Another road game, another no-show by the offense, and another walk-off homer surrendered by a White Sox reliever.
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Scott Linebrink before him, Octavio Dotel surrendered a game-ending homer on the road. This time it was Miguel Cabrera, who followed up Magglio Ordonez's warning-track fly to left with one that cleared the wall in right, giving the Tigers the sweep.
And once again, it was hard to feel disappointed by the events, because like in those Rays games, it seemed highly unlikely the offense would resurface again.
The Sox managed one run, scored in the second inning when Paul Konerko doubled to the right-center gap, then advanced to third on the play when Ryan Raburn couldn't pick the ball up on the warning track. Konerko had slowed to a near-halt at second before re-starting, and made it to third with a slide. Jermaine Dye drove him in with a sac fly, and the offense called it a night.
While Konerko had the double, he also grounded into two double plays. The Sox only managed to get one runner into scoring position the rest of the day, when Toby Hall and Orlando Cabrera hit back-to-back singles with two outs in the fifth before Brian Anderson grounded out to end the inning.
It marked a landmark day for Kenny Rogers, who broke the seven-inning barrier for the first time all season, holding the Sox to four hits and a walk over eight innings.
He didn't get the win, though, and lefty countpart Mark Buehrle didn't figure into the decision as well despite eight strong innings for a second consecutive outing. He struck out a season-high six, and only allowed seven hits and a walk over his day.
The one run he allowed was in the sixth, when Edgar Renteria, Placido Polanco and Carlos Guillen hit back-to-back-to-back singles with one out, leaving Buehrle with runners on the corners and the Tigers' two best hitters, Ordonez and Cabrera, due up. Buehrle retired them both, with a pop-out to Orlando Cabrera and a 6-4 fielder's choice.
Cabrera had an excellent game in defeat. He was the only Sox player to reach base twice, and he made a tremendous diving stop, pop and throw to retire Ivan Rodriguez in the fifth.
Record: 37-29 |
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