2008 State of the Sox

July 31: Twins 10, White Sox 6

In hindsight, John Danks probably should've been pulled when Ozzie Guillen pulled his players off the field after Minnesota Twins fans began chucking crap on the field protesting Ron Gardenhire's ejection spurned by Gardenhire's protest of a blown call.

He had pitched six innings, had a 4-3 lead and just hit Denard Span with a 1-1 pitch.  But A.J. Pierzynski appealed to first base, saying Span didn't pull the bat back on a bunt attempt, and won the call.

Of course, Danks went on to walk Span.  That would be the last batter he faced, and of course he came around to score when Matt Thornton threw a wild pitch and Joe Mauer shot a single through Orlando Cabrera.  Jason Kubel would hit a three-run homer off Octavio Dotel, and that was the ballgame, though Jermaine Dye protested with a two-run homer to cut the lead to one.  Nick Swisher couldn't scoop a couple low throws, which led to three more runs.

The Sox had a 4-0 lead thanks to a two-run Jim Thome shot and a two-run Pierzynski single, but Justin Morneau's three-run homer cut it to a one-run game.

Record: 60-47 | Box score | Play-by-play

July 30: White Sox 8, Twins 3

Carlos Quentin delivered the first blow, then followed up with the biggest one as Gavin Floyd dominated the Twins for what could best be described as a palette-cleansing victory.

Quentin gave Floyd a 1-0 lead with a solo homer, but he'd save his greatest two-out theatrics for the fourth inning.  After the Sox loaded the bases, with an Alexei Ramirez single, a perfect hit-and-run with Josh Fields and an Orlando Cabrera walk, A.J. Pierzynski hit a liner right at Delmon Young to put the Sox in a dreaded two-out, runners-in-scoring-position situation.

The Sox had been 0-for-8 in such scenarios this series, but Quentin got the Sox off the schneid and Pierzynski off the hook with a first-pitch double to left-center that cleared the bases and gave the Sox a 5-0 lead.

Floyd appeared to be on the verge of pulling a Clayton Richard and squandering the lead in the fourth when Denard Span led off with a single and Floyd walked Nick Punto, bringing Joe Mauer to the plate with Justin Morneau on deck.  But he got a grounder right to Cabrera near second base, and he stepped on second before firing to first for a 6-3 double play.  Justin Morneau drove in the only run Floyd allowed with a double, but the biggest trouble had passed.

From that point on, it was smooth sailing.  Ramirez came through with two outs and two on with his ninth homer of the year, while Floyd sat down 13 of 14 Twins.  He departed the game in the eighth when Cabrera changed his mind on a grounder to short and ended up throwing Ramirez a no-look pass he wasn't ready for, extending the inning.  But Matt Thornton ended the drama by getting Punto to ground out to third.

Record: 60-46 | Box score | Play-by-play

July 29: Twins 6, White Sox 5

Clayton Richard faced a make-or-break point in his 2008 season in the fifth inning.  It broke him.

Cruising through four innings, Richard hit a wall in the fifth, allowing five runs before getting pulled with two outs.  Unfortunately, the heartbreak happened long before Justin Morneau hit a three-run double to give the Twins the lead -- because that was the third time in the inning Richard was ahead with two strikes that inning and failed to get the job done.

And the first two times, he faced far worse hitters.  He threw three straight out of the zone against Brendan Harris after Brian Anderson couldn't hang on to Mike Redmond's flare to put two on with nobody out, and then did the same thing to Denard Span in between a Carlos Gomez RBI single.

When Morneau crushed the 2-2 fastball, Richard had reaped what he had sown.  And maybe Jermaine Dye blew that play by getting turned around, but 1) that ball was smoked, and 2) a shorter outfielder may not have had a chance.

The bullpen ultimately did a good job, but Joe Mauer's RBI single provided a key insurance run.  Nick Swisher hit a broken-bat blast off Joe Nathan in the ninth, but it ultimately didn't matter with the two-run lead.

It's only a hard loss because the Sox had built a quick 4-0 lead off Glen Perkins.  They manufactured a run in the first when Orlando Cabrera singled, got to second on a balk, to third on Anderson's fly ball, and home on Carlos Quentin's chopper for a 1-0 lead.

They added two in the second on Josh Fields' two-run double down the left-field line, and Anderson homered in the fifth to give Richard his biggest cushion.  It was Anderson's first homer in a park not named U.S. Cellular or Safeco Field.

But Anderson then couldn't hang on after diving for Redmond's duck-snort in the fifth, then overthrew the cutoff man after Gomez's single, allowing Gomez to get an extra base.  His inning summed up the Sox's night pretty nicely.

Record: 59-46 | Box score | Play-by-play

July 28: Twins 7, White Sox 0

Since I was too busy losing money at Saratoga during the day and watching the world's slowest grounds crew at the ValleyCats game at night, I didn't even catch a pitch of this game.

Seems like I didn't miss much.  Mark Buehrle was whacked around by the Twins, allowing Denard Span's first homer -- he likes allowing first career homers or first Twins homers this year -- and Justin Morneau took him deep as well.

Outside of Ehren Wassermann, who threw two scoreless innings in relief, is there any reason to not use this picture?



Speak now or forever hold your peace.

Record: 59-45 | Box score | Play-by-play

July 27: Tigers 6, White Sox 4

I only caught about two innings of this game, here are the fact.  Feel free to elaborate on the nuances:

*Javier Vazquez lasted seven innings, but they weren't particularly good: 11 hits, two walks, two homers, only three strikeouts.

*Jermaine Dye had another strong ballgame, doubling, homering and drawing a walk.

*Juan Uribe, who, in his last two games, hit two doubles and drew two walks, had one apiece.

*Dye and A.J. Pierzynski hit solo homers, which was the only offense the Sox could muster against Zach Miner.

*Jim Thome flipped an opposite-field single to left with the bases loaded in the eighth to make it a ballgame.

*Fernando Rodney struck out the side to end the ninth, and Nick Swisher, Alexei Ramirez and Uribe all swung at ball four.

Record: 59-44 | Box score | Play-by-play

July 26: White Sox 7, Tigers 6

Bobby Jenks almost capped a white-knuckled affair in calming fashion.  He had retired Edgar Renteria and Brandon Inge on first-pitch pop-ups, then had Curtis Granderson down 0-2.

But Granderson worked the count full, doubled, and a tense game was going to have a tense finish -- especially when Jenks fell behind 2-0 to the next batter, Placido Polanco.

Polanco swung at ball three, and Jenks regained his rhythm.  The count went full, but Jenks fanned Polanco to end the game.

Still, it was a relatively quiet end for a game that featured plenty of thunder.

The Sox only scored in two innings, but they were big ones -- a four-run third, and a three-run fifth.  Those outbursts were the fruit of a patient plate approach against Justin Verlander, who, unlike the last time he faced the Sox, could not get ahead of hitters.

Orlando Cabrera started the third with a double to the left-center gap, and A.J. Pierzynski stuck his bat out on a low changeup and flipped it into center to tie the game at one.  Carlos Quentin then absolutely pummeled a pitch well into the left field stands, and Jermaine Dye muscled another one into the bullpen to go back-to-back.

The same part of the order sent Verlander packing in the fifth.  A.J. Pierzynski led off with a single, Carlos Quentin walked, and Jermaine Dye shot a single through the right side to give the Sox their lead bcak after John Danks couldn't hold it.  In came Bobby Seay, and Jim Thome took him the other way to score Quentin and make it a 6-4 game, and Nick Swisher hit a sac fly to center for one more.

That would prove to be enough for the Sox, though it became an adventure.  Danks settled down after his three-run third -- with one run aided by an Alexei Ramirez throwing error -- with a 3-2 mistake to Magglio Ordonez as the only other run he allowed.  He left the ballgame with a 7-5 lead, and the bullpen would hold it ... barely.

D.J. Carrasco retired two of the three hitters he faced, including sawing off Marcus Thames like I hadn't seen before.  The barrel of the bat flew out to Orlando Cabrera, while the ball literally traveled two feet or so.  Renteria singled, but Inge flew out to center for the second out.

But Boone Logan forgot how to retire lefties, and gave up a single to Granderson to put runners on the corners.  In came Octavio Dotel, who walked Polanco to load the bases.  He battled fiercely with Carlos Guillen, but a wild pitch made it a one-run game.  A low, inside slider finally sent Guillen packing, and Dotel recorded a 1-2-3 eighth to make up for it.

Record: 59-43 | Box score | Play-by-play

July 25: White Sox 6, Tigers 5

For the second straight game, Carlos Quentin managed to come up huge in a late inning situation.  Better yet, Jermaine Dye managed to top him.

On a two-out, 0-2 pitch from Todd Jones, Quentin poked a single through the right side to extend the inning.  Dye followed with a blast to right-center that cut through the wind and landed in the first few rows to turn a White Sox defeat into a big series- and road-trip-opening victory.

The Sox had lost their first 38 games this season when trailing after eight innings, but Bobby Jenks' easy 1-2-3 ninth inning put something in the win column.

Dye's homer let Nick Masset and Ozzie Guillen off the hook -- Masset for giving up a go-ahead homer to Carlos Guillen on a 2-0 count in the seventh inning, and Ozzie Guillen for using Masset after the Sox had worked so hard to tie the game.

(Note: I just read that Matt Thornton and Scott Linebrink were unavailable, which made using Masset more excusable.  Still would've preferred Carrasco, or even Octavio Dotel.)

This game had the shades of the series opener in Comerica Park last June, with Nate Robertson doing just enough on the mound despite allowing plenty of baserunners, and the Sox playing some poor defense.

Carlos Guillen's excellent takeout slide led to the first Detroit run of the game and a throwing error by Orlando Cabrera, an excuseable miscue.  Two other misplays in the third inning were costlier.

Miguel Cabrera hit a shot down the left-field line to make it a 3-1 game, but an excellent carom gave Quentin a legitimate chance of throwing Cabrera out at second -- had he seen him.  He looked to third first, then saw the play at second, and he ended up getting the ball to second a hair too late, giving the Tigers an extra out.

After an intentional walk, Josh Fields' first error of the season in his first game of the season turned what should've been a double play ball -- or at least a force at home -- into another run with everybody safe.  But Floyd manned up and got another double play ball off the bat of Ivan Rodriguez, and that was turned.

That would be the last run scored off Floyd, who lasted six innings and rebounded well enough after seven walks in his previous outing.  He showed more toughness in the fifth.  With runners on the corners and one out, Floyd threw the perfect 3-2 curve to get Matt Joyce swinging.  Miguel Cabrera was running on the play, and A.J. Pierzynski threw to second with Cabrera nowhere close.  Magglio Ordonez chose to get caught in a pickle, and he was tagged out to end the inning.

Fields redeemed himself in the seventh, leading the inning off with a single and setting the table for a very productive one-two punch of the No. 9-1 hitters, Alexei Ramirez and Orlando Cabrera.  Ramirez flared a single to center, and Cabrera came through with a first-pitch RBI single off Joel Zumaya that put runners on the corners.

Cabrera made his presence felt on the basepaths.  When A.J. Pierzynski hit a fly to center that Ramirez could tag on, Cabrera tagged as well, making it to second just ahead of the throw.  That turned out to be huge, because two batters later with two outs, Cabrera would go for third on a pitch that got away from Rodriguez.  Not only was he safe, but Rodriguez's throw went into left field, and Cabrera came out to score to tie the game.

Cabrera and Ramirez teamed up for the first run of the game, too, with Ramirez doubling to put runners on second and third with one out.  Cabrera followed with an RBI single to left.  Combined, the middle infielders went 5-for-8 with a walk, two runs scored and two RBI.

Record: 58-43 | Box score | Play-by-play

July 23: White Sox 10, Rangers 8

Carlos Quentin evened a couple things out for the Sox Thursday afternoon.  His three-run homer capped off a comeback from a four-run deficit to ensure a split homestand, and also gave Ozzie Guillen the last laugh in his war of words with C.J. Wilson.

Wilson, who drew Guillen's with his post-strikeout celebration during the series in Arlington, came in the ballgame to face Quentin in an 8-7 game with two on and two out.  Carlos cleared the bases with his second homer off the game, and Bobby Jenks pitched around a leadoff walk to Josh Hamilton for his 19th save.

Unfortunately, Ozize wasn't around to enjoy the revenge.  He was tossed by home plate umpire Rob Drake in the seventh after arguing balls and strikes after Nick Swisher got a second pitch well off the outside corner called against him.

Quentin's first homer of the game was a first-pitch shot off Warner Madrigal in the fifth that bounced off the top of the wall, which got a run back in the fifth.  However, Boone Logan's continued struggles appeared to have put the game out of reach when he allowed a two-run single, one batter after Alexei Ramirez made a fantastic flip with his glove to Paul Konerko's bare hand on a slow roller, to make it an 8-4 game.  But the Sox stormed back.

Jermaine Dye made it an 8-5 game with a two-out RBI double in the seventh to drive in Orlando Cabrera, one batter after Quentin grounded into a double play.  One inning later, Konerko would start it off with a double off Eddie Guardado.  Ramirez ripped a liner to left to make it 8-6, and the rally would restart after Toby Hall popped out.

Juan Uribe singled through the middle, then made it to second after a big turn, realizing that nobody would hold him at first with the first baseman serving as the cutoff man.  Cabrera nearly gave the Sox the lead, but David Murphy caught the ball at the wall.  Still, Ramirez scored to cut the lead to 8-7.  Swisher drew his second consecutive walk, and that set the table for Quentin.

Once again, Quentin only needed one pitch.  He got a knee-high fastball and blasted it into the bleachers to give the Sox a 10-8 lead.  After returning to the dugout, he took a well-deserved curtain call.

He also took Clayton Richard off the hook.  Richard did well enough in his first start, and I'll go into it with more detail on Sox Machine, but it looked a little like Mark Buehrle's early starts.  Some bad luck, some bad pitches, and some bad defense.  The Sox made four miscues behind him, though only three would go for errors.  The fourth was an errant D.J. Carrasco pickoff throw that Konerko should've caught.

The errors:

• Uribe made a nice play, lunging to his right to pick a grounder toward the line.  But then he made a terrible throw to first, and Milton Bradley advanced to second -- although a good throw from Konerko would've gotten him.  It wasn't a good throw, either.
• Ramirez not only dropped Dye's throw with two outs when a runner was held at third, but he couldn't find the handle.  Murphy scored the tying run, and Richard ended up retiring Michael Young to end the inning.
• Hall dropped a foul pop-up, though it came at no real cost.
• Richard picked off Murphy, but Konerko's throw to second was high, or Ramirez was late getting to second.  That cost Richard a run, because Ian Kinsler and Michael Young followed with singles.

On the other hand, along with the Ramirez flip, Dye made a nice diving catch toward the right-field line to take away a double in the eighth.  Strange day for the Sox defense to say the least.

Record: 57-43 | Box score | Play-by-play

July 22: White Sox 10, Rangers 2

Mark Buehrle may never have No. 1 starter stuff, but he turned in an ace performance tonight.  He stymied the Rangers on three days' rest, while the offense found its groove to end a three-game losing streak.

Buehrle worked all parts of the plate, and, more importantly, worked his way out of early trouble before the Sox blew the game open.

After stranding a pair of runners after a pair of singles in the first, Buehrle faced a bigger test in the second.  Hank Blalock led off with a triple on a rare Nick Swisher misplay in center.  He wasn't sure whether to go for the ball or pull up, making the decision too late.  The ball caromed high off the wall and rolled back towards the infield as Blalock rolled into third to put Buehrle in a pickle.

Buehrle rebounded by pitching inside.  He jammed Brandon Boggs for a weak grounder to third, jammed Chris Davis for a weak comebacker that he handled, and jammed Jarrod Saltalamacchia for a flare to second to end the frame unscored upon.

The Sox would give him ample run support off Luis Mendoza, who shut down the Sox his first time around.  Two-out rallies were the name of the game tonight:

First inning: Carlos Quentin draws a two-out walk, then scores from first on a Jermaine Dye skipped down the third-base line.  He was running on the pitch, and scored as the throw home was well off the plate.

Fourth inning:  Nick Swisher extended the lead to 4-0 earlier in the inning with a big three-run homer, but the Sox picked up another one.  Juan Uribe reignited the engine with a double to the right-center gap, and while he should've scored when Orlando Cabrera's grounder in the hole escaped a diving Michael Young, A.J. Pierzynski picked him up with a single through the right side.

Seventh inning:  With a 6-0 lead, Jim Thome drew a two-out walk, the fourth time he reached in four plate appearances (he'd walked and singled twice).  Paul Konerko finally did something by flipping a single to center, and after Swisher walked on four pitches, Alexei Ramirez cleared the bases with his first grand slam.

Buehrle left in the eighth to a standing ovation, and although the bullpen allowed another run thanks to Matt Thornton's bases-loaded walk, it was a satisfying victory all the way around.  A good way to cleanse the pallete after what had been a run of ugly baseball.

Record: 56-44 | Box score | Play-by-play

July 21: Rangers 6, White Sox 1

It's the kind of pitches like the one thrown to Josh Hamilton tonight that keep Javier Vazquez from being considered a front-line starter.

Don't get me wrong -- Vazquez pitched well tonight, especially in comparison to his previous several outings.  There was just something about that pitch and the events leading up to it that drive me insane.

The situation: Two outs, runner on second, Michael Young up, Hamilton on deck.  What's the one thing Vazquez shouldn't do?  Walk him.  What did he do?  Walk him.  Granted, the 3-2 pitch was very close (if not a strike in the wide zone), but he fell behind 3-1 to begin with.

So there are two on and two out, with the league's leading RBI guy at the plate.  He falls behind Hamilton 2-0, which isn't a crime in and of itself because, as mentioned, Hamilton is the league leader in RBI.  There's a base open -- not open-open, but open enough -- so being careful is advisable.

It's the 2-0 cookie that grinds my gears.  Hamilton launched it roughly 425 feet to dead center to give the Rangers a 3-0 lead, and the Sox wouldn't really threaten it.

Javy pitched well -- he struck out 10 and only allowed six baserunners in seven innings -- but those are the kind of pitches and series of events that explain why Vazquez has constantly underperformed his peripherals.

That said, he would've had to turn in a gargantuan effort tonight, because Scott Feldman and Co. shut down the Sox offense.  Part of it was luck -- one of the three double plays they grounded into was a lucky pick, and they had a handful of warning-track shots -- but there wasn't much of a pulse otherwise.

Also, Boone Logan and Nick Masset once again threw gasoline on the fire.  Maintaining his recent percentage, Logan retired only three of the seven batters he faced and allowed a back-breaking two-run shot to lefty Hank Blalock.

Record: 55-43 | Box score | Play-by-play

July 20: Royals 8, White Sox 7

John Danks, truly off his game for the first time since April, received a strong showing from the offense for the second consecutive start.  Unfortunately, the bullpen couldn't say the same.

The Sox rallied from deficits of 4-0, 5-2, and 6-5 to back Danks, who had no secondary pitches and left fastballs up in the zone all day long.  But after grabbing their final lead in the seventh, the Sox bullpen blew it in the eighth, with most of the blame falling squarely on the shoulders of Matt Thornton.

Octavio Dotel hit Jose Guillen in the hand, and he stole second to put a runner in scoring position with two outs for Ross Gload.  Ozzie Guillen called for Thornton for some lefty-on-lefty action, and Thorndog immediately blew the advantage by walking Gload on five pitches.  A double to Sox-killing Esteban German later, the Royals had an 8-7 lead they wouldn't relinquish.

It spoiled a fine effort from Sox hitters, who repeatedly came up big with two outs.

Carlos Quentin sparked the first-inning rally after Brian Bannister retired the first two hitters, muscling a single over Mark Grudzielanek's head.  Jermaine Dye and Jim Thome followed with singles for the game's first run, and after Paul Konerko was hit by a pitch, Nick Swisher walked to cut the deficit in half.

Konerko started another two-out fire in the fourth with a single.  Swisher backed him up with a single, and Joe Crede brought them both in with a three-run homer into the left field seats to tie the game at 5.

Swisher would give the Sox a 7-6 lead with a two-run homer into the right-field seats, two batters after Thome led off the seventh with a double down the left field line for the 2000th hit of his career.

However, a bad decision by Jeff Cox thwarted the Sox from tying the game once again in the eighth.  With A.J. Pierzynski on second and one out, Brian Anderson -- who entered for Dye after a pitch hit him in the kneecap in the fourth -- shot a single through the left side.

Maybe Cox thought Pierzynski was faster than he is.  Or maybe he thought German was in left field instead of rifleman Jose Guillen.  Whatever the case may be, Guillen got the ball before A.J. had rounded third and had an extremely easy assist at home, keeping it an 8-7 game.  Thome then struck out to end the inning.

If there was a bright spot from the bullpen, it was the work of Bobby Jenks, who came in for the first time since going on the DL and worked an easy 1-2-3 inning.  D.J. Carrasco also pitched three important innings in relief of Danks, but it was soured some by the fact that he missed intentionally hitting Billy Butler in retaliation for the plunking of Dye, who was hit for the second time in the series, and was the fifth Kansas City HBP in only three days.  A warning was issued to both teams even though Carrasco missed, and Ozzie Guillen didn't look happy in the dugout.

Record: 55-42 | Box score | Play-by-play

July 19: Royals 9, White Sox 1

A few notes, as I have an early tee time:

*Joe Crede's 19th error foreshadowed the end to a Gavin Floyd-Gil Meche pitchers' duel, as John Buck followed up with a homer to provide all the runs the Royals needed.  Otherwise, Floyd pitched well.

*Billy Butler may as well call himself Mike Sweeney.

*The back end of the bullpen partied like it was 2007.

*Alexei Ramirez hit his first triple, one of only two White Sox hits on the night.

*Toby Hall appeared as a pinch runner.

Record: 55-41 | Box score | Play-by-play

July 18: White Sox 9, Royals 5

Technically speaking, the Sox had this game won in the first inning.  Hell, they had it won after 20 pitches.

Orlando Cabrera met Zack Greinke with a first-pitch single.  So did A.J. Pierzynski on a hit-and run.  Carlos Quentin was plunked with a first pitch, and Jermaine Dye singled two home on a first-pitch to give the Sox a 2-1 lead on four pitches.

Jim Thome made it 3-1 on six pitches.  Paul Konerko upped it to 4-1 with a rocket off Alex Gordon's mitt on pitch No. 7.  The rest came a bit more slowly, but after a Nick Swisher single, a Joe Crede single and an Alexei Ramirez sac fly, the Sox had a 6-1 lead.

That would be all Mark Buehrle needed, as he cruised after allowing his usual unearned run in the first after Alexei mishandled a two-out grounder by trying to make the exchange from glove to hand between his legs.  A blooper to right, the Royals had a 1-0 lead. 

That was the only hit Buehrle allowed through five innings.  The only baserunner reached on Crede's 18th error, a ball that shorthopped him in the arm.  Nick Swisher made a nice running catch on the warning track, but otherwise, Buehrle jammed Kansas City for most of the night.

The lone exception was the sixth, when David DeJesus and Mark Teahan singles preceded a Billy Butler blast to cut the lead to 7-4, making it slightly uncomfortable for a short bit.  But the Sox rebounded with two runs in the bottom of the sixth thanks to plate patience.  A Dye single, walk by Thome and a Konerko plunking set the stage for Swisher, who worked a walk so tough he thought he struck out jogging halfway down the line.  Crede added a deep sac fly for the Sox's final run.

Though the Sox didn't get a hit with runners in scoring position, it was vastly optimal compared to the first time the Sox had the sacks packed and nobody out.  Dye and Thome had chased Greinke by working back-to-back walks that required Greinke to throw 23 pitches between them.  But in came Joel Peralta, and the Sox had no answer for him.  Konerko popped out, Swisher struck out, and Crede flew out meekly to end the inning with the Royals unscored upon.

Record: 55-40 | Box score | Play-by-play

July 13: Rangers 12, White Sox 11

I'm ready for four days off.

Record: 54-40 | Box score | Play-by-play

July 12: White Sox 9, Rangers 7

John Danks finally got a big showing of run support, and he and his relievers needed a lot of it to close out a victory that was closer than it needed to be.  Danks dominated for most of the day until tiring in the eighth, and the White Sox lineup finally packed some punch with the lefty on the mound.

After squandering a couple of bases-loaded situations in the first two innings and having nothing but a 1-1 tie to show for it, Danks appeared to be in for another tough day.  The Sox finally broke out of a 2-2 tie in a big way in the sixth.

Alexei Ramirez began with a surprise bunt single, and Orlando Cabrera followed with a walk.  They would both score two batters later on Carlos Quentin's single, with Cabrera blowing through a Jeff Cox and scoring somewhat easily with the throw off the line.

Jermaine Dye's single put runners on the corners, and Jim Thome scored Quentin with a double to right for a 5-2 lead.

They didn't let up -- Thome hit a two-run homer, and Paul Konerko made it back-to-back in the eighth to cap off a 4-for-4 day.  In the ninth, Ramirez singled, stole second, advanced to third on the throwing error and came home on a Cabrera fly ball.

Those insurance runs would prove key, because the Rangers would chip away.  Danks was rocked in the eighth, giving up a couple big doubles/near homers, and Josh Hamilton's RBI single would make it a 9-5 game.  That brought an end to his night, and after Octavio Dotel walked a batter, Boone Logan kept it a 9-5 game by keeping David Murphy in the park to end the inning on a deep flyball to Brian Anderson.

The Rangers kept hitting the ball hard in the ninth.  Logan was chased after a couple big drives to center, resulting in a double and a triple.  In came Matt Thornton, who was greeted with a cheap double over Nick Swisher's head for a 9-6 game.  After a strikeout, Ian Kinsler made it 9-7 with an RBI single to bring the tying run to the plate.

Thornton struck out Michael Young for the second out, and then got Hamilton, the league's leading run producer, to hit a grounder to second. Ramirez ranged far to his right, then made a throw across his body to Swisher, who needed every inch of his stretch to catch the ball before Hamilton touched the bag to end the game.

Other notes:

• The first run Danks allowed was a no-doubt shot to Milton Bradley on a changeup, but the second run should've been unearned.  Joe Crede was spared an error after misplaying a hop, but it was ruled a hit.
• Jermaine Dye hit a triple -- even though he started to slow down going to second.
• Jim Thome hit his 18th homer of the year, a mighty blow to center.

Record: 54-39 | Box score | Play-by-play

July 11: Rangers 7, White Sox 2

It continues to be a tough year for Gavin Floyd, the highly touted first-round draft pick.  After experiencing success in his first big-league stint as a September call-up last year, Floyd has hit hard times in his second go-around.

Tonight was no different, in an interleague game against the Texas Rangers.  Despite getting two first-pitch outs, he still needed 25 pitches to get through the first inning thanks to two walks, and Texas taxed him for 24 in the second, damaging him with a solo homer in the process.

The wheels ultimately came off in the third.  The first five batters reached, punctuated by a Gary Matthews RBI double and a two-run homer by Richard Hidalgo.  He had abysmal control, and on top of that, worse luck.  When he did get a weakly hit ball, it ended up being an infield single after Jimmy Rollins was unsuccessful trying to get the runner at third.  Incidentally, that extended Alfonso Soriano's hit streak to 23 games.

Floyd finished his day by walking in a run, his seventh free pass on the day to go along with six hits.

Another much-maliged Phillie, Jim Thome, provided a highlight in his toughest year in baseball with a towering shot to left.  He also hit into a 7-2 double play, when Pat Burrell was thrown out at home trying to turn it into a sacrifice fly.

Record: 53-39 | Box score | Play-by-play

July 10: Royals 4, White Sox 1

The White Sox finally discovered how to out-suck the Kansas City Royals.

They just had to wait long enough.

One defensive miscue led to Mark Buehrle's demise, and another added an extra degree of embarrassment as the Sox dropped their first to Kansas City all season.

Buehrle had been on the winning side of a pitcher's duel with Zack Greinke, in which the only run was provided by Jermaine Dye's 20th homer of the year.

When John Buck led off with a single to start the eighth, that itself wasn't a big deal.  Buehrle had battled through baserunners all night long, and just as he had done once before, Buehrle got a grounder that should've been a double play.  It glanced off his glove to Orlando Cabrera, who flipped to Alexei Ramirez to force out pinch-running Joey Gathright.

But Ramirez's throw to first went off the tip of Paul Konerko's glove as he tried to hold the bag, giving the Royals an extra baserunner and an extra one to work with.  Mike Aviles made the Sox pay when when he hammered a first pitch curveball past Joe Crede and into the left field corner to tie the game.

Octavio Dotel, who had been so good the night before, got Mark Grudzielanek to pop out.  But he'd falter, too, giving up a double to the center field wall to Jose Guillen to give the Royals the lead.

But they weren't done.  In came Boone Logan, and Mark Teahan greeted him with a 3-2 blast to the wall in right-center.  It looked to be a triple, but Ramirez hesitated on the relay throw, and Luis Silverio waved Teahan home.  Ramirez fired it to the plate, but it was to the first base side, and Teahan got his hand in before Pierzynski could dive back to the plate for the inside-the-park homer.

Joakim Soria finished the job, retiring the Sox 1-2-3 for the save.  The Sox only managed six hits, and although they got the leadoff hitter on base several times over the course of the evening with singles, they couldn't advance him.

Record: 53-38 | Box score | Play-by-play

July 9: White Sox 7, Royals 6

We hold these truths to be self-evident:

No. 1:  Once again, it's damn near impossible to out-suck the Royals.
No. 2:  Adam Russell should change his name to Parker Lewis, because he can't lose.

I missed most of the game, because four days after the Wimbledon final, Serena Williams was playing in Albany of all places.  But here's what I understand this far:

1. Carlos Quentin did well (two two-run homers).
2. Paul Konerko was awful (four strikeouts).
3. Orlando Cabrera and Jermaine Dye had words in the dugout, possibly for Cabrera distracting Dye by dancing off second base in an effort to distract only the pitcher, and then stealing third.
4. But he came around to score, and Quentin scored the go-ahead run on a balk.
   
5. Javier Vazquez was bad, and put the Sox in a holes of 5-0 and 6-2.
   
6. The bullpen was good.
   
7. Octavio Dotel, the closer du jour, struck out the side.

I'm going to watch the rest of the game while writing on Sox Machine, so help me fill in the gaps if I missed anything.

Record: 53-37 | Box score | Play-by-play

July 8: White Sox 8, Royals 7 (13 innings)

Well, the Sox needed a three-run comeback, a two-run sacrifice fly, two save opportunities, some officiating in their favor and an amazing escape by Nick Magic, but they managed to take the first game of the road trip.

As we found out last year, sometimes it's just impossible to out-suck the Royals.

After Scott Linebrink blew a two-run lead in the 10th, the Sox regained the lead thanks to the rarest of things for Ozzie Guillen's club -- a perfect hit-and-run.  After Alexei Ramirez led off with a single, he took off on a 2-1 pitch as Orlando Cabrera sliced it over the second-base hole and into the right-center gap.  Ramirez scored all the way from first to make it an 8-7 ballgame.

In came Nick Masset, and because he has to make everything difficult, he started it off with a leadoff walk.  He managed to strike out David DeJesus, but Mike Aviles followed with an opposite-field single to put runners on the corners.  He walked Alex Gordon to load the bases for Mark Grudzielanek.

Grudzielanek had the reputation of killing the Sox, but this time the wound was self-inflicted.  He grounded to short, and Cabrera stepped on second before throwing to first for a White Sox winner, capping off a wild victory.

The Sox trailed for most of the game thanks to Jose Contreras and his missing forkball, but they managed to take the lead for the first time since the second inning in the 11th.  Once again, Ramirez and Cabrera played a big part.

The Sox had runners on first and second after singles by Joe Crede and Ramirez when Cabrera hit a nubber to second.  Instead of running behind Esteban German, Ramirez tried to speed in front of him before the ball arrived.  He clipped a charging German, but was not ruled for interference after German failed to field the ball cleanly to load the bases.

But that wouldn't be the only stroke of luck the Sox received.  The next batter, A.J. Pierzynski, hit a fly to deep right, and Joey Gathright and Mark Teahan collided in right-center.  Gathright held onto the ball, but his helicopter tumble on the warning track gave Ramirez enough time to score all the way from second for the rare two-run sacrifice fly to give the Sox a 7-5 lead.

Scott Linebrink gave it right back.  German singled, stole second and advanced to third, but Linebrink still had two outs and a 7-5 lead.  Aviles made it 7-6 with a single to left, and he'd come around to score on Teahan's double over Jermaine Dye's head in right.

The game featured some role reversal, as Dye and Carlos Quentin, two guys who carried the team, were absolutely lousy.  They combined to go 1-for-13.  Quentin had a first-inning single, but popped out twice with a runner on third and fewer than two outs, and also pulled up short on a flyball in fair territory as he incorrectly anticipated the wall.   He stranded six runners.  Dye went 0-for-6 with two strikeouts, and was the only starter without a hit.

Meanwhile, the much-maligned Jim Thome had a tremendous night as a rally starter.  He went 4-for-5 and came around to score three times.  The other time, his pinch-runner, Brian Anderson crossed the plate as the tying run on an eighth-inning sacrifice fly by Joe Crede.

Crede, too, came through in big ways.  Along with the sac fly, his massive solo homer to left made it a one-run game in the sixth -- and he also saved a run with the glove.

Jose Guillen led off the fifth by roping a Jermaine Dye triple down the right field line.  It wasn't the classic J.D. three-bagger, because he wasn't slow to get there.  Instead, he missed the cutoff man, and Guillen made it to third easily.

Contreras, although he couldn't locate his forkball all night long, wouldn't allow him to score, and Crede was a big reason why.  After Teahan hit a weak, shallow fly to left for one out, Crede flopped to stop a Billy Butler grounder to his right.  He held Guillen at third, then made a strong throw to first for the second out.  Another lazy fly to Quentin, and Contreras was out of the inning.

Dye aside, the Sox featured stellar defense all night long, with Crede handling some tough hops at third, Orlando Cabrera charging the ball well and Paul Konerko and Nick Swisher picking the ball well at first.

Konerko, in his first game back, did show a little rust when he and Contreras confused each other as to who was covering first on a grounder to second, and that run would come around to score.  But he had an ultimately successful return, going 1-for-3 with two hard-hit balls and a tough walk.

Record: 52-37 | Box score | Play-by-play

July 6: White Sox 4, Athletics 3

John Danks flirted with a no-hitter through five innings, but ended up lucky to get only his second decision in his last seven starts.  The Sox bullpen -- and Joe Crede -- made it scary, but the South Siders held on to salvage a split with Oakland and preserve a one-game lead in the AL Central heading into an off day.

Danks didn't allow a hit until Rajai Davis singled to left leading off a sixth, but he ran into trouble in the seventh inning, a place despite all his success he struggles to get to.  Part of it was due to his defense, and a ball got over Dewayne Wise's head leading off an inning and things went downhill from there.

Ozzie Guillen pulled Danks a single and a double, and he left after 6 1/3 innings and 106 pitchers with a 3-2 lead.  Of course, part of his inefficiency was due to striking out a career-high nine hitters, a problem I would take every time.

In came Octavio Dotel, and Joe Crede forced him to retire three batters instead of two to get out of the inning after letting a ball play him for his 17th error with two outs to load the bases.  But Dotel bailed him out by inducing a weak grounder to third, a play Crede successfull made to end the inning

The Sox manufactured a run in the eighth -- Wise doubled, Orlando Cabrera got him over to third, and A.J. Pierzynski drove him in with a sac fly -- and it proved to be crucial, as Scott Linebrink would run into trouble in the ninth.

The good news is that Linebrink didn't allow any hard-hit balls.  Jack Hannahan hit a soft single with one-out, and Crede made things tough again by unsuccessfully diving for a ball that may not have required a dive, resulting in another single.  Mark Ellis drove in Hannahan with a grounder up the middle, but Jack Cust flew out to right to end the game.

It was a more exciting ending than necessary for what was up until the seventh a very solid effort.  While Danks dominated, the Sox built a 3-1 lead off a wild but effective Rich Harden.

The Sox took advantage of a two-out error in the first inning, as a single and a walk loaded the bases for Crede.  Crede saw three pitches out of the zone, then Harden came back to even it 3-2.  After a foul ball, Crede took a high fastball for the game's first run. Nick Swisher just missed another slam, flying out to right to end the inning.

They padded the lead in the fourth, starting with a Crede single.  Swisher followed with a walk, and Alexei Ramirez found a high fastball to his liking and pushed it into right-center for a 2-0 lead.  Wise made it 3-0 with a sac fly.

Wise went 2-for-2 on the day, but cost the Sox a baserunner when he made a poor decision trying to stretch a routine single to center into a double.

Record: 51-37 | Box score | Play-by-play

July 5: White Sox 6, Athletics 1

Gavin Floyd picked up his 10th win, stopped a two-game losing streak and thwarted the always-tough Oakland A's in one night with 7 1/3 shutout innings, but it wasn't his best work.

Brian Anderson, on the other hand, enjoyed one of the greatest days of his White Sox career.  He gave Floyd much-needed breathing room with a two-run homer off Greg Smith.  It was a rare big hit for Anderson, especially considering the Sox blew a great scoring opportunity when Carlos Quentin popped up with runners on second and third and one out two innings prior.

Without Anderson's homer, it would've been another dreadful 1-0 lead.  And without Anderson and the rest of the Sox's stellar defense, that narrow of a lead could've been erased in a hurry.

BA himself had six putouts, many of them an average center fielder -- or worse, Rob Mackowiak -- probably wouldn't have made.  He ran down a Rajai Davis fly to right-center in the third that would've meant one run if it dropped, and made a couple other nice warning-track gap catches as well.

His catch of a line drive helped set up a play Floyd would make himself.  Following a single to center, Floyd snagged a comebacker and flipped to first for a 1-3, inning-ending double play.  Floyd snapped off a few good curves, especially in the early going, but he left a lot of pitches up all night.  This Oakland lineup just didn't make him pay.

The Sox offense, however, did enough damage off Smith and the Oakland bullpen to seal win No. 50.  Nick Swisher matched the Sox's run total the first time they saw Smith with a solo shot to left in the second inning, and they made him work hard all night, as Smith issued six walks.

Smith's last walk led to his departure, when Nick Swisher worked his way on base to lead off the sixth.  Alexei Ramirez would single, but the rally appeared to hit a wall when Toby Hall failed to lay down a sac bunt and flew out to center, the second time the Sox failed smallball.

Orlando Cabrera, however, would pick up Hall with a double down the third-base line that scored Swisher and Ramirez.  Ramirez himself had a terrific day, and he capped it off with a solo shot in the eighth to make it perfect, 3-for-3, one-walk performance.

Unfortunately, Scott Linebrink couldn't preserve the shutout, as Ryan Sweeney took a knee-high changeup over the wall in right-center.

Record: 50-37 | Box score | Play-by-play

July 4: Athletics 7, White Sox 1

After a full day of early-morning work and 18 holes of golf, I pretty much slept during a large part of the game, waking up when there was noise.

I did see Dewayne Wise and Jermaine Dye make nice throws from the outfield, though only Dye's ended up in an outfield assist.  Wise got hosed by a bad call.

I did see Carlos Quentin score on Jim Thome's double, which was a gift run since Mark Ellis didn't know Quentin was going for it.  If Ellis threw home, he would've been out easily.

I did see them fail to catch up to many 89-m.p.h. fastballs, and get under/on top of many hanging curves.

Mark Buehrle looked off.

Nick Masset looked worse.

If there's anything else I missed, let me know.

Record: 49-37 | Box score | Play-by-play

July 3: Athletics 3, White Sox 2

Javier Vazquez and Justin Duchscherer each had two bad innings.  The A's just did a better job capitalizing on the second one, and that provided the margin.

The Sox struck early against Duchscherer, with Dewayne Wise leading off with a homer.  A.J. Pierzynski doubled, advanced to third on Carlos Quentin's deep fly to center, and scored on Jermaine Dye's hustle double for a quick 2-0 lead.

For a while, that looked like all the offense Vazquez would need, as he struck out the first four hitters and had seven K's after three.

Nope.  His perfect game bid ended with a two-out HBP in the fourth on a 1-1 fastball, and Jack Cust knotted it up with a homer over the bullpen in right field.

Both pitchers would stumble again in the fourth.  The Sox had runners on the corners and one out after a Dye single, a walk to Thome and Joe Crede's flyball.  But Nick Swisher hit a rocket right at Daric Barton, who stepped on first for the double play.

Javier Vazquez followed up by allowing another two-out homer, this one by Donnie Murphy, to provide the winning margin.  The Sox would kinda threaten a couple times the rest of the night, but not enough to say they blew any opportunities.  A's pitching did its job.

Javy threw the Sox's fourth complete-game loss of the year on 119 pitches.

Record: 49-36 | Box score | Play-by-play

July 2: White Sox 6, Indians 5 (10 innings)

Watching the White Sox bullpen the last two nights reminds me of the Family Guy episode where Death gets injured and Peter discovers he can't die.

Or, in this case, giving up a late-inning homer doesn't mean the end of the game.  One night after Matt Thornton nearly gave up a game-winning homer to Casey Blake in the 10th (it ended up merely being brief-lead-providing), Scott Linebrink decided to serve up another untimely gopher ball to Grady Sizemore that tied the game at 5.

It was the first of two curious decisions by Ozzie Guillen, both of which may have been altered by injury.  Boone Logan, who owns Sizemore to the tune of 0-for-9 with 4 K's, didn't get the call in the ninth or the 10th, when lefty Shin-Soo Choo led off.

Then again, he went to Adam Russell.  Though his head brushed the clouds and shook some rain loose, he managed to keep it together for a 1-2-3 inning.

A.J. Pierzynski's homer -- his second of the game -- would give him his second win in as many nights.  He scored the Sox's first run with a blast into right field off a C.C. Sabathia first pitch, and finished it with one to left on Masa Kobayashi's first pitch.

It capped off a successful night by the offense, who roughed up C.C. Sabathia early and late, providing relatively quick answers every time Cleveland threatened to build momentum.

Sure, they used the longball, as Pierzynski and Jermaine Dye homered in the first.  But they also found other ways to get runs across the plate.

None of them involved the bunt directly, but twice the Sox scored after botched sacrifice bunt attempts by Nick Swisher.  In the second, Swisher tried to bunt Pablo Ozuna to third with no outs, only to poke it foul.  He then swung away, and ended up with a shattered-bat single over Jhonny Peralta to give the Sox a 3-2 lead.

In the seventh, Swisher once again botched a bunt with Ozuna on second (after a Casey Blake error), except this time he hit it twice with his bat, and was therefore out.  His teammates picked him up.

After Alexei Ramirez reached with an infield single -- which was really another error by Blake, who dropped a hard liner -- Brian Anderson of all people drove them both in with a double off Sabathia to the left-center gap for a 5-4 lead.

Sizemore would foil it, and that was the story all evening.  The Cleveland center fielder scored four of the Indians' five runs, including the first of the game.  He reached on an infield single, advanced to second and scored two singles later.  He also reached on a leadoff walk, stole second and scored, and then left Jose Contreras with a bad taste in his mouth by homering with two outs in the Count's final inning of work.

Sizemore aside, Contreras pitched pretty well -- six innings, three earned runs.  Ozuna let a ball handcuff him and led to one unearned run, and Dye played a double into a triple.  Contreras pitched around that one, though, walking a tightrope with a groundout, walk, flyout and strikeout to end the inning.

Ultimately, There's not much room to complain.  Sabathia started, Sizemore brought his best, and the Sox still came away with the win and the sweep.  Everybody has to feel pretty good about this one.

Record: 49-35 | Box score | Play-by-play

July 1: White Sox 3, Indians 2 (10 innings)

Thank God for home-field advantage.

When Matt Thornton allowed the requisite last-inning homer by Casey Blake, it didn't end the game! The Sox had three more outs to work with!

And of course, the offense burned the first two when Joe Crede grounded out and Nick Swisher struck out, just to make it interesting.

Alexei Ramirez played the evening's first hero by launching a high fly on a 2-0 Joe Borowski that barely landed in the Sox bullpen, over the outstretched glove of Ben Francisco, to tie the game.

The Sox weren't done.  Dewayne Wise followed up with a single, then stole second on the first pitch.  That set it up for Orlando Cabrera, who came through with a line drive up the middle that drove in Wise for the win.

For 29/30ths of the evening, it looked like Ramirez's second-inning sacrifice fly would be the game's only run.  Cliff Lee kept the door shut after that, getting ahead in the count often by throwing two strikes for every ball.

The Sox only threatened once after that, when A.J. Pierzynski and Carlos Quentin singling to lead off the sixth.  Lee hunkered down and threw Jermaine Dye two nasty pitches before inducing a 5-4-3 double play to give him two outs.  Jim Thome popped up the first pitch he saw to end the inning.

John Danks matched him pitch-for-pitch, though.  His only mistake was a thigh-high fastball to Kelly Shoppach, who deposited it into the left-field stands for the only run he'd allow over eight innings, his longest start of the year.

While he struck out eight, he only used 98 pitches to do so.  I thought he could've started the ninth, as he had retired seven of the last eight batters he faced, with a Grady Sizemore single being the only exception.  Danks picked off Sizemore (on a balk) to immediately negate it, one of Danks' two pickoffs on the night.

When the ball was put into play, his defense helped him out.  Quentin made a couple nice catches in left field, and Swisher used cat-like reflexes to snag an absolute rocket off the bat of Shin-Soo Choo, one that could've meant extra bases and possibly a run.  Instead, it ended the seventh.

Record: 48-35 | Box score | Play-by-play