2008 State of the Sox

August 31: White Sox 4, Red Sox 2

Bobby Jenks had the luxury of a three-run lead in Fenway Park, which he managed to whittle down to two when Dustin Pedroia came to the plate.  Pedroia had managed to reach in 11 consecutive plate appearance, prompting Ozzie Guillen to both rant and rave about the Red Sox "jockey."  So, of course, he came to the plate representing the go-ahead run.

He tried to give the Red Sox a win with one swing, but it resulted in a harmless fly to shallow left that landed in Carlos Quentin's glove, and the White Sox avoided a sweep that looked inevitable after drubbings in the first two games.

Gavin Floyd played the role of stopper, allowing one run over 6 2/3 innings.  He worked out of trouble early on, leaving them loaded after a Jason Bay lineout in the first and stranding two runners in scoring position the following inning.  He eventually found his footing, while the Sox offense scraped together twice as many runs as they scored the first two games of the series combined.

Jim Thome tied Mickey Mantle with his 536th homer in the first, and came around to score on Paul Konerko's two-out double down the left-field line in the sixth.

Alexei Ramirez added another insurance run with an interesting slide in the ninth.  With the Missile on first, Joe Crede looped a double in the same place Konerko's went three innings prior.  Ramirez was running all the way, and managed to score ahead of a quality relay by sliding on his seat with his wrong foot forward.  He may have felt an extra stride would've cost him, and watching the replays, he probably was right about that.

Record: 77-59 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 30: Red Sox 8, White Sox 2

At least Missouri won.

Record: 76-59 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 29: Red Sox 8, White Sox 0

A.J. Pierzynski didn't show his best work in the sixth inning, and it transformed this evening from a ballgame into a laugher.

Pierzynski dropped a foul pop-up off the bat of Alex Cora leading off the inning, which of course turned into a single.  Javier Vazquez got the next two out, but after Horacio Ramirez failed to get a 3-2 call on a good breaking ball that should've struck out David Ortiz, the inning went to crap.

D.J. Carrasco hit Kevin Youkilis and gave up a double to Jason Bay to give the Red Sox a 7-0 lead, and that was that.

Of course, considering the White Sox offense only mustered two hits off Daisuke Matsuzaka, a great effort by the bullpen probably wouldn't have paid off, either.

Record: 76-58 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 27: Orioles 11, White Sox 3

John Danks simply didn't have it today, and the result was his second-shortest outing of the year.  He threw 93 pitches in only four innings, mainly because he had nothing but a fastball.

He only threw 12 changeups and three curves because neither were working, and out of 61 strikes, only three were swung on and missed.  Based on the large amount of pickoff throws he tried, I don't think he was comfortable in any way, shape or form.

The Sox offense didn't look any more settled.  Paul Konerko tied it with a big solo shot in the second, but the offense fizzled after the third, when Jim Thome singled home A.J. Pierzynski and was thrown out at second by Nick Markakis.

Pierzynski's baserunning was the brightest spot on the evening.  He was on first when Jermaine Dye hit a shot down the line.  Melvin Mora made a diving stab, got up and threw to first, where his only play was.  Pierzynski realized this and never stopped running, rounding second and making it to third with a slide.  If he doesn't make that move, he might not have scored on Thome's single -- although that run didn't end up mattering.

The Sox only mustered five hits all night off Radhames Liz, whom the Sox worked for five walks in 5 1/3 innings but couldn't find many other ways to strike.  Jermaine Dye's solo homer in the eighth was the only other run of the game, while Lance Broadway came in and took a beating for the rest of the game.

Record: 76-57 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 26: White Sox 8, Orioles 3

In his last start, Gavin Floyd failed to truly take advantage of a large lead.  He pitched well enough, but nibbling and battling limited him to six innings.

He fixed that problem this time around.  He needed only 98 pitches through eight masterful innings, including the first nine he faced as the White Sox slowly built a sizable lead beginning with  Nick Swisher's two-run homer.

Only Baltimore's best hitters -- Brian Roberts, Nick Markakis and Luke Scott -- combined for runs off Floyd, who shut down the rest of the O's lineup with little drama as the Sox piled on.

You know it's a good night when Toby Hall scores from first on a single.  After leading off with a single, Cabrera hit a liner with some loft to left-center.  Jay Payton missed it with a diving attempt, allowing the ball to get the wall.  Hall motored home, and Cabrera had an RBI triple and his third straight plate appearance resulting in a run.

Carlos Quentin racked up his 100th RBI in the same inning, once again making Payton miss on a dive for a double, one of two on the day.  Jermaine Dye, Paul Konerko and Ken Griffey Jr. had two hits apiece, and even Alexei Ramirez, who went hitless and stranded six runners, had at least a sac fly to his credit.

Record: 76-56 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 25: White Sox 4, Orioles 3

Just enough offense.  Just enough defense.  Just enough pitching.  Just enough luck.

After losing a game from three months ago earlier in the day, it'll do nicely.

Clayton Richard won his second straight game, rebounding after squandering the lead in a rocky third inning and finishing six for the second straight outing, good for his second straight quality start.

His defense giveth extra outs in that third.  Ken Griffey Jr. made an overdramatic running catch for the first out with a runner on second, but "swampy conditions" in center rendered him unable to catch a flyball in front of him to put runners on the corners, and two more singles later, the Orioles had a 3-2 lead.

But Joe Crede, in his first game back with the club, brought his good glove with him.  He snagged a hot liner in the sixth, then charged a ball and made a nice cross-body throw for a fielder's choice in the eighth which prevented a runner from reaching scoring position.

Meanwhile, the offense mustered just enough in support of Richard to win the game -- though half the runs came via some big help by the Orioles, in alternating fashion:

Orioles run: Jermaine Dye should've grounded out to short to end the first, but Juan Castro booted it and Alexei Ramirez crossed the plate.

Sox run:  Griffey came through with a big two-out double off lefty Chris Waters for a 2-0 lead in the fourth.

Orioles run:  Carlos Quentin called for time, but stepped back in the box when he realized his request wasn't granted.  This threw Waters off, and he fell off the mound and allowed Alexei Ramirez to score once again.

Sox run:  Jim Thome blasted his 535th homer to center to give the Sox a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

Octavio Dotel pitched well enough, and Matt Thornton cleaned up his small mess -- a leadoff single in the eighth.  Bobby Jenks shook off his struggles against Baltimore for his 26th save.

Record: 75-56 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 24: White Sox 6, Rays, 5 (10 innings)

MERRY CHRISTMAS, A.J. PIERZYNSKI!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, WHITE SOX!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, LAMPPOST!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, YOU OLD BUILDING AND LOAN!

Record: 74-55 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 23: Rays 5, White Sox 3

Ozzie Guillen had a decision to make after the White Sox offense did well enough against Scott Kazmir.  Jermaine Dye had homered twice, and Alexei Ramirez tripled and scored on a Juan Uribe sac fly to give Javier Vazquez a 3-1 lead.

Vazquez had also held up his end of the bargain, retiring the first 15 batters he saw and pitching seven strong innings.  Without a doubt he was starting the eighth -- he had only thrown 84 pitches -- but Guillen had to figure out when to pull him on the heels of a bullpen collapse Friday.

He didn't pull Vazquez after a leadoff single.  Nor a walk.  After a single that skittered under Juan Uribe's glove loaded the bases, Guillen finally had to go to the bullpen.  He called on the only guy who got the job done Friday -- Matt Thornton.

Of course, with the Sox facing the Rays, Thornton couldn't get anybody out, though he tried his damndest.  He walked in a run after a prolonged 13-pitch battle with Akinori Iwamura, in which he fouled off six straight with two strikes, then allowed an RBI "infield single" to B.J. Upton that tied the game -- it was a jam-shot liner that caught Cabrera on an in-between hop.

Thornton then gave up a second-pitch, two-run single to Carlos Pena that decided the game.  D.J. Carrasco retired all three guys he faced, but by then the game was in the books.

All in all, it might've been Cabrera's worst game as a member of the White Sox.  Along with the error, he went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and an inning-ending double play in the fifth.

Record: 73-55 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 22: Rays 9, White Sox 4

Pick a reliever, and he probably sucked tonight.  Well, except for Matt Thornton.

Thornton picked up John Danks after he gave up the lead in the seventh, striking out the two batters he didn't intentinoally walk.  But Octavio Dotel put it out of reach with awful relief work, and after Alexei Ramirez's two-run shot put the Sox within striking distance at 6-4, Horacio Ramirez and Adam Russell re-nailed the coffin shut.

Up until that point, the White Sox and Rays were competing to see who could strand runs more creatively.  The Sox left them loaded in the first and stranded two in the second, but not because of anything more unusual than not getting runners over.

The Rays, however, had runners on second and third with nobody out with nobody out in the second, but Ben Zobrist hit a chopper right in front of the plate.  Danks sprinted home, grabbed it with his bare hand, dove and tagged out Rocco Baldelli before he could get his hand on the plate for one out.

If that wasn't odd enough, Dioner Navarro hit a fly to left, which Carlos Quentin caught and afterward made a perfect throw home to get Willy Aybar for the inning-ending double play.

Nick Swisher homered for the fourth straight game and gave the Sox a 2-0 lead, but a two-out triple by Akinori Iwamura -- a Quentin gift, since he fell down on the warning track trying ot pick it up -- and a solo homer by Carlos Pena tied it up after six.

Record: 73-54 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 20: White Sox 15, Mariners 3

It didn't take long for the Sox to bury the Mariners. Alexei Ramirez's three-run homer capped off a six-run outburst, giving Gavin Floyd a 6-0 lead he would protect to seal the sweep.

The Sox scored more than six, though.  For good measure, they scored in each of the first six innings -- many times with two outs:

Second inning:  Carlos Quentin's two-out walk preceded Ken Griffey Jr.'s first homer with the White Sox off R.A. Dickey.

Fourth inning:  Griffey walked, took second when Jake Woods fell off the mound (balked).  Paul Konerko drove him in with a single.

Fifth inning:  Brian Anderson, who entered the game for Dewayne Wise after Wise injured himself making a diving catch, revived the inning with a two-out double down the left-field line.  Juan Uribe doubled him home just out of the reach of Wladimir Balentien, and after Orlando Cabrera walked, A.J. Pierzynski blasted a homer in the Mariners bullpen, capping off a three-hit day.

Sixth inning:  With two outs, Nick Swisher slashed a homer the opposite way into the Sox bullpen to balance things out.

It must've been demoralizing for the Mariners, but Floyd was happy to work with the cushion after escaping the first.  Ichiro Suzuki and Jeremy Reed started the game with back-to-back singles, but Raul Ibanez hit a dribbler up the middle that led Cabrera right to the bag.  He stepped on second, threw to first for two outs, and Floyd struck out Adrian Beltre to end the thread.

The double play was more amazing in hindsight, considering Ibanez had both of the Mariners' run-scoring hits -- a single through the right side in the third, and then a two-run homer in the right-field seats on the fifth. 

Floyd was solid, as his good curve returned to help him rack up seven strikeouts.

Record: 73-53 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 19: White Sox 5, Mariners 0

Tonight ... Clayton Richard considers himself... the luckiest man ... on the face of the Earth.

After getting "hit hard" to "slaughtered" before the fifth inning in each of his first three outings, the Michigan lefty somehow managed to hold the Mariners scoreless over six innings for his first major-league win. 

He didn't exactly make it look easy, but Lady Luck was with him from the first inning on.  He put himself in an early jam when he knocked down an Ichiro Suzuki comebacker, then rushed it and threw it away, giving Ichiro a two-base error.

Miguel Cairo got him to third with a grounder to the right side, but Nick Swisher prevented him from scoring.  Raul Ibanez hit a chopper to first near the bag, and Swisher gloved it, stpeped on the base before throwing home in time for A.J. Pierzynski to apply the tag on Ichiro for a rare 3-2 double play.

Richard calmed down after that, and against all odds, ended up having a much easier night than Felix Hernandez.  He allowed five hits and a walk, although numerous hard-hit balls were turned into outs.  Nevertheless, he avoided hitting the wall and nobody can take that away from him.

On the other hand, the Sox worked over King Felix.  He threw 81 pitches over the first four innings, and the only thing that stopped his outing from being a complete disaster were two double play balls.  The Sox countered the DPs with two homers, with Nick Swisher and Jim Thome leading off the fourth and fifth innings with solo shots.

Among the other fine performances:

• A.J. Pierzynski: A three-hit game, with his line-drive swing working.
• Carlos Quentin:  Went 2-for-3 with a walk and stole third on Hernandez with a big jump, leading to a run.
• Alexei Ramirez:  Two singles with runners in scoring position, one of them scoring a run.

Record: 72-53 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 18: White Sox 13, Mariners 5

Mark Buehrle found himself in an early hole after a strange defensive gaffe, even by Sox-defense-behind-Buehrle standards.  Buehrle should've been out of the inning after Adrian Beltre hit a comebacker with runners on first and second and one out.

Buehrle spun, fired to second where Alexei Ramirez caught it ... 10 feet behind the bag.  Ramirez and Orlando Cabrera confused each other, and nobody ended up covering the bag.  The throw sailed over second base and into Ramirez's mitt, where he was able to throw to first to get Beltre by a step for two outs.

But Buehrle, as he is wont to do, allowed both runs to score and then some.  The single came on a decent pitch that Jose Lopez muscled out to left, but Wladimir Balentien doubled was belted, and the Mariners held a 3-0 lead before the Sox came to the plate.

The game looked much brighter from that point on.  After Paul Konerko scored Jermaine Dye with a single that barely got past Yuniesky Betancourt, Nick Swisher followed with a two-run shot to tie the game after two.

The Mariners grabbed the lead when three cheap singles pushed one run across, but Buehrle worked out of a first-and-third situation with nobody out with a strikout,a lineout an a weak popout to keep it a one-run game.

The Sox pushed it out of reach thereafter.  Orlando Cabrera started it with a two-run homer after Juan Uribe's first walk of the game (that's correct), and the next seven Sox reached, capped by a Ramirez RBI single that extended the lead to 9-4.

Ramirez then gave the Sox double-figures in runs for the second straight game with a three-run shot.

Record: 71-53 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 17: White Sox 13, Athletics 1

When Orlando Cabrera took three balls out of the strike zone, then took two strikes down the pipe before going down swinging in the game's first at-bat, it became clear that the Sox had every intention of letting Gio Gonzalez dig his own grave.

The plan apparently worked, as the former Sox farmhand's inability to find a strike zone spelled a short outing, as he hit the showers after only 3 1/3 innings.

He began the second by walking Jim Thome and Paul Konerko.  Thome would advance on a deep flyball by Ken Griffey Jr., and score on a Gonzalez wild pitch for the game's first run.  He nearly got out of the inning when Alexei Ramirez chopped out to short (on a nice play by Bobby Crosby), but Juan Uribe flexed his muscles and showed the homer hands for a 3-0 lead.

That was only the beginning of Gio's troubles.  A.J. Pierzynski shot one through the box leading off the third, and Carlos Quentin and Jermaine Dye would follow up with back-to-back jacks to double the Sox's lead.

Quentin spelled the end of his day in the fourth, lining a single to center for a 8-0 lead, four of those coming via CQ's bat, and that would be plenty for Javier Vazquez.

Vazquez followed up his best start of the season against Kansas City with an outing to rival it.  He retired 21 of the first 23 batters he faced, allowing just a pair of harmless singles over the first six innings.  The only A's run came thanks in part to a misplay by Dewayne Wise, who got a late break on Cliff Pennington's shallow fly to right, missed on the dive and played it into a double.  Daric Barton's two-out single spoiled the shutout.

Fortunately, it only cut the lead to a dozen, as an Alexei Ramirez grand slam in the seventh put the game out of reach if it wasn't already.

Record: 70-53 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 16: White Sox 2, Athletics 1

This had all the makings of another Oakland heartbreaker -- early lead, John Danks throwing a ton of pitches, blown offensive opportunities, shoddy defense, blah blah blah...

...but this time, they held on.

The key was the sixth inning for John Danks, who had thrown 101 pitches after five arduous innings.  The A's had stranded eight runners in the first four innings alone, including a fourth inning in which he walked two consecutive batters on four pitches to load the bases for Frank Thomas.  Two great plays by Juan Uribe -- a 5-unassisted double play, and a 5-3 one -- thwarted threats, and he appeared lucky to get through five after another DP ended the fifth.

Ozzie Guillen sent him out there with the apparent mission of facing Daric Barton before going to to the bullpen.  But a funny thing happened -- he retired Barton on the first pitch, the first time all day the A's recorded a first-pitch out.

So Guillen let him work the rest of the inning, and Danks made it pay off.  He recorded his first 1-2-3 inning of the day, and only on seven pitches.

The bullpen seized that momentum and carried it with them the rest of the way, with a two-out D.J. Carrasco walk the only baserunner the relief corps allowed in three innings of work.  Matt Thornton was particularly impressive, striking out the side on just 11 pitches.

Sox relievers had some making up to do for Friday, and they needed it thanks to a sputtering offense.  They struck for two runs in the second when Paul Konerko led off with a double, Juan Uribe doubled him home, and Toby Hall made it a two-run lead by lining a single over Mark Ellis' head.

The Sox wouldn't score again, but not for a lack of opportunties.  They outhit Oakland 11-6, but stranded 13 runners with a lack of situational hitting all day long.

The A's scored their only run in the third thanks to some inexplicable defense.  After Kurt Suzuki led off with a double, Frank Thomas poked a lazy fly to right-center that Nick Swisher dropped.  He tried to catch it chest-high and just clanked off the tip to put runners on the corners with no outs.

Emil Brown ripped the second pitch to center to cut the lead in half, and the situation would get hairier when Jack Cust would single off Alexei Ramirez's mitt as he ranged to his left, a play that probably should've been made.  But Uribe made up for it by snagging Mark Ellis' broken-bat line drive behind the bag and beating Frank Thomas to third for the double play.

Ramirez recorded the final out, but not without drama.  He ranged to his left and bobbled it, but recovered quickly and fired a bullet to Konerko to get Barton for the final out.

Record: 69-53 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 15: Athletics 6, White Sox 4

At the top of the seventh inning in the South Side Sox game thread, as the Sox clung to a 3-2 lead, I said:

This game has all the makings of an Oakland heartreaker.

Not like that was hard to predict in the House of Horrors.

What were the ingredients?

No. 1:  Early lead, with nothing much afterward! The Sox jumped on Dallas Braden's first and second pitches for three runs in the first, alternating blasts (A.J. Pierzynski's solo homer, Jermaine Dye's double off the top of the wall) with bloops (weak singles by Carlos Quentin and Jim Thome) for a quick 3-0 lead.  Then Braden figured he should throw more changeups on fastball counts, and the Sox were pretty quiet after that.

Quentin did hit a majestic solo shot off Jerry Blevins in the eighth, but unfortunately the Sox couldn't capitalize.

No. 2:  Baserunning outs!  Alexei Ramirez was both caught stealing and picked off (the latter, in the ninth by Huston Street with one out, was eminently predictable).  Brian Anderson's one ending the eighth hurt the most.  With two outs, Blevins picked off Anderson, but his throw sailed into the vast right-field foul territory at McAfee Coliseum.  Anderson hesitated around second, then went for third and home and was thrown out at the plate by Daric Barton.

You could pin this one on Jeff Cox, but I don't know how well first baseman's outfield arms are scouted.  Paul Konerko and Nick Swisher wouldn't have made that throw.

No. 3:  Bad defense!  Quentin let Frank Thomas' liner skip through the wickets in the first, but it didn't do any damage.  But when Thomas skied a pop-up in foul territory and Juan Uribe couldn't catch it, that one hurt.

It was hard to tell who was at fault.  Uribe couldn't even get his glove on it, but he was charging all the way from a deep third base.  A.J. Pierzynski, since it was only about 20 feet away from home plate, should've taken responsibility.  Alas, Thomas singled and Jack Cust homered to cut the lead to 3-2.

No. 4:  Bad pitches!  Gavin Floyd had one foot on the brink of disaster all night.  His good curve wasn't with him, and he used a ton of pitches even after getting ahead a lot of the night.  He was pulled after 110 with two outs in the fifth.

But Octavio Dotel's fastballs posed a bigger problem.  Mark Ellis hammered one out to cut the lead to one again, and then he made the mistake of throwing Cust an 0-2 fastball that was far too strikey.  Cust deposited it over the left-field wall for homer No. 2 and a tie game.

No. 5:  Bad managing!  Horacio Ramirez in the ninth?  Ozzie Guillen felt he was necessary, and thus Bob Geren summoned Sox-killer Emil Brown off the bench.  He'd double, and his pinch runner would advance to third on a bunt before scoring on...

No. 6:  Kurt Suzuki's walk-off!  Suzuki ended the game by homering off D.J. Carrasco when a sac fly would do.  He did the same off Matt Thornton almost exactly one year to this date.

Record: 68-53 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 14: White Sox 9, Royals 2

A Paul Konerko non-error error could very well have prevented the Sox from racking up a third straight shutout, but they found other ways to make their mark -- or, in Carlos Quentin's case, have a mark left on him.

Back-to-back-to-back-to-back homers -- the sixth time in history that's happened -- by Jim Thome, Konerko, Alexei Ramirez and Juan Uribe put a close game out of reach to complete the sweep and extend their lead in the AL Central to a full game.  And Quentin was plunked by another pitch in his first at-bat, making it the sixth straight game he's earned an HBP.

Oh, and Konerko stole second.

With the Sox leading 3-2 in the sixth, Ken Griffey Jr. and Quentin drew a pair of one-out walks.  Jermaine Dye popped up to put the pressure on Thome, and he delivered.  He took a 3-1 Joel Peralta fastball into the right field seats to stretch the lead to 6-2.

Konerko then pulled one just inside the left field foul pole, a towering shot to make it back-to-back.  Alexei Ramirez launched a no-doubter, which sent Peralta packing.  In came Robinson Tejeda, who appeared to overwhelm Juan Uribe with his fastball, getting ahead 1-2.  For some reason, he then threw a slider of the hanging variety, and Uribe roped it into the bullpen for the rare fourth consecutive home run, capping what suddenly became a laugher.

The game certainly didn't start off on such a thrilling note, as the Royals grabbed a quick 2-0 lead on Lance Broadway.  Mitch Maier greeted Broadway with a single, and Mike Aviles hit a hard grounder at Konerko.  It could've been a 3-6-3 double play, or at least a fielder's choice, but the ball instead ramped off his mitt and into right field.  Jose Guillen would single both of them in for a 2-0 lead.

Broadway was on the verge of letting the game get away from him after walking Billy Butler, but Guillen tried to steal third before Broadway delivered home.  He spun and fired to third, where Juan Uribe barely beat him with the tag, if he did so at all, for the second out.  Gordon would ground out after a 13-pitch at-bat to put Broadway in an early hole.

But he'd settle down to get through 5 1/3 innings, and the Sox would give him the lead after a three-run second.  Uribe shot a single through center, and Toby Hall got him to third by dumping a single to right.   Consecutive singles by Orlando Cabrera (RBI) and Griffey loaded the bases, and Dye brought home two with a double off the top of the left-field wall.

Record: 68-52 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 13: White Sox 4, Royals 0

This is the Mark Buehrle we like.  These are the Royals we love.

The Sox offense gave him an early lead, he worked out of some early trouble, and both sides went on cruise control after that for the Sox's second straight shutout.

Orlando Cabrera started it off with an infield single, but Tony Pena Jr. made an ill-advised throw that sailed on him, awarding Cabrera second in the process.  A.J. Pierzynski bunted him over, and Jermaine Dye shot a double to the right-center gap for a quick 1-0 lead.  Dye scored on a Ken Griffey Jr. single before the inning was over.

Buehrle put the lead in jeopardy twice, stranding runners on second and third in the second and third innings.  The latter had more ominous tones, as Tony Pena reached on a single off Buehrle's bare hand, and Mark Teahan doubled (or singled with Griffey taking forever to cut it off) with one out.

He beared down however, making several double pitches to David DeJesus before striking him out with an upstairs heater, then freezing Jose Guillen with an outside-corner fastball to end the threat.

The Royals would have another runner reach scoring position with two outs in the fourth, but Buehrle retired the last 11 he faced.  Octavio Dotel and Bobby Jenks each threw 1-2-3 innings to make it 17 consecutive.

The Sox added a couple insurance runs for good measure.  Juan Uribe singled through the left side to start off the fifth, and Chris Getz executed a hit-and-run to put runners on the corners (even though it appeared Guillen threw Uribe out at third).  An A.J. Pierzynski grounder that Luke Hochevar couldn't snag pushed another run across.  Paul Konerko made it 4-0 with an RBI single in the eighth.

Record: 67-52 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 12: White Sox 9, Royals 0

I haven't seen any of this game yet, but I'm going to want to.

Just the facts:

• Javier Vazquez carved up the Royals, striking out 10 over eight innings, and throwing 81 of 109 pitches for strikes.
• A.J. Pierzynski, Jermaine Dye and Nick Swisher all homered.
• Chris Getz had an RBI single in his first major league at-bat.
• Ken Griffey Jr. went 0-for-3, but Brian Anderson ripped an RBI double and scored in his only at-bat.
• Carlos Quentin sat out with left forearm soreness.

Feel free to fill in any of the gaps.

Record: 66-52 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 11: Red Sox 5, White Sox 1

Once again, John Danks pitched masterfully until the seventh inning.

Once again, John Danks did not receive enough run support to allow him such a slip-up.

Kevin Youkilis' broken-bat single with one out in the seventh ruined Danks' bid for a no-hitter, and after a walk and a strikeout, J.D. Drew's double to left center gave Danks the loss.

Of course, one wonders what might've been if Ken Griffey Jr. wasn't in center field.  He wouldn't have caught Drew's double, but if somebody got to the gap faster and made a stronger throw in, only one run may have crossed the plate.

Also, if somebody besides Griffey weren't in center, there would've been one out and a runner on first, instead of two on and nobody out when a single fell in front of Griffey in the ninth, leading to three runs scoring and the Red Sox pushing the game out of reach.

But then again, when only Josh Beckett and Jonathan Papelbon have to pitch, it doesn't spell good things for the pitching staff either way.  Nick Swisher scored the only run of the game when he singled, moved to second on Juan Uribe's single and scored on two flies to center.  Scratching across runs proved to be that arduous, and they didn't threaten again.

Record: 65-52 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 10: White Sox 6, Red Sox 5

The Sox twice failed to score a runner from third with fewer than two outs, and the one time they did score, it was because Jason Varitek couldn't hang on to a bad throw when a good one would've had Paul Konerko out easily.

But... they did hit three homers, and after Gavin Floyd shook off a cheap Mike Lowell homer in the first, that would be enough to snag the game and regain sole possession of first place.

Jermaine Dye struck the first blow with a second-inning solo shot, and they'd surge ahead with a pair of two-run homers.  The first was Carlos Quentin's 32nd of the year into the left field seats, and then Jim Thome blasted a hanging curve into the right field ones.

Those three homers -- plus the error-induced insurance run -- would be enough to win it, as Matt Thornton and Octavio Dotel would hang on.

Thornton had a strange outing, beginning by striking out Varitek with runners on the corners, which was all well and good except it got past A.J. Pierzynski for a run.  He rebounded by striking out Jed Lowrie, and started off the seventh by getting Jacoby Ellsbury to fly out to left.

Then he walked three guys in a row, and Dotel had to clean up the mess.  He did just that, getting Mike Lowell to ground his second pitch to third, and Juan Uribe started the 5-4-3 to get Thornton out of the jam.

Record: 65-51 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 9: Red Sox 6, White Sox 2

Tonight marked the nadir of Jose Contreras' career, but Boone Logan wasn't far behind.

Contreras, who looked good in the first inning-plus, ruptured his achilles after running to cover first on a grounder to Nick Swisher, bringing an end to his season and forcing the bullpen to cover all but 1 2/3 innings of the game.

But after D.J. Carrasco contributed 4 1/3 quality inning, it all went to pot on Logan's watch.

Ozzie Guillen sent Logan in to face the top of the Red Sox's order in the seventh inning, with two lefties (Jacoby Ellsbury and J.D. Drew) and one switch hitter (Jason Varitek).  He didn't retire any of them, allowing two singles and a walk.

Guillen came out, but didn't pull Logan, choosing to have him go against Dustin Pedroia with another lefty, David Ortiz on deck.

Pedroia singled, and then Ortiz cleared the bases with a shot off the wall to turn a 1-1 game into a 5-1 game.  Ellsbury and Jim Thome traded solo homers, and that was the ballgame.

It probably would've taken an impossible effort by the bullpen to pull this one out considering the Sox spoiled the chances they had against Daisuke Matsuzaka.  A.J. Pierzynski grounded into double plays in the Sox's two best scoring chances.

In the third inning, Juan Uribe walked and Dewayne Wise reached when Matsuzaka couldn't handle his popped up bunt.  Orlando Cabrera tried to remove the force, but he popped it up a little farther for one out, and Pierzynski grounded into double play No. 1, 6-4-3.

Nick Swisher led the fifth off with a walk, and Juan Uribe's popped up bunt stuck in fair territory for a single.  Wise showed bunt twice, but pulled back and watched the ball go by for strikes.  He'd eventually nub one for a 6-4 fielder's choice.

Cabrera finally put the Sox on the board with a flare to right center for a 1-0 lead and Wise moved to third to keep the runners on the corners.  Pierzynski, though, would end the threat by grounding into a 4-6-3.

Record: 64-51 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 8: White Sox 5, Red Sox 3

Mark Buehrle's fine return to form appeared to give the White Sox a relatively easy victory in the opener of a key series against the Red Sox.

Then the bad bullpen showed up, and Sox fans had to chew their nails again.

The Sox extended their lead to 4-0 in the bottom of the seventh thanks to another well-executed forced rundown.  A.J. Pierzynski hung himself out to dry between first and second on his shot off the right-field wall, which allowed Orlando Cabrera to score all the way from first.

Unfortunately, they would end up needing that run.

After Buehrle exited following a leadoff single, Octavio Dotel got the first batter out... and it went downhill from there.  He walked J.D. Drew, and Dustin Pedroia followed by hitting a hanging curve over the left-field wall to cut the lead to 4-3.  Matt Thornton relieved Dotel and got the job done, getting David Ortiz to ground out to second (or short right), but Ozzie Guillen pulled him for D.J. Carrasco.

Carrasco, the inning's fourth pitcher, began his stint by walking Kevin Youkilis on four pitches (though two of them were close).  He also fell behind Mike Lowell 3-1, but Lowell swung at a high fastball and popped out to Pierzynski, with the ball barely staying in play.

Carlos Quentin's solo homer off Manny Delcarmen gave Bobby Jenks a bit of breathing room, but fortunately the game wouldn't get any closer.  The tying run came to the plate after Jenks plunked Jed Lowrie with a 1-2 curve on the foot, but Jenks would get a flyout and a check-swing groundout from Sean Casey to end the game.

The Sox built a big lead behind the pitching of Buehrle -- who struck out eight over seven innings thanks to a great changeup -- and the play of the left side of the infield.  Cabrera in particular played a part in the first four runs of the game.

He singled Juan Uribe to third, and Pierzynski brought him home with a sac fly for the game's first run.  He struck a big blow two innings later by slashing a double down the right field line to drive in two, then drew that key two-out walk in the seventh.

Uribe was 2-for-2 himself with a sac fly, although he was picked off preceding Cabrera's walk.

Record: 64-50 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 7: Tigers 8, White Sox 3

I missed this game for a New Pornographers concert, but South Side Sox has a pretty thorough recap.

Record: 63-50 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 6: White Sox 5, Tigers 1

The Sox grabbed an early lead, the starting pitching preserved it, the offense added insurance in the late innings, and the bullpen finished it off.

Either the Sox are righting the ship, or the Tigers are so dysfunctional that the Sox look normal by comparison.

Jim Thome hit a clutch first-inning homer (seriously -- they don't come much bigger when you see how Verlander dusted himself off and had his curve working) one batter after Carlos Quentin broke up a double play by making Placido Polanco run six steps around second base to get the throw off, and that was enough for John Danks.

What else was enough?  Three pitches.  He used the fastball, cutter and changeup exclusively, setting up hitters with the hard stuff inside, and finishing them off with the changeup just off the plate away.  He struck out six over 6 2/3, and really wasn't threatened until his final inning.

If there was one downer, it was the last pitch he threw.  With two outs, a runner on second and a 1-2 count on Gary Sheffield, Toby Hall wanted the ball up -- even standing up.  Danks, instead, grooved the fastball, and Sheffield ripped it into the gap for an RBI single.

D.J. Carrasco cleaned up the mess with two straight sinkers, and Octavio Dotel and Bobby Jenks retired six of the seven guys they faced.

The Sox wouldn't let Verlander get the complete game -- he threw 130 pitches, but failed on three attempts to get the 24th out.  Jermaine Dye doubled, Thome walked and Paul Konerko walked to end his evening, and after battling to a full count, Alexei Ramirez slashed a single to right for two welcome insurance runs.

Record: 63-49 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 5: White Sox 10, Tigers 8 (14 innings)

Adam Russell may have swooped in and picked clean the prized flesh of what appeared to be a dead ballgame, but the win should've gone to Matt Thornton.

At least Nick Swisher took him off the hook, as his two-out, three-run homer off Joel Zumaya gave the Sox a much-needed win and improved Nessie's record to 4-0.  But Thornton shouldered the brunt of the load for what was an excellent evening of relief by the entire bullpen.

Thornton came in to face Curtis Granderson with a runner on first and one out in the 11th, got ahead and put him away with a slider, setting the tone for 2 2/3 innings of fantastic relief.  He struck out Polanco to finish the 11th, went 1-2-3 in the 12th, then struck out the side in the 13th.

Edgar Renteria's jamshot single to begin the 14th would signal an end to his dominance.  Granderson popped out a bunt attempt, but Placido Polanco got his hands in on a fastball and hooked it just inside the left-field foul pole to give the Tigers an 8-6 lead.  Russell came in to finish off the inning, just in time for the Sox offense to come back to life.

The Sox rallied back from a 6-1 deficit, but were held in check from the ninth inning, due in large part to Fernando Rodney's excellent relief work, matching Thornton pitch-for-pitch for three innings himself.

Orlando Cabrera greeted Zumaya by shooting a first-pitch fastball through the right side.  After A.J. Pierzynski popped up, Carlos Quentin took an outer-half heater to right field to put runners on second and third.  It appeared Zumaya would get his second out when Jermaine Dye hit a weak chopper to short, but Renteria didn't look the ball into his mitt.  Instead, it glanced off his heel, a run crossed the plate, and there were runners on the corners and only one out.

Zumaya made it two by striking out Jim Thome on a tipped fastball, and to the plate came Swisher, who didn't start and entered as a defensive replacement for Paul Konerko in the 11th.  Swisher watched the first two pitches for balls, and after a strike, took a knee-high fastball and belted it into the center field seats, close to where Scott Podsednik's Game 2 walkoff landed to end the ballgame.

This was a game the Sox flat-out stole, considering they were down five runs halfway through regulation.  Gavin Floyd lasted only 4 1/3 innings, as he got off on the wrong foot when Polanco hit his first two-run homer as the second batter of the game.  His night came to an end after Ken Griffey Jr. played a Polanco single into a triple by not putting his glove down, and Carlos Guillen singled him home.

Ehren Wassermann entered, and the outfield defense wasn't much kinder.  Ryan Raburn hit a single to right, but Dye had a great chance to get Magglio Ordonez at the plate with a decent throw.  But it was nowhere close, and neither were the Sox.

However, Wassermann and Co. would hold the Tigers down and allow the offense to get back in it.  The Baron and Boone Logan worked a 1-2-3 inning together in the sixth, and D.J. Carrasco worked two drama-free innings in the eighth.  All the while, Sox hitters chipped away at the lead.

Cabrera started the comeback by drawing  two-out walk after Juan Uribe had grounded into the third double play of the first five innings.  Back-to-back singles by Pierzynski and Quentin would put the Sox back on the board, answering slightly for the Tigers' four-run fifth.

Jim Thome led off the sixth with a double, and Paul Konerko's 11th homer of the year off Nate Robertson made it a 6-4 ballgame.  Carlos Quentin closed it to one with a solo homer off Aquelino Lopez in the seventh, one that barely got over the fence.

Kyle Farnsworth, who the Tigers acquired just last week to help the bullpen, came in with two outs in the eighth to face Alexei Ramirez, and Ramirez took his third straight slider into the Sox bullpen to make it a brand new ballgame.  Little did we know that it would only be the second-greatest homer of the night.

Bobby Jenks worked a scoreless ninth, aided in part by two spectacular plays by Juan Uribe.  He snared a Polanco grounder to his left, hit the ground, spun as he got up and fired to first in time for Konerko to put the tag on him for the second out of the inning.  After a Guillen single, Magglio Ordonez hit a hot shot right at Uribe.  Uribe gloved it while falling backward, then threw from the seat of his pants in time to get a sliding Guillen at second.

Octavio Dotel also got the job done, blowing away the Tigers for a 1-2-3 10th.

Record: 62-49 | Box score | Play-by-play

(Yes, more later.)

August 3: Royals 14, White Sox 3

It was hot out there today.

"HOW HOT WAS IT!"

It was so hot...

... that the Sox gave up 19 hits for the second straight game.

... that when Miguel Olivo gave Clayton Richard a gift by committing to home way too early on a comebacker, Richard skipped the throw past A.J. Pierzynski.

... that Richard only lasted 4 1/3 innings.

... that D.J. Carrasco only lasted one batter, and was ejected after hitting Olivo on the hand. Olivo charged the mound, stopped, Pierzynski grabbed then and Carrasco kinda grab/slapped him softly on the neck.  That was enough.

... that Ozzie Guillen got ejected for protesting Carrasco's ejection.

... that Brian Anderson killed himself running Rowand-style into a wall, stayed the game and immediately had to chase a ball to the other gap.

... that Paul Konerko went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts while Jim Thome sat on the bench.

Oh crap.  There was supposed to be a punch line.  Sorry.

Record: 61-49 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 2: Royals 9, White Sox 7

Here's how badly Mark Buehrle pitched -- the Sox went back-to-back twice and still lost.

It was a familiar story in that the Sox jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and watched it go to waste.  Buehrle couldn't get any of his pitches down, the Royals knocked him around for 14 hits in 4 1/3 innings.  A couple balls went off Orlando Cabrera's glove, but most of it was due to Buehrle's location, and the Royals scored two runs in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings.

The last two were unfortunate for two reasons -- one is that Ehren Wassermann should've been out of the inning.  Mike Aviles hit a liner to Juan Uribe, who threw to second in time to get Ross Gload, except the umpire called him safe.  Instead of three outs, there were only two, and Esteban German followed up by hitting a liner to the left-center gap that Ken Griffey Jr. couldn't cut off for a two-run triple.

The Sox did claw their way back into it.  Brian Anderson and Jermaine Dye did in the eighth what Jim Thome and Paul Konerko did in the second, hitting consecutive solo shots off Ron Mahay to make it 8-5.  Thome followed with a double, and Konerko drew a four-pitch walk.

Alexei Ramirez was about two feet away from tying it -- instead of a three-run homer, it hit off the wall in left-center for a one-run double, forcing Trey Hillman to go to Joakim Soria in the bullpen.

Ozzie Guillen countered with A.J. Pierzynski, who hit a sac fly to left to score Konerko to make it a one-run game, but Juan Uribe struck out on a high-fastball during a thrilling 12 pitch at-bat.

Matt Thornton then gave up a solo homer in bottom of the inning to Miguel Olivo for a key insurance run.  The Sox would bring the tying run to the plate again when Josh Fields led off with a walk, but Dewayne Wise had a bat at-bat that resulted in a double play and Anderson struck out to end the game.

Record: 61-48 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 1: White Sox 4, Royals 2

It didn't take long for Ken Griffey Jr. to make an impact with the White Sox.  In his first game with a team hitting dead-last with two outs and runners in scoring position, he hit two-out RBI singles to even up the Sox's record on the road trip.

Griffey came to bat with two outs and Jim Thome on second, after he singled and advanced on a wild pitch.  He lined a Luke Hochevar pitch into just right of center for a quick 1-0 lead.

In the sixth inning, his teammates joined him.  Carlos Quentin singled and made a great decision to get to second on a not-too-wild pitch with two outs.  Alexei Ramirez would put runners on the corners with a grounder up the middle that Mark Grudzielanek couldn't handle, and Griffey could bring Quentin home with a single through the right side.

Ramirez went to third on Griffey's single, and he'd scored when Nick Swisher hit a chopper to short and Mike Aviles didn't know nobody was covering second and had to eat the ball.  Juan Uribe brought home Griffey with a real single up the middle.

Realizing they had a 4-0 lead, Sox pitching tried to blow it.  Javier Vazquez struggled in the sixth after five smooth innings, walking Aviles and giving up back-to-back singles to Grudzielanek and Billy Butler to get the Royals on the board.  He got out of the inning with a sac fly and a weak comebacker, and ended up with a quality start.

D.J. Carrasco put the lead in jeopardy once again, but his former team helped bail him out when, after the first two runners reached, Esteban German bunted at two straight pitches out of the zone.  More problematic: 1) both pitches would've been ball four, and 2) the second one ended up being strike three.

Carrasco found a much more reliable strategy to escape the inning -- letting the Royals hit the ball to Uribe.  His gravitational pull must've been in full effect, because he got two grounders his way to end the inning (the last ranging to his left).

Octavio Dotel went to that school and got two more grounders to Uribe in the eighth (the third was a fine running catch by Quentin), and Bobby Jenks did the same in the ninth.  He recorded the final out with a fantastic curveball to freeze John Buck.

Record: 61-47 | Box score | Play-by-play