Bad timing to expound upon how enjoyable the Sox are to watch, because they showed how they can often be the furthest thing from fun....
...when the Sox face a pitcher (Greg Smith) they've never faced before and make him look like the second coming of Sudden Sam McDowell and Catfish Hunter combined.
...when that pitcher throws with his left hand.
...when in situation where the Sox managed to reach base, they were picked off twice (Nick Swisher, Jermaine Dye).
...when Jim Thome is forced to face a lefty in a big situation (he was dead meat against Alan Embree).
...when Mike Sweeney finds a way to hurt the Sox even though he's wearing a different uniform.
...when Mike MacDougal gets booed for being unlucky.
It wasn't all for naught -- Mark Buehrle pitched well enough to ward off doubters who thought he might be hurt when the Sox held him back a couple days.
Boone Logan also did a terrific job cleaning up the mess MacDougal left. With runners on first and second, Logan faced Jack Hannahan and threw him some low and outside sliders of varying speeds that were impossible to bunt. He struck out lefties Hannahan and Travis Buck before getting Mark Ellis to pop out, ending the threat.
If nothing else, A.J. Pierzynski keeps hitting, lefties or not. He went 2-for-3 to raise his average to .421, and he had the Sox's only extra-base hit of the night.
Record: 7-5 |
Box score |
Play-by-play