DP, started with an Alexei Ramirez glove flip.

He faced runners on the corners thanks to his own miscue in the fourth.  With a runner on third and one out, Angel Berroa hit a chopper back to the mound.  Danks looked Andy LaRoche back, then threw to third and was a hair late.  Instead of getting the second out, he had first and third and nobody out.  He redeemed himself by snaring a liner off the bat of Danny Ardoin, then going to first for the double play.

Meanwhile, the Sox scored a run in the second and third with a couple of RBI singles by Ramirez (broken bat) and Carlos Quentin, but shot themselves in the feet in every other attempt to add to the lead:

*Danks tried to lay down a sac bunt with runners on the corners and nobody out, but bunted off the plate and thought it was foul.  Martin caught it in fair territory, however, and started a 2-6-3 double play.

*Joe Crede grounded into a 1-2-3 double play with the bases loaded and one out in the fifth.

The Sox stranded 11 overall ... and yet even with the dysfunctional offense once again, they managed to take a series on the road.

Record: 43-35 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 25: Dodgers 5, White Sox 0

Record: 42-35 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 24: White Sox 6, Dodgers 1

Tonight, Mark Buehrle looked a lot like he did against Minnesota June 7.  He went eight innings, and the only run he allowed was the first homer of the season for one of Dmitri Young's brothers.

This time, however, he needed to be sharper for longer thanks to the White Sox offense's struggles in the early going.

They started the night off with three straight singles off Derek Lowe, but Jermaine Dye struck out swinging on a low-and-away slider, and Nick Swisher's sac fly scored the inning's only run.  They'd spoil another attempt in the fourth when they had runners on second and third after a Pablo Ozuna walk and a Dewayne Wise double, only to see three consecutive fielder's choices allow Lowe to escape the frame unscathed.

Only in the second did the Sox have anything resembling an aesthetically pleasing offense.  Wise singled, advanced to second on a Buehrle bunt and scored on an Orlando Cabrera single.  But it appeared two runs would be all they could muster as Lowe and his sinker settled in.

Fortunately, Buehrle was up to the task.  Only one runner reached scoring position, when Cabrera threw short to first and Swisher couldn't handle the hop (a tough error) and Russell Martin flared an inside cutter into left field to put two on with one out.  But Buehrle got James Loney to ground to Swisher, who started a 3-6-1 DP with Buehrle beating Loney to the bag by a step.

Yet that was only the second-prettiest of the Sox's three double plays on the night.  First prize went to Alexei Ramirez, who chased down a flare off Jeff Kent's bat to center, sliding on one knee to grab it in front of Wise.  He then popped up and fired a one-hopper to first to get Matt Kemp by a few steps to end the inning.

Buehrle eventually got breathing room in the eighth, when Dye followed up a Carlos Quentin single with his seventh homer in eight games, a two-run shot over the wall in right-center to give the Sox a 4-1 lead.  They'd eventually stretch it to 6-1 when Swisher singled, Wise tripled past a diving Delwyn Young in right, and Ramirez singled him home with a bouncer through the right side.

Record: 42-34 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 22: Cubs 7, White Sox 1

If you watched the first inning of this one, that's about all you need to get the idea of this game.

Top of the first: Two singles in three at-bats, followed by Jermaine Dye smashing a high splitter into the ground somehow for a 4-6-3 double play.

Bottom of the first:  Javier Vazquez throwing the first eight pitches out of the zone, followed by Derrek Lee executing a hit-and-run to score one, with Orlando Cabrera dropping the throw back into the infield to allow another run to cross the plate.

The Sox grounded into more double plays, the Cubs went back-to-back for the third straight game at one point, and that's about all there is to this one.  Writing any more about it would be the equivalent of cutting.

Record: 41-34 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 21: Cubs 11, White Sox 7

Can't blame the offense for this one.  They staked Jose Contreras to a 4-1 lead with a pair of homers -- Jermaine Dye's fourth in three games, and Dewayne Wise's first as a member of the White Sox.

Contreras then did his best Octavio Dotel impersonation by allowing back-to-back homers to Jim Edmonds and Mike Fontenot, and his day went downhill from there.  And if the solo homers weren't the tipping point, the fulcrum of the inning was likely Jason Marquis' at-bat.

With one out and one on, Marquis -- a .204 lifetime hitter, not an automatic out by any means -- was set to give himself up with a sacrifice bunt.  He missed the first pitch and looked at the second, which took the bunt off.  Marquis then slashed the next pitch through the right side, and Contreras wouldn't record another out.

Singles and homers were the story of the inning.  Marquis' base hit was the first of four consecutive ones allowed by Contreras, and an Aramis Ramirez homer ended his day.  Edmonds ended up going deep twice, with Boone Logan serving as the second victim.

The Sox answered back with a run when A.J. Pierzynski singled, but Jermaine Dye extinguished any chance at a bigger rally by grounding into a 1-6-3 double play with one out and two on.

Record: 41-33 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 20: Cubs 4, White Sox 3

Today marked the fourth time a White Sox reliever has surrendered a walk-off homer in the ninth inning of a tied game, and Scott Linebrink became the first to two it twice. But this game was more like Matt Thornton's loss than any of the other ones.

Aramis Ramirez's second homer of the game ended this one, and it came after four consecutive innings in which a Sox leadoff batter reached.  I'll borrow South Side Sox's rundown to save time:

• 6th inning -- Leadoff double. Stranded. Never moved.
• 7th inning -- Leadoff single. Stranded. Moved to second on 2-out walk.
• 8th inning -- Leadoff single. Stranded. Erased on Crede GIDP.
• 9th inning -- Leadoff double. Stranded. Never Moved.

The ninth inning was the most painful because it started in the most unlikely of fashions -- with a double by Brian Anderson off Kerry Wood.  But pop-ups would leave him stranded.  The Sox could only score off homers, as Jermaine Dye hit a solo shot and A.J. Pierzynski added a two-run blast to center.

Of course, after manufacturing a run off John Danks in the first with a couple of singles and a double play ball, that's how the Cubs scored their runs.  They just happened to make it hurt.

Two of them came back-to-back off Octavio Dotel, who was the first pitcher in from the bullpen.  The removal of Danks was questionable, although by no means indefensible.  Ozzie Guillen took him out of the ballgame when it was his turn to bat leading off the seventh.  Juan Uribe made it pay off by singling, but as the above list indicates, he didn't score.

Enter Dotel, who started by giving up homers to Derrek Lee and Ramirez, and since Danks was only at 85 pitches and wasn't hit hard after the first couple innings, the second guessing began.  Dotel settled down after that, and Thornton threw a scoreless inning of his own before Linebrink blew it with the second pitch he threw.

Record: 41-32 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 19: White Sox 13, Pirates 8

Last year, I was lucky enough to attend the game in Yankee Stadium where the Sox scored eight runs in the top of the second, only to watch New York tie it in the bottom of the frame.

It's far more enjoyable to watch it happen the other way around.

Gavin Floyd appeared to have this game lost when he gave up half a dozen runs to Pittsburgh after starting the game with a 1-2-3 inning.  All six runs were unearned because Pablo Ozuna threw high and wide on an attempted force at second, which would've been the third out and kept the game scoreless but instead pulled Alexei Ramirez.

Still, Floyd was off his game.  He walked the leadoff man that inning and the next, couldn't locate his slider, and grooved a fastball to Nate McLouth that cleared the bases.  Freddy Sanchez crushed another piped fastball, and the Pirates had a quick 6-0 lead, all scored with two outs as five consecutive batters reached base.

Somehow, the Sox struck back by using the opposite field.  Jim Thome led off with a double that short-hopped the left-field wall, and Jermaine Dye doubled him home to the right-center gap.  Nick Swisher flipped one off the bat inside the left-field line, and Alexei Ramirez somehow found the hole in the left side to make it 6-2.

Brian Anderson finally made the first out of the inning, but it was a productive one -- a deep fly ball that allowed Swisher to tag up.  Ozuna partially redeemed himself with a single again through the hole on the left side, and Orlando Cabrera tied it with one swing, drilling a first-pitch fastball into the left field stands.

Dye gave the Sox their first lead with a solo homer in the third, but he wasn't done.  With a 9-7 lead and the bases loaded after a single and two walks, Dye hit a grand slam, his 14th of the season and second non-solo shot to turn a ballgame into a laugher.

Floyd managed to last 5 2/3 innings, and though he spoiled a lead by giving up an RBI single to Sanchez in the fourth inning, he left with a 9-7 lead.  Matt Thornton struck out the only batter he faced -- McLouth -- on three pitches.

Octavio Dotel struck out the side, and Scott Linebrink pitched a scoreless frame as well.  Adam Russell gave up his first major league run.

Record: 41-31 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 18: White Sox 8, Pirates 2

Recap in brief:

*Toby Hall -- Toby Hall! -- hit his first homer in a Sox uniform, a line drive that barely cleared the left field wall to give the Sox a 2-0 lead.

*Carlos Quentin and Brian Anderson added solo homers in the same direction, and all of them came off Pittsburgh starter Tom Gorzelanny.  Quentin snapped a 1-for-16 slump.

*Mark Buehrle pitched eight innings for the third consecutive start, taking a no-hitter into the sixth before Jose Bautista homered.  The other run came on a walk and a couple of weak singles.

*Jim Thome scored Orlando Cabrera with a bloop single to left, and Cabrera either lucked out or showed tremendous skill by taking off earlier than most baserunners would have, crossing the plate by sliding hard into Raul Chavez.

*Thome himself scored from first -- in somewhat easier fashion, though he had to slide -- on Nick Swisher's double to the left-center gap.

Record: 40-31 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 17: White Sox 16, Pirates 5

The White Sox took a week's worth of frustration out on the Pirates, setting season highs in runs and hits.  And for a short time, it looked like they were going to need every bit of offense as Javier Vazquez blew two early leads.

Joe Crede killed a rally by grounding into a bases-loaded double play and Vazquez allowed five straight baserunnners to reach in the top of the second.  After the Sox blew another bases-loaded opportunity in the second, the Pirates had a 4-2 lead.

The Sox got the lead back by executing through an entire inning, starting with a Jermaine Dye homer, and ending with an Orlando Cabrera one-out sac fly -- and Vazquez gave up that lead, too, surrendering a no-doubter to Jose Bautista to tie the game at five.

Then the Sox went on to score the last 11 runs of the game.  Among the great news:

• Crooked numbers in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.
• Every Sox starter but one had at least two hits.
• Carlos Quentin was held hitless, but walked three times.
• After making an out on the very first pitch of the game, Cabrera went 3-for-3 with a walk and the sac fly.
• Nick Swisher was perfect at the plate, going 3-for-3 with two walks.
• Dewayne Wise had his first two hits in a Sox uniform.
• Jim Thome homered and doubled.

Vazquez, meanwhile, finally settled down long enough to pitch a scoreless fifth and sixth, leaving an inning apiece for Octavio Dotel, Nick Masset and Adam Russell for the easy victory since the Twins series.

Record: 39-31 | Box score | Play-by-play

Week in a Box: June 9-15

Player of the Week:  Orlando Cabrera.  He had a four-hit game against the Twins, a solo homer against the Rockies, and with hits in six of the seven games, was the only consistent source of offense the Sox had.

Player of the Weak:  Carlos Quentin.  He went 3-for-22, including 1-for-8 with runners on base, and poor decision-making led to two errors against the Twins.

Pitcher of the Week:  Mark Buehrle.  Matched Kenny Rogers with eight innings of one-run ball, his second consecutive outing of that length and success.

Pitcher of the Weak:  Jose Contreras.  Followed up his worst outing of the year with a better one against the Rockies, but that 1-2 fastball he threw to Brad Hawpe was a backbreaker.

Fireman:  Scott Linebrink.  He faced six batters, retired all of them, and struck out four of them.

Gas Can:  Octavio Dotel.  Allowed the walk-off homer to Miguel Cabrera.

Super Sub:  Juan Uribe.  In his first start of the month, he delivered the game-tying single, then scored the game-winning run with alert baserunning.

Super Scrub:  Nobody.  Toby Hall went 0-for-4 but threw out Carlos Gomez, Brian Anderson hit .250 with a homer, and Pablo Ozuna didn't start.

Gold Glove:  Orlando Cabrera. He did fail to catch Alexei Ramirez's throw at second, but made a highlight play in a loss to the Tigers and generally played solid defense.

Hands of Stone:  A.J. Pierzynski.  Four of the five bases Willy Taveras stole on the pitchers, but the double-clutch on the pitchout and bad pitch blocking made John Danks work even harder.

June 15: Rockies 5, White Sox 3

Frustration was the name of this game, literally beginning with the first pitch when Willy Taveras bunted successfully on Jose Contreras.  Contreras thought about throwing, held up, and then nearly hurt himself.

Taveras stole second, then scored on Scott Podsednik's 10-hopper through the middle.  Pods advanced to second on Alexei Ramirez's ill-advised throw home, and he would score on an unimpressive single by Matt Holliday.

And that pretty much set the tone for the game.  The Sox weren't overpowered by Aaron Cook like they were Jorge De La Rosa, but they missed out on truly cashing in against him. They stranded 11 runners overall, and on a couple occasions, it wasn't the hitters' fault they ended the inning.

The fourth is a good example.  Joe Crede started a rally with a two-out single, Nick Swisher singled, Brian Anderson walked and Alexei Ramirez drove in one with an "infield single," which was an exploding-bat grounder to second that Ian Stewart rushed and couldn't pick up.

Up comes Juan Uribe, who took the sinkerballing Cook the opposite way to right -- and laced a liner right at Brad Hawpe for the third out.

Swisher had his usual case of bad luck, too.  In the second, a 3-1 fastball off the plate was called a strike, depriving him of a walk.  Then he turns on an inside pitch and hits a hot smash down the line, but Todd Helton dove and snagged it.  He came up in the fifth with runners on first and second and one out and hit an opposite-field liner -- right to Matt Holliday, who caught Jim Thome too far off second for another double play.

The Sox would need that rally, because Contreras gave the lead right back to the Rockies by serving up a grooved 1-2 heater to Hawpe, who belted it into the left-center stands.  It might've been the only real mistake Contreras made all night, and it cost him dearly.

Boone Logan would allow another solo shot in the ninth, which gave Brian Fuentes a cushion he utilized when he loaded the bases on a Uribe single and a pair of walks.  He'd get Joe Crede to hit a shallow flyout to left -- which Holliday almost dropped when he collided when Omar Quintanilla.  The ball came out of his mitt, but he snagged it with his bare hand before falling to the ground.

See what I mean about frustrating?

Record: 38-31 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 14: Rockies 2, White Sox 0

Ten ugly things about this one:

10. Nick Swisher and Juan Uribe's collision, with Uribe making the catch.

9. Orlando Cabrera and Carlos Quentin colliding, with the ball falling between them.

8. John Danks nearly getting decapitated by a Brad Hawpe liner (but Cabrera made the play behind him).

7. Carlos Quentin's three-strikeout night, with two on check swings.  He was nearly ejected after slamming his bat.

6. Willy Taveras' five steals, including one on a pitchout on which A.J. Pierzynski double-clutched.

5. Pierzynski's night behind the plate overall.  Along with the five steals allowed, he also lost a couple pitches in the dirt that he probably should've blocked.

4. Nick Masset's fielding and throwing error which allowed the second run to score.

3. Striking out 11 times on the night overall.

2. Watching Jorge De La Rosa and Jason Grilli manhandle the Sox lineup for 10 of those strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings.

1. Brian Anderson was the only guy who hit the ball hard all evening, and it was an at-em ball to Matt Holliday on the warning track.

Record: 38-30 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 13: White Sox 5, Rockies 4

Outside of an inning as a defensive replacement May 31, Juan Uribe hadn't seen a full game's worth of action in a month.  Little did we know he'd be in the middle of things tonight.

Uribe, in only his fourth at-bat since May 15, hit the game-tying two-run single, then scored the go-ahead run a few batters later thanks to some unusually adept baserunning.

Going into the bottom of the seventh, Colorado owned a 4-2 lead, scoring all its runs on solo homers courtesy of awful, grooved pitches by Gavin Floyd.  Outside of those four pitches, Floyd was outstanding, which makes his performance all the more bewildering.

Both the Sox's runs had come via solo homers as well, courtesy of Orlando Cabrera and Brian Anderson.  In fact, a two-out Paul Konerko single in the fourth inning was the only hit by either team that didn't leave the yard.

Jermaine Dye provided another non-homer hit, singling to lead off the seventh and sparking the game's only rally.  Jeff Francis walked Orlando Cabrera, which signaled his departure.  It might have been a tactical blunder by Clint Hurdle, because as mentioned before, Joe Crede is lousy against left-handers.  He was 0-for-2 against Francis, making him 5-for-48 against southpaws, but Hurdle called for Matt Herges, who walked Crede to load the bases.

In came Anderson, who struck out with arguably the ugliest swing of the season, going down to one knee and practically throwing the bat at a curveball that started out low and outside and continued in both directions before the dirt in the left-handed batter's box stopped it.

But that set the stage for Uribe, who found a 1-1 pitch to his liking and muscled it into short center for a two-run single.  He advanced to second on a Cabrera fielder's choice that forced Crede out at third, and then got to third on a pitch that didn't get that far away from Chris Iannetta, but one he couldn't make a throw on.

Those 90 feet would turn out to be crucial, because he wouldn't have scored on A.J. Pierzynski's game-winning single, which was a fielder's choice Omar Quintanilla botched by trying to force Cabrera out at second instead of going to first.  Uribe received a hero's welcome in the dugout, and the Sox bullpen would go on to hold the lead.

Of course, Bobby Jenks would make it interesting after a dominating inning by Scott Linebrink.  He retired the first two men he faced easily, but Brad Hawpe inside-outed a single to left, and a pinch-running Scott Podsednik stole second and advanced to third when Pierzynski's throw got away.

Jenks would strand him there, blowing away Iannetta with a 96 m.p.h. fastball for the final out.

Record: 38-29 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 12: Tigers 2, White Sox 1

Another road game, another no-show by the offense, and another walk-off homer surrendered by a White Sox reliever.

Like Matt Thornton and Scott Linebrink before him, Octavio Dotel surrendered a game-ending homer on the road.  This time it was Miguel Cabrera, who followed up Magglio Ordonez's warning-track fly to left with one that cleared the wall in right, giving the Tigers the sweep.

And once again, it was hard to feel disappointed by the events, because like in those Rays games, it seemed highly unlikely the offense would resurface again.

The Sox managed one run, scored in the second inning when Paul Konerko doubled to the right-center gap, then advanced to third on the play when Ryan Raburn couldn't pick the ball up on the warning track.  Konerko had slowed to a near-halt at second before re-starting, and made it to third with a slide.  Jermaine Dye drove him in with a sac fly, and the offense called it a night.

While Konerko had the double, he also grounded into two double plays.  The Sox only managed to get one runner into scoring position the rest of the day, when Toby Hall and Orlando Cabrera hit back-to-back singles with two outs in the fifth before Brian Anderson grounded out to end the inning.

It marked a landmark day for Kenny Rogers, who broke the seven-inning barrier for the first time all season, holding the Sox to four hits and a walk over eight innings.

He didn't get the win, though, and lefty countpart Mark Buehrle didn't figure into the decision as well despite eight strong innings for a second consecutive outing.  He struck out a season-high six, and only allowed seven hits and a walk over his day.

The one run he allowed was in the sixth, when Edgar Renteria, Placido Polanco and Carlos Guillen hit back-to-back-to-back singles with one out, leaving Buehrle with runners on the corners and the Tigers' two best hitters, Ordonez and Cabrera, due up.  Buehrle retired them both, with a pop-out to Orlando Cabrera and a 6-4 fielder's choice.

Cabrera had an excellent game in defeat.  He was the only Sox player to reach base twice, and he made a tremendous diving stop, pop and throw to retire Ivan Rodriguez in the fifth.

Record: 37-29 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 11: Tigers 5, White Sox 1

A series of unfortunate events led to Javier Vazquez's demise in the third inning.

The inning started ominously when he threw everything he could at Miguel Cabrera, who eventually earned a walk after a 14 pitches and nine foul balls.  He came back to strike out Jeff Larish easily, and then appeared to have a second out when Edgar Renteria grounded to second.

Alexei Ramirez, however, was too creative for Orlando Cabrera.  He ranged far to his left, then wheeled around and threw to second.  It didn't look like Cabrera expected the throw, and his late attempt at catching the low-but-OK throw glanced off the tip of his glove for an "infield single" (count this among the errors he's avoided).  A first-pitch slider to Marcus Thames later, the Tigers had a 3-0 lead.

Those would be all the runs the Tigers needed, although they added a couple two-out runs later in the game.  Contrary to Vazquez, Justin Verlander had an easy time mowing down the White Sox lineup.

(HOW EASY WAS IT?)

It was so easy, Verlander threw fewer pitches in the first two innings (13) than Vazquez threw in the entire at-bat to Miguel Cabrera leading off the third.  The Sox's only run came on their only consecutive hits, when Orlando Cabrera doubled and A.J. Pierzynski drove him in with a single to right to cut the lead to 3-1.

Of course, picking up where they left off Tuesday night, Pierzynski was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double, the second consecutive night he's made an out on the basepaths.

Otherwise, the Sox popped plenty of pitches up.  Lots and lots of pop-ups.

And for good measure, a bad call thwarted their only other attempt at a rally in the ninth.  Brian Anderson led off with a single to left, and slid in safely at second on Cabrera's grounder deep in the hole...

...except the umpire called him out.  Minor-league umpire Chris Tiller flat-out blew it, as Anderson was clearly safe at full speed and on the replay.  Anderson protested, and Ozzie came out to second before giving Tiller a wave of dismissal before escorting Anderson back to the dugout.

Anderson had a great game, with half of the Sox's four hits and a diving catch to end the eighth inning.  He, Cabrera and Pierzynski went 4-for-11; the Sox's No. 3-8 hitters went a combined 0-for-19.

Record: 37-28 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 10: Tigers 6, White Sox 4

They played the finest baseball of the year at home, then played the sloppiest game of the year on the return to the road.

The White Sox wasted more of an inning on the basepaths, giving up four outs in a variety of ways.  And when you factor in Ozzie Guillen leaving Jose Contreras in three batters too long, tonight takes the crown for the worst display of management this year.

The casualties:

No. 1:  Second out, first inning.  Orlando Cabrera led the game off with a single, and advanced to second on A.J. Pierzynski's bunt.  He then was out by a few steps trying to steal third, taking a runner in scoring position away from Carlos Quentin.  The Sox wouldn't score.

No. 2:  Third out, third inning.  Alexei Ramirez avoided running into an out when he stole second on Ivan Rodriguez, but Pierzynski picked him up by singling him home, then getting caught between first and second as Ramirez scored.  He may have been giving himself up, but Ramirez would have scored easily even if the throw weren't cut off.

No. 3:  Third out, fifth inning.  Ramirez wasn't so lucky stealing with two outs this time.  He tried to go back halfway down the baseline, though perhaps because it was a busted hit and run.  Hard to tell, since the pitch was so far outside.

No. 4:  Second out, eighth inning.  With Carlos Quentin on second, Jim Thome drilled a single to left.  Brent Clevlen has a very good arm, but Jeff Cox sent Quentin anyway, and he was out at the plate handily.  It may have cost the Sox from cutting the lead to one.

This is to say the Sox should've scored more than four runs, especially with excellent nights by Jim Thome (3-for-4, one homer, two runs scored) and Alexei Ramirez (2-for-3, one walk).

At the same time, Guillen left in Jose Contreras for three whole batters past his expiration date.  He had been scored upon in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings and trailed 5-2 at that point, giving up 10 hits and leaving forkballs up all day long.

Guillen tried to squeeze one more inning out of him and it backfired.  He gave up three singles to start the inning, and his day was done.  Making the decision worse was the fact that Octavio Dotel was lights out.  He entered the game with runners on first and second, and after Pierzynski caught Carlos Guillen on the front end of an attempted double steal, Dotel struck out Miguel Cabrera and Jeff Larish to end the inning.

Then he started the bottom of the eighth by striking out two of the three batters he faced, with Boone Logan picking up the last out.  Another excellent night for the bullpen, but the effort was in vain.

This loss felt as disappointing as any this season.  Sox fans shouldn't expect their team to win every game, but this was a game the Sox lost largely by themselves.

Record: 37-27 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 9: White Sox 7, Twins 5

Even when the Sox don't play well, they're finding ways to win ballgames.  And this victory was as sweet as any, capping off a perfect seven-game homestand.

The Sox missed out on some big scoring opportunities.  They had the bases loaded with one out twice, and they failed to score both times -- Paul Konerko and Jim Thome struck out in the third, and Joe Crede in the eighth.

The Twins also drove John Danks to distraction once again with their variety pack of base hits, as he gave up five runs through five innings.  Carlos Quentin's defense didn't help either.  He made an ill-advised throw that led to Danks' one unearned run, then had a brain fart on another that allowed Joe Mauer to go from second to third on a single to left, even though Mauer stopped running with the intent to retreat.

Yet through it all, when there was doubt, the Sox ate the Twins up and spit them out, and for the second straight day, Nick Swisher was the primary reason.  He became the first White Sox hitter since Jose Valentin to homer from both sides of the plate, and his two blasts cut a 3-1 deficit to 3-2 and a 5-2 decifit to 5-4, helping to answer the Twins' crooked numbers.

And Paul Konerko, who had an awful day at the plate by donning the silver sombrero, delivered the game-winning homer in the seventh by taking Matt Guerrier to right field for a two-run shot.

The comeback took Danks off the hook, but Danks did himself a big favor by completing the sixth.  He looked to be done after five, having allowed five runs and eight baserunners over the fourth and fifth innings alone.  He'd thrown 87 pitches, which is near the end of his day, even if he was pitching well.

Ozzie Guillen sent him back out there, presumably to lift him at the first sign of trouble.  Danks rebounded by retiring the Twins 1-2-3 on 10 pitches, and instead of sending Nick Masset to pitch the sixth, the bullpen was lined up for Matt Thornton, Scott Linebrink and Bobby Jenks.

(Joe Crede also did Danks a big favor by making an incredible diving stab of a rocket off the bat of Carlos Gomez, saving at least one run.)

Thornton survived the Joe Mauer-Justin Morneau part of the lineup well enough, and Scott Linebrink dominated in his inning.  Bobby Jenks, as he often does, made it interesting by allowing a double to Gomez and a bloop single to Alexi Castilla to put runners on the corners.

Jenks bailed himself out with one of the top five defensive plays of the year.  With a 2-2 count on Mauer, the Minnesota catcher hit a chopper back to the mound.  Jenks wheeled around clockwise to throw to second, which is unnatural for a right-hander, but he held Gomez at third before starting a huge 1-6-3 double play.  Justin Morneau hit a hard grounder to short, and that was the ballgame.

Record: 37-26 | Box score | Play-by-play

Week in a Box: June 2-8

Player of the Week:  Joe Crede.  Since he won Major League Baseball's Player of the Week, it's only fair to do the same here.  He hit a Greg Nortonesque five homers over three games, with back-to-back two-homer games in the first two of the series against the Twins.

Player of the Weak:  Jim Thome.  Went 4-for-22 with nine strikeouts to only two walks while everybody else was hitting.  He did rack up a pair of homers against the Royals -- including one that cleared everything but the fan deck in center -- but was pretty much nonexistant otherwise.

Pitcher of the Week:  Mark Buehrle.  Pitched eight drama-free innings against the Twins, allowing only a solo homer.

Pitcher of the Weak:  Javier Vazquez.  Couldn't make it out of the sixth against the Twins, who dinged him up for nine hits, including two homers.

Firemen:  Boone Logan and Octavio Dotel.  They get a tandem award for going above and beyond the call of duty by holding the Royals scoreless for the last five innings of a 15-inning victory.

Gas Can:  Bobby Jenks.  For blowing a two-run lead in that aforementioned 15-inning victory.  At least he pitched a 1-2-3 10th.

Super Sub:  Pablo Ozuna.  He went 3-for-4 in his only start, and reached on an error on a quality bunt in the other at-bat that game.

Super Scrub:  Nobody.

Gold Glove: Alexei Ramirez.  He made four barehanded plays in the 15-inning victory against the Royals.  Honorable mention to Orlando Cabrera.

Hands of Stone:  Joe Crede.  He made more errors than anybody during a solid defensive week for just about everybody.

June 8: White Sox 12, Twins 2

Take Saturday night's script and make the following changes:

No. 1:  Gavin Floyd for Mark Buehrle.  Floyd pitched seven strong innings, and only ran into trouble in the first.  Brendan Harris' double wouldn't have been a flyout had they not been playing him to go the opposite way, and it put runners on second and third with nobody out.  Joe Mauer hit a rocket right at Orlando Cabrera, and Justin Morneau could only get one in with a groundout to second.  Mike Cuddyer struck out, and the Twins' only real threat was over with minimal damage.

No. 2:  Give Nick Swisher more prominence.  He crushed a three-run homer into the Twins' bullpen to give the Sox a 3-1 lead in the second, then hit an RBI double down the left field line to give him four RBI on the day.

No. 3:  Paul Konerko is back to doubling instead of tripling.  Konerko hit two doubles on the day, both down the right field line, which is an excellent sign.  His first one started the Sox's three-run rally in the second, and his double over first base in the third drove in the first two of five runs that inning.

No. 4:  Joe Crede didn't even homer once.  Nah, he just singled, doubled and drove in two, the bum.

Record: 36-26 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 7: White Sox 11, Twins 2

What would Vegas have paid if you laid down money for the following bet about tonight's Sox game:

• Paul Konerko would hit his first triple in over four years.
• Alexei Ramirez would draw a non-four-pitch walk.
• Mark Buehrle would throw eight innings of one-run ball.
• The Sox would score double-digits, without any help at all from Carlos Quentin.

My guess?  A million, billion dollars.

And I didn't mention Joe Crede having a second straight two-homer game, because with the way he's swinging the bat, leaving the yard twice seems far more likely than any of the aforementioned events.

Crede's first homer, off Livan Hernandez, gave the Sox a 4-0 lead in the second inning, which was sparked by a leadoff Konerko three-bagger.  He hit a liner directly at Carlos Gomez, but it tailed away while Gomez kept charging forward.  The ball got past him, and Konerko chugged away and rolled into Tripletown station.

He'd barely score on Jim Thome's pretty deep sac fly to right, but the Sox didn't settle for one.  Jermaine Dye singled, Nick Swisher ripped a double over Justin Morneau's head, and Crede followed up with a blast to the bullpen.

Crede would strike out his next time up in the fourth with runners on first and second, ending his consecutive times on base streak at six.  But Alexei Ramirez picked him up with a single up the middle -- and he smartly advanced to second on the throw.  That was huge, because he'd come around to score on Orlando Cabrera's bullet off the wall.  Cabrera barely made it into second, so Ramirez would've never scored from first.

The Sox had a 7-0 lead, and that was all Mark Buehrle needed.  The 31-minute rain delay didn't bother him, and neither did his defense, which was solid for him all game long.  Cabrera made a sliding stab and throw from the hole, Swisher made a nice running catch on a deep, slicing drive at the track in center, and Crede showed quick reflexes by grabbing a hot one-hopper when he was playing in for the bunt, to name a few.

He lasted eight innings, and finished his night by freezing Justin Morneau with an outside corner fastball.  A Delmon Young homer, his first of the year and with the Twins, was the only damage he suffered.

Crede's second blast came in the eighth, following up three straight singles by Thome, pinch-hitting Brian Anderson and Swisher.  Swisher had his first three-hit day in a White Sox uniform and scored three runs.

Record: 35-26 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 6: White Sox 10, Twins 6

If you need an example of why Ron Gardenhire isn't a perfect manager, you need to look no further than the fourth inning.

When Mike Lamb came up to the plate, six of the last seven Twins had reached base against Javier Vazquez.  A two-out rally started by a Carlos Gomez homer and finished with a pair of doubles from Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau gave the Twins a 3-0 lead, and they looked to add on in the fourth when Jason Kubel walked and Delmon Young singled to start the at-bat.

Lamb had a .302 average in May and only had one sac bunt to his credit since 2003, but Gardenhire tried to play small ball, anyway.  Lamb nearly popped out in his first two fouled-off bunt attempts, and then grounded into a 4-3 double play to give Vazquez momentum he sorely needed, instead of going for the jugular and trying to knock him out of the game early.

Javy escaped the inning unscathed, and after a scoreless fifth, the Sox had turned a 3-0 deficit into an 8-3 lead.

The Sox chipped away -- Joe Crede's first solo homer put the first run on the board, and Jim Thome grounded into a run-scoring double play to make it 3-2.  It set up a six-run explosion in the fifth, thanks to six straight hits by the first six batters up.

It also featured a bunt after a pair of singles by Nick Swisher and Crede, except Alexei Ramirez knows how to lay one down.  He dropped a perfect roller in front of Lamb, who did everything he could and still couldn't get Ramirez.  That loaded the bases for Orlando Cabrera, who shot a single past Lamb's glove for one run.  A.J. Pierzynski's double to right scored two, and Carlos Quentin's homer off the glove of Michael Cuddyer scored three.

Thanks to Gardenhire's overmanaging, the Sox were able to cruise to a victory without a sharp Vazquez, who was chased after a Cuddyer solo homer and a one-out Young single.  Crede picked up that run with his second solo homer, the prime highlight of a perfect, 4-for-4 day at the plate.

Record: 34-26 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 5: White Sox 6, Royals 2

The Sox pretty much removed the drama from this ballgame early -- which is how it should go more often than not against a team like the Royals.

Of course, the Sox had to overcome yet another out on the basepaths when Paul Konerko was thrown out trying to go from first to third on a hard single to center, but they kept hitting.  Jermaine Dye doubled off the wall in left, Nick Swisher's flipped single to center scored one, and an 0-2 single through the right side by Orlando Cabrera brought home two.

That was all the runs Jose Contreras would retire.  Joey Gathright scored the only run off him by distracting him with his speed.  He bunted, stole second, stole third and came home to score when Pablo Ozuna whiffed catching Toby Hall's late-but-on-target throw.

It was the only time Contreras looked remotely frazzled.  Otherwise, he was in control, allowing only four hits and two walks, both two David DeJesus, who is deserving of being pitched around this series.

The Sox tacked on a couple more runs via two-out damage.  In the fourth, Pablo Ozuna reached via a Gil Meche error.  One of the harsher rulings this season, Meche couldn't find the handle on a pretty good bunt.  After a walk to Cabrera, Alexei Ramirez bounced a single through the right side to score Pablo.

Jim Thome hit career homer No. 519 to give the Sox their final run.  It went about 130 feet shorter than his previous blast, but it counted the same.

Nick Masset allowed a solo homer to Mark Teahen starting out the ninth, but it's better than a walk with a five-run lead in the ninth.

Record: 33-26 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 4: White Sox 6, Royals 4 (15 innings)

Paul Konerko needed it.  The bullpen needed it.  Everybody needed it.

And for once, Konerko delivered.

Paulie swung at the first pitch he saw -- a rarity -- and hooked it inside the left-field foul pole for a walk-off homer off Jimmy Gobble.  He was 0-for-4 with two walks before that, and saw his average drop below the Mendoza Line.  But off Gobble, he was 4-for-5 with three homers, so if he was going to get a big hit off anybody, that was the guy.

He didn't just pick himself up.  He picked up Bobby Jenks, who blew his third save after two singles, a two-strike bunt, and another single that erased a two-run lead in the bottom of the ninth.  He also picked up Alexei Ramirez, who maybe picked him up with an assortment of barehanded plays, but missed home plate on an error that was kicked into center field and cost the Sox a key run.

Fortunately, the rest of the White Sox bullpen was up to the task. 

Nick Masset came in with the bases loaded and struck out the only batter he faced to end the sixth.  Scott Linebrink worked out of a little jam for a scoreless inning.  Boone Logan was brilliant for 2 1/3 perfect innings.

Octavio Dotel wasn't perfect.  He hit two guys and walked a leadoff batter on four pitches.  Yet he stranded a runner on second to end the 15th and picked up his third win of the season.  Hopefully he won't pitch again anytime soon.

Danks was the hard-luck loser, although he could've helped himself a little bit more by going more than 5 2/3 innings.   He wasn't particularly sharp, as he gave up a couple of solo homers and threw a lot of pitches, but he was in line for the win until Jenks blew it.

Jim Thome tied it up on one swing in the fourth, as the Gentleman Masher hit it to the party deck in center.  The tape measure only called it 464 feet, but that seemed to underestimate it by quite a bit.  Joe Crede followed up the next inning with a much less impressive solo shot, which landed in the Sox bullpen.

Crede also scored Nick Swisher from first with a double in the sixth, as it rattled around the left-field corner and past Jose Guillen.  Guillen has a cannon for an arm, but his misplay allowed Swisher to score easily.

Record: 32-26 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 3: White Sox 9, Royals 5

Two days after ranting about his offense, Ozzie Guillen made only few minor lineup changes.  The biggest one: getting Carlos Quentin back into the lineup.

After his first day off since joining the starting lineup three games into the season, a refreshed Quentin sent one barely over the fence, and barely inside the right-field foul pole for a quick 2-0 lead on Zack Greinke.

Plenty of homers followed, and it helped Gavin Floyd earn his sixth win, even though he finally experienced awful defense for a change.

To be fair, some bad Royals defense helped the Sox to jump ahead 6-0.  Alexei Ramirez should've grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, but Tony Pena made the mistake of putting his foot in front of his glove.  The ball ramped up it and into center field, and the Sox had runners on second and third after Ramirez's "double."  Orlando Cabrera bounced a single over the mound and though a drawn-in infield for a 4-0 lead.

A.J. Pierzynski hit the Sox's second homer to make it 6-0, and it would come in handy, because the Sox's gloves wouldn't.  Floyd pitched around a Joe Crede non-error error in the first, but Ramirez booted a grounder to lead off the top of the third, and a single that barely escaped the infield put runners on second and third.  A solid David DeJesus single put the first K.C. run on the board, but instead of an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play, Orlando Cabrera couldn't get the ball out of his glove, putting runners on the corners.

Another weakly hit ground ball later, a run crossed the board on a 4-3-6 double play, as Mark Grudzielanek evaded Ramirez long enough for the Royals to make it a 6-2 ballgame.

The Sox would get those two runs back on a first-pitch homer by Nick Swisher and another solo shot by Ramirez, and the Royals got those back on a two-run homer by Mark Teahen, the only two earned runs Floyd allowed.

Error aside, Ramirez had himself a fine game.  Along with the "double" and solo homer, Ramirez came through with a runner in scoring position after an eight-pitch at-bat -- though it seemed longer than that since he fell behind 0-2 and swung at the first five pitches.  He shot the final pitch -- a fastball -- through the left side to make it a 9-5 game.

It wasn't all sunshine -- a bloop single by Jermaine Dye kept the 4-5-6 from going hitless -- Paul Konerko went 0-for-3 with a walk, and Jim Thome had another rough night, going 0-for-4.

Record: 31-26 | Box score | Play-by-play

Week in a Box: May 26 - June 1

Player of the Week:  Alexei Ramirez.  Yup, somebody took the title away from Carlos Quentin, as Ramirez hit safely in six of seven games.  He started the week by failing on a hit-and-run, then making up for it with a fake bunt single.  He also prevented a shutout by homering off James Shields, and actually came up with a hit with runners in scoring position in the finale.

Player of the Weak:  Paul Konerko and Nick Swisher.  Konerko went 5-for-29 and Swisher went 4-for-23.  Konerko gets bonus points for being the third Sox hitter to pop out with a runner on third, but Swisher has an edge by striking out looking to end a game.

Pitcher of the Week:  John Danks.  Danks' best performance of the season (6 IP, 1 R, 0 BB, 8 K)  was the only win the Sox would get in Tampa Bay.  Jose Contreras (7 IP, 1 ER) and Javier Vazquez (10 K in 7 IP) were hard-luck losers.

Pitcher of the Weak:  Mark Buehrle.  Got off on the wrong foot by giving up a first-inning slam in a loss to the Indians, then followed up by squandering a small lead against the Rays.

Fireman:  Octavio Dotel.  Four outings, five innings, zero runs.  Tip of the cap to Ehren Wassermann, who worked a career-long 3 1/3 innings, allowing no earned runs.  It was an outing he desperately needed.

Gas Can:  Scott Linebrink and Matt Thornton.  Both allowed walk-off homers against the Rays, the only damage done off the bullpen this week.

Super Sub:  Toby Hall.  Ramirez no longer counts, so we'll give it to the guy who keeps hitting and isn't afraid to use the opposite field.  He went 2-for-3 with a double, walk and RBI against the Indians, and had one of four hits off Scott Kazmir.

Super Scrub:  Dewayne Wise.  0-for-4 with two strikeouts in his only start.  And thus endeth his White Sox career.

Gold Glove:  Alexei Ramirez.  Made four sterling plays at second base over the course of the week, as well as a couple key double plays.

Hands of Stone: Paul Konerko.  Screwed Ehren Wassermann twice in consecutive plays by failing to record the third out.  He dropped a routine Alexei Ramirez throw, and then bounced a throw home on what became the first "triple steal" since 1987, on what should've been a pickoff.

June 1: Rays 4, White Sox 3

You know the offense is in trouble when you're happy Matt Thornton gave up a walkoff homer in the 10th so you could finally do something else with your day.

After a promising start, the White Sox offense relapsed to its old ways, failing to hit with runners in scoring position while the pitching did an admirable job holding down the Rays' offense.

Twice they failed to score a runner on third with fewer than two outs, and the second time hurt.  Matt Thornton allowed the game-ending homer to Gabe Gross on a hanging 0-2 slider, but if the offense executed, he would've been on the bench after a perfect inning of work with Bobby Jenks on the mound.

Jim Thome led off the 10th with an exploding-bat blooper that he turned into a double with well-timed hustle.  Pinch-running Pablo Ozuna turned lemons into lemonade when Paul Konerko grounded to short.  Ozuna got a good read and made it to third when any hesitation would've cost him.

Up came Joe Crede, who took a good pitch and swung at a bad pitch to get himself in an 0-2 hole.  He then hit a chopper to third that Ozuna couldn't advance on -- he was actually lucky to get back to the bag -- for a 5-3 groundout, and Nick Swisher went down not swinging to end the threat.  Three pitches later, the game was over.

The game could've been over a lot earlier, as the Sox got to Andy Sonnanstine this time.  They took a quick 2-0 lead in the second with line drives -- Konerko's through the hole on the right side, Nick Swisher with a shot off the first-base bag, and Alexei Ramirez with a double down the line to score both of them.

But joy turned to sorrow three innings later.  After the Rays cut the lead to 2-1, the Sox answered with more well-hit balls.  Brian Anderson smashed a double off the left-field wall, and Orlando Cabrera and A.J. Pierzynski each lined a single to right for a 3-1 lead and runners on the corners with nobody out.

In true Sox fashion, they wouldn't tack on any more runs.  Jermaine Dye, Konerko and Thome each popped out harmlessly to deprive Mark Buehrle of much-needed insurance runs, because Buehrle would allow the Rays to tie it up the next inning.

Buehrle didn't pitch as poorly as his so-so line indicated, but Gross would provide the big hit with a two-run triple, scoring Jonny Gomes and Shawn Riggans, each of whom reached on cheap singles.  Buehrle stranded the runner on third with a groundout to Konerko, a strikeout and a 4-3 groundout, so he manned up when he needed to.  Unfortunately, his hitters couldn't say the same.

Record: 30-26 | Box score | Play-by-play