posted on Sunday, June 01, 2008 11:59 PM by Jim

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

Comments

# re: June 1: Rays 4, White Sox 3

Monday, June 02, 2008 9:36 AM by Florida Jim
Gabe Gross was lost against Thorton's fastball so Thornton gives him a misplaced changeup and Gross homers. The Rays announcers chuckled at the lack of good sense not to come back with another 95 MPH fastball.
Thome can hit to leftfield as he did in the ninth why doesn't he do it much, much more often? I am fed up with Thome and believe he is here only to pad his statistics and that is failing him as well as his BA.

# re: June 1: Rays 4, White Sox 3

Monday, June 02, 2008 10:34 AM by Jim Margalus
Playing softball, I would often try to go to opposite field because that's where the weakest defender would inevitably play. And I would inevitably dip my back shoulder, drop the bat head, and pop it up to second.

The only time I could go to right was when I was late on something, or something was outside, or both. And that's softball -- not major-league pitching. And with a track record far inferior to Thome's.

He's a different case than Konerko, Dye, etc., who have shown the ability to use all fields but steer away from it, even as their advancing age requires it more often. Thome had tremendous success with that approach as recently as September 2007 -- or Spring 2008. It's not like he's been battling it for years. For whatever reason, it's not working.

It seems like he's trying to go to opposite field, because he's fouling a lot more balls back and to the left, but if you're going to demand an established major-league hitter recalibrate his entire approach on the fly and have success with it, there's little to zero chance you're going to be happy. Thome's skills are declining, but major-league pitchers' skills on the whole remain the same.

He's getting old, and this could very well be him hitting a wall. I don't see that as an indictment of his character or motives, and if I did, I sure as hell wouldn't watch Major League Baseball. I'd stick to independent leagues, where they're getting paid $500 a month and are kicked out once they're older than 25. Sure, it's bad baseball, but at least you don't have anybody who has the nerve to establish a successful style and/or get old.