2008 State of the Sox

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