2008 State of the Sox

ALDS Game 2: Rays 6, White Sox 2

Pin this one on the offense.

Sox hitters had an excellent chance to jump on Scott Kazmir, and they did well enough to get two first-inning runs.  But after Juan Uribe struck out with the bases loaded to end the first, it marked the start of the return to dysfunction.

While they racked up Kazmir's pitch count, they only did so after two outs.  Until Uribe led off the sixth with a single, Kazmir had retired the first two hitters in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings.  That forced the Sox to put together three straight hits, something they're not apt to do.

Of course, flipping the order didn't help, either.  When Uribe reached in the sixth, Brian Anderson bunted him over.  He stayed there when Grant Balfour got Orlando Cabrera to ground out, and Nick Swisher to fly out.

Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko started the seventh with a pair of singles.  They'd stay put, with J.P. Howell getting Jim Thome, Alexei Ramirez and A.J. Pierzynski to make soft outs.

Mark Buehrle pitched well enough to win.  Ramirez helped the first run cross the plate when he had a chance for a lineout double play, but threw the ball away.  A runner who should've been on first ended up on third, and he'd score on a single to cut the lead to 2-1.

Akinori's fifth-inning, two-run homer gave Tampa Bay a lead it wouldn't relinquish.  Buehrle's exit was sealed the eighth after B.J. Upton tripled, and Carl Crawford drove him in with a single.  The game got away from Octavio Dotel and Matt Thornton after that, but it wouldn't have mattered.

Why?  Because the Sox had no clue against J.P. Howell.  In arguably its most embarrassing moment of the season, Howell struck out the side looking in the eighth.  Swisher did so after being ahead in the count 3-0.  He never took the bat off his shoulder.

Rays lead 2-0 | Box score | Play-by-play