2008 State of the Sox

April 28: White Sox 3, Orioles 3 (Susp. 12)

An ugly, wet mess of a day led to an ugly, wet mess of a ballgame, with the Sox blowing several opportunities to put the game away.

And then Juan Uribe of all people saved his team's bacon, going ¡Profundo! and showing the homer hands to tie it up again.  After that, the game had been stretched to its limits.  With no break in the rain from start to finish and standing water all over the field, the umps had to call it a day.

The Sox have nobody to blame but themselves.  Javier Vazquez pitched a whale of a game -- a solo homer by Aubrey Huff was really his only mistake -- so the Sox could've put an end to the madness a heck of a lot sooner -- especially since Daniel Cabrera couldn't find the strike zone for most of the day. For instance...

Second inning:  Alexei Ramirez grounds out with runners on second and third to end the inning with the Sox trailing 1-0.

Fourth inning:  Ramirez grounds into a 6-4 with the bases loaded to end the inning with the Sox trailing 1-0.

Fifth inning:  Nick Swisher walked to give the Sox their first leadoff man aboard on the day, and Orlando Cabrera erases him with a GDP.

Eighth inning:  The Sox have two on and no outs after Brian Anderson's infield single and a sac bunt by Ramirez that Dennis Safarte can't make a good throw on. Swisher then grounds into 4-6-3 double play and Cabrera pops out.  The Sox miss out an insurance run they'd end up needing.

Ninth inning:  Though he should've had more than a one-run lead, Bobby Jenks blows his second save of the season -- both against Baltimore -- when Brian Roberts doubles leading off, stealing third and scores on Melvin Mora's single. 

10th inning:  Carlos Quentin doubled to lead off the inning, then advanced to third on Joe Crede's flyout to right.  Ozzie Guillen calls for a squeeze, Anderson misses, Quentin is tagged out after a brief rundown, and Anderson ends up striking out.

Really, Quentin was the one guy who came through all game long.  He put the Sox on the board with a solo homer in the sixth, and finished 3-for-4 with a walk.

Fortunately for the Sox, the Orioles ran themselves out of a couple threats.  Mora was picked off after his single (a rarity for Jenks), and in the 10th, the Sox ended the inning thanks to a heads-up play by Cabrera.

With Adam Jones on second and two outs, Brandon Fahey hit a weak grounder to short.  The conditions made it impossible for Cabrera to throw Fahey out at first (Fahey would make an error on a Cabrera grounder in the bottom of the 11th), but he kept an eye on the situation over by third.  Jones rounded the bag a little too aggressively, and Cabrera threw behind him.  Crede placed the tag, and Scott Linebrink was out of the inning.

Linebrink then gave up his first homer of the season when Ramon Hernandez went deep leading off the 11th, but Uribe made up for it by belting a belt-high fastball well into the left-field seats to tie it back up.

Record: 14-10 | Box score | Play-by-play

Week in a box: April 21-27

Player of the Week: Carlos Quentin.  He's got a six-game hitting streak and a three-game HBP streak.  He drove in two runs alone with bases-loaded HBPs. He started the winning rally off Joba Chamberlain with a double, stole his first base and stole a run with some heads-up baserunning.

Player of the Weak:  Juan Uribe.  He started the week 2-for-3, and finished it 0-for-9.  He's just giving away at-bats, although if Paul Konerko hadn't hit two homers Sunday, this would likely be his award to take home.

Pitcher of the Week:  Jose Contreras.  He should have had two quality starts, but Ozzie Guillen left him in one batter too long against the Yankees and the bullpen blew it.  He bounced back nicely against the Orioles.

Pitcher of the Weak:  Javier Vazquez.  He shied away from the strike zone in the second inning against the Yankees, and they made him pay.

Fireman of the Week:  Bobby Jenks.  He pitched in three non-save situations this week, and did exactly what Ozzie Guillen asked of him.  He picked up two wins, even though he didn't look pretty throwing a scoreless inning against the Orioles.

Gas Can of the Week:  Octavio Dotel.  Not a week he'll want to remember -- he gave up a grand slam to Bobby Abreu, and then let a game get out of hand against Baltimore, even though Konerko can receive a fair share of the blame for that one.

Super Sub:  Brian Anderson.  He drove in the game-winning run with a single -- better yet, he did so while starting the at-bat 0-2.  That's a good week's work.

Super Scrub:  Alexei Ramirez.  Right now, the only reason to call him the Cuban Missile is because his bats explode with the best of them.

Gold Glove:  Bobby Jenks.  He made a helluva nice stab on Melvin Mora's comebacker to keep the game tied Saturday.  Nobody else stands out.

Hands of Stone:  Paul Konerko.  He committed three errors in the Baltimore doubleheader, although only two of them counted.  The other was charged to Dotel, who had the nerve to hit Konerko's wrist with a pickoff throw.