Hats off to Octavio Dotel, who pitched the relief outing of the year and showed Sox fans what he's capable of doing.
With the Sox leading 3-2, Dotel entered the game in the sixth inning and elevated the heart rates of Sox fans when Michael Cuddyer fought off several pitches before leading off with a single -- then stole second. So the tying run was in scoring positon with no outs.
But Cuddyer was the last good Twins hitter he faced -- and Dotel seemed to realize it. He struck out Craig Monroe after another battle, then struck out Delmon Young on three pitches (curve, curve, fastball) and Brendan Harris on four (fastball, curve, fastball, fastball).
After the Sox botched yet another golden opportunity, Dotel didn't let up. He blew through Adam Everett and Carlos Gomez before getting Matt Tolbert to pop out to Joe Crede and preserve the one-run lead through the middle innings.
The Sox finally provided insurance runs for the pitching staff when Alexei Ramirez started a two-out rally by smacking a hanging 0-2 slider through the hole on the left side. He stole second, and Carlos Quentin singled him home with a grounder through the middle to stretch the lead to 4-2. They stretched the lead in the eighth when Jermaine Dye singled and Joe Crede walked off Pat Neshek to put two on with one out. Neshek left with an injury, and Brian Bass followed up by walking Juan Uribe on four pitches.
Uribe turned what looked to be a blown scoring chance into two runs when Toby Hall grounded to third for what seemed to be a tailor-made 5-4-3 double play. But Brendan Harris was on the wrong side of second to make the turn, and Uribe took the Minnesota second baseman ¡profundo! with a tremendous takeout slide to allow a run to cross the plate. Another run came in when Justin Morneau dropped Tolbert's low throw on a grounder by Alexei Ramirez, and the Sox cruised to another comfortable victory.
Uribe was the one who gave the Sox the lead in the first place, hitting the Sox's first non-solo homer in 11 dongs -- including one by Jermaine Dye three batters before. After Dye's big blast to left cut the Twins' lead to 2-1, Uribe followed up a Joe Crede double by showing the homer hands, putting a 3-2 fastball over the Sox bullpen for a 3-2 lead.
Of course, it wouldn't be a White Sox game without an embarrassing failure with runners in scoring position. They Sox had runners in scoring position after Carlos Quentin walked, Jim Thome singled, and both of them advanced a base on a bizarre play.
Paul Konerko checked his swing on a 3-1 pitch from Matt Guerrier. Joe Mauer was slow to ask for an appeal, and Konerko began removing his shin guard. Seeing that, Quentin and Thome began jogging to the base ahead -- and started sprinting after first base umpire Ted Barrett called it a strike. Quentin and Thome both had uncontested stolen bases, a confused Guerrier wandered around the field tagging everything, and an embarrassed Ron Gardenhire got himself ejected.
The Sox then embarrassed themselves. Konerko swung at ball four and chopped a ball to third for one out, Nick Swisher saw an outside-looking pitch called for a strike one and his at-bat was doomed after that, and Crede popped out to end the threat.
John Danks received the rare five-inning win, which was disappointing but better than
his first effort against Minnesota. His biggest mistake was walking Harris after getting ahead 0-2 in the fifth. Everett singled, Tolbert singled and Mauer singled to give the Twins a 2-0 lead.
However, Danks earned points in his catcher's ledger by actually holding a fast runner on. After Carlos Gomez reached with a one-out single in the third, Danks threw over to first a few times with various pickoff moves, nearly getting Gomez on the last one. That effort, paired with a slide step, delayed Gomez's jump and allowed Hall to actually throw him out.
Record: 16-17 |
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