2008 State of the Sox

Week in a Box: May 5 - May 11

Player of the Week: Carlos Quentin.  I should want to send him a fan letter for a week in which he hit .400 and drove in seven, including a three-RBI game against the Mariners, but I shouldn't want to type the letter on a death certificate.  Honorable mention to Juan Uribe.

Player of the Weak:  Nick Swisher.  Not a Swishalicious week by any means -- four 0-fers in six games including three strikeouts against the Twins and five stranded against the Mariners.  He also committed his third error the year on a bobble in right, and missed a slightly difficult catch down the right-field line later in the game that would've made up for it.

Pitcher of the Week:  Jose Contreras.  He benefits from only pitching once, though he gave the Sox seven strong innings against the Mariners.  This was Gavin Floyd's award to lose after a near no-hitter against Minnesota, and that he did with a lousy start against Seattle.

Pitcher of the Weak:  Mark Buehrle.  He took out his frustrations on a portable heater after getting knocked out by the Twins in the sixth down 7-0.

Fireman of the Week:  Octavio Dotel.  Dotel struck out five over two innings in key middle-relief work against the Twins, and then worked an inning-plus of scoreless ball against Seattle, although he was bailed out by Uribe and Toby Hall.

Gas Can of the Week:  Ehren Wassermann.  Mike MacDougal could pop out of his chest cavity in any appearance now, and nobody would be surprised.  He was roughed up by the Twins for five runs over two-thirds of an inning, and was knocked around by Seattle as well.  His ERA?  23.62.

Super Sub of the Week:  Brian Anderson.  Hit a three-run homer against Seattle and showed superior range in center.

Super Scrub of the Week:  Pablo Ozuna.  He came to the plate with the bases loaded and one out in a one-run game against Toronto and promptly grounded into a 1-2-3 double play.

Gold Glove:  Brian Anderson.  He made the catch of the year in center and nearly pulled off a better one the following night.

Hands of Stone:  Nick Swisher.  I would've given this one to Quentin for dropping a flyball that blew a potential shutout for Floyd, but if he doesn't make the error, maybe Floyd loses the no-no bid the following inning.  So Swisher gets this for some awkward play in right.

May 11: Mariners 6, White Sox 3

Gavin Floyd, meet Recession to the Mean.  Recession, Gavin.

That's the jist of what went down today.  Floyd looked like the guy the Phillies were all too happy to deal.  He struggled to find the strike zone at times, but given the way he left almost every breaking ball up, walking people may have been the safer alternative.

Floyd just plain didn't have it today -- even though the baseball gods were unduly kind to him once again.  In the second, he faced a bases-loaded jam with zero outs.  Wladimir Balentien hit a hard comebacker, but Floyd gloved it and started a 1-2-3 double play.  Yuniesky Betancourt grounded out, and Floyd escaped the inning with a 2-1 lead.

Luck was on his side in the third.  After Ichiro Suzuki hit a wounded duck single that barely left the infield dirt and stole second, Floyd hit the .105-hitting Miguel Cairo in the shoulder with a 2-2 pitch.  But Floyd appeared to be bailed out by a bad call when first base umpire Scott Barry ruled Adrian Beltre was out at first for a 6-4-3 double play -- even though his foot hit the bag well before Paul Konerko received the throw.

Floyd didn't take advantage.  He grooved a 3-0 fastball to Raul Ibanez, who promptly belted it roughly a billion feet into the patio section of Safeco Field, and the baseball gods decided to call it a day.  Floyd was chased in the fourth after giving up two more runs.  He left two baserunners for Nick Masset, but Jose Lopez flew out deep to right to end the inning.

Sox hitters missed their share of opportunities, too.  They had runners on the corners after Orlando Cabrera's single (the first of four on the day) with one out and a chance to build on their 2-1 lead, both Quentin hit a chopper off the plate and didn't run.  Kenji Johjima tagged him out, then threw to second to get Cabrera.

That wasn't the first or the last time the Sox failed to score a runner on third.  After starting the game with three singles for the first run of the game, A.J. Pierzynski doubled to right to give the Sox a 2-0 lead and put runners on second and third.  Joe Crede popped out in foul territory for the second out (the first of three pop-outs on the day), and Nick Swisher struck out to end the inning.

The Sox had another chance in the sixth thanks to nice relief work by Nick Magic, who held the Mariners scoreless over 2 1/3 innings.  Juan Uribe, Cabrera and Quentin hit three straight singles with one out to narrow the deficit to 5-3.  Lefty Arthur Rhodes came in to face Jim Thome, and promptly threw a wild pitch to take away the double play.

No matter.  Rhodes disposed of Thome, walked Paul Konerko and got A.J. Pierzynski to ground out weakly for the third out.  Brendan Morrow and J.J. Putz shut the Sox down in the ninth inning, while Ehren Wassermann looked erratic once again and gave Seattle an insurance run it didn't need in the eighth.

Record: 18-18 | Box score | Play-by-play