Sox Machine: Chicago White Sox blog

The gritty wind beneath their wings

Give Hawk Harrelson and Darrin Jackson credit: Their crush on Darin Erstad is indefatigable, even in the midst of a massive 2-for-32 slump. From Wednesday night's game:


How long do you think it'll be until they're discussing his musk?  And once again, note DJ's double negative.

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After his two-homer game Wednesday, Jim Thome has five homers and eight RBI.  To meet my projection, he'll have to spread out 23 RBI over his next 19 homers.  He'll have to contend with Tadahito Iguchi, who's warming up since returning to the No. 2 spot.  He's 2-for-7 with a walk in two games there.

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Minor league round-up:

• Ottawa 7, Charlotte 4
• Charlie Haeger contines to struggle -- seven runs on 10 hits and four walks in 4 2/3 innings.  His ERA stands at 7.56, and the only good thing about his outing is that he didn't allow any homers.
• Corwin Malone, Dwayne Pollok and Ryan Bukvich pitched 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.
• Jerry Owens and Ryan Sweeney had multi-hit games, and Casey Rogowski hit his first homer of the year.
• Montgomery 6, Birmingham 4
• Jack Egbert kept his ERA right at 1.50 with six innings of one-run ball.  He allowed four hits and one walk, while striking out two.
• Tim Bittner and Edwardo Sierra prevented Egbert from getting the win, giving up five runs in less than three innings.
• Thomas Collaro continued his hot hitting by going 3-for-4 with two doubles, a homer (his third) and 3 RBI.  He leads the Southern League with 16 RBI.
• Robert Valido has a modest four-game hitting streak with a 1-for-3 day; meanwhile, Donny Lucy's eight-game streak ended with an 0-for-4 day.
• Winston-Salem 7, Myrtle Beach 4
• Aaron Cunningham raised his average to .390 with a 2-for-4 day.
• Micah Schnurstein had a double and three RBI.
• Kyle McCulloch struggled with his control, walking four in five innings.  He only allowed two runs, but was handed a no-decision when Jason Rice blew the lead and earned the victory in the process.
• Garry Bakker struck out the side in his inning of work.
• Charleston 1, Kannapolis 0
• Faustino De Los Santos was brilliant in relief of Jose Zazueta, striking out six in three hitless innings.  The Intimidators' bullpen didn't allow a hit in six total innings of work.
• Kannapolis only scratched out four hits, two of them by catcher Francisco Hernandez.
  

The anatomy of a no-hitter

I got some pizza, some pop, and I'm firmly planted on the couch, ready to watch Mark Buehrle's no-hitter, the first in 16 years for the White Sox, for the first time.  I'm going to keep a running log along with it, if only for posterity.

Check back every 10 minutes or so.  Or don't.  No spoilers, please.

TOP OF THE FIRST

No. 1: Kenny Lofton
First pitch, a curveball flipped foul.  High fastball evens the count, but he comes back with a changeup on the outside corner, which Lofton taps to second for a 4-3.

No. 2: Ian Kinsler
First pitch fastball outside corner, Kinsler hits it off the end of the bat to medium-range center for the second out.

No. 3: Michael Young
First pitch fastball, strike one, outside corner.   Second pitch almost in the same spot, but called a ball.  Fastball on the inside corner makes it a 1-2, and Buehrle finishes him with an outside fastball Young is late on.  Buehrle points to the sky with a smile for not allowing a run in the first, something he'd done in 15 of his previous 18 outings.

TOP OF THE SECOND

No. 4: Mark Teixeira
First-pitch fastball over the heart of the plate for strike one.  Two inside heaters put Buehrle behind in the count for the first time, 2-1.  Texeira chases a changeup low and outside for strike 2, and Buehrle blows it by him with a fastball up for strike three.

No. 5: Sammy Sosa
Fastball in, the first time Buehrle doesn't get a first-pitch strike.  Sammy with a big whiff for strike one, but lays off another high heater for a 2-1 count.  Way ahead on the changeup for strike two, and when Buehrle throws another change, Sammy hits a nubber off the bat to Tadahito Iguchi for the second out. 

No. 6: Hank Blalock
Fastball just off the outside corner for ball one.  Comes right back with a slider in the same spot, which Blalock fouls off.  Buehrle with another fastball outside, 2-1.  Tries to go inside with a change, and Blalock turns on it for a deep flyball to right, which Jermaine Dye tracks perfectly and snags right above the yellow padding topping the fence for a long, loud out.

TOP OF THE THIRD

No. 7: Jerry Hairston
First pitch fastball for strike one, and then Hairston chases a low change which he chops down the third base line.  Joe Crede dives to his right, snags it, rises, fires and gets Hairston by an eyelash.  Hairston argues, walks back to the dugout, comes back to argue some more, and is ejected.  The best angle shows that it might've been a tie, but Hairston hurt his own cause by sliding.  Not only does it slow you down in those last five feet, but considering umps use sound and visuals to determine close calls, the sound of a foot hitting the bag would've helped his case instead of fingers brushing over the top.

No. 8: Nelson Cruz
Curveball misses for ball one, and he misses with a fastball high for his first 2-0 count.  Cruz can't check his swing on a nice outside-corner fastball for strike one.  Buehrle throws a change or slider -- it was 83 and didn't do much, and Cruz fists it to the left field warning track, where Rob Mackowiak snags it with a nice running catch.

No. 9: Gerald Laird
Curve misses low for ball one, and the fastball follows suit for a 2-0 count.  Fastball inside pushes it to 3-0, and a get-me-over makes it 3-1.  Outside-half fastball for strike two, and Laird chops a changeup to Juan Uribe for the third out.

TOP OF THE FOURTH

No. 10: Kenny Lofton
Fastball just off the outside corner for ball one as Lofton flashes bunt.  He chops another outside fastball foul to even the count, then just misses a double when he pokes a changeup a few feet outside the left-field foul line.  Buehrle brushes him off the plate with a fastball inside, and comes back inside to get Lofton swinging for strikeout No. 3, a foul tip caught by A.J. Pierzynski.

No. 11: Ian Kinsler
Kinsler takes an outside changeup for ball one, then fouls off another change as he's way ahead to even the count.  Kinsler is again in front of a third straight change, and pops it up to center field.  Juan Uribe runs out there, but Darin Erstad charges in and calls him off at the last second for the second out.

No. 12: Michael Young 
First pitch slider gets in on Young's hands, and he grounds to third for an easy 6-3.

TOP OF THE FIFTH

No. 13: Mark Teixeira
Changeup outside for ball one, but he finds the corner with another change.  He then comes in with a fastball and saws him off -- 4-3, one out.

No. 14: Sammy Sosa
Buehrle bounces a fastball for strike one, but gets Sammy to whiff on a low-inside fastball.  Outside changeup, a fastball low, and another fastball low, and Sammy's on board with a walk.

No. 15: Hank Blalock
Blalock misses on a fastball up and in for strike one, but watches a high and outside fastball to even the count.  Buehrle picks off Mister Bulky for out No. 2.  Back to Blalock, he watches a fastball high, and then hits a curveball towards the hole between first and second.  Iguchi makes a diving stop and throws out Blalock, inning over.

TOP OF THE SIXTH

No. 16: Matt Kata
Fastball, over the middle and up for strike one.  Kata pulls a changeup foul for strike two, but lays off an outside fastball and a low changeup for a 2-2 count.  Another changeup, Kata tips it and A.J. hangs on for strike three.

No. 17: Nelson Cruz
Fastball misses outside for ball one, then up for a 2-0 count.  Another fastball, knee-high and over the plate for strike one.  Another fastball over the outside half, and Cruz lines it to right, but right at Dye.

No. 18: Gerald Laird
Slider high for ball one, but another one finds the inside corner to make it 1-1.  Laird chases an outside change for strike two, then watches a fastball on the inside corner for the backwards K.

TOP OF THE SEVENTH

No. 19: Kenny Lofton
Fastball in on the hands, fouled off for strike one.  Fastball on the outside corner, chopped foul.  Slider misses outside, and Lofton then grounds an inside fastball to Paul Konerko for out No. 1.

No. 20: Ian Kinsler
Kinsler watches a slider over the plate for strike one, then fouls off one on his hands for a quick 0-2 count.  He watches a change in the dirt, then chops at another one that gets past a diving Crede.  Juan Uribe picks it behind him, fires to first, and Konerko scoops it.  Two outs.

No. 21: Michael Young
Fastball up and in, ball one.  Young fouls off a slider in on the hands for strike one, but a fastball up and in makes it 2-1.  After fouling off an outside corner change, he takes another up-and-in fastball to make it a full count.  He then swings at a high fastball and flies out harmlessly to Mackowiak.

TOP OF THE EIGHTH

No. 22: Mark Teixeira
Comcast misses the first pitch, but it's a strike.  An inside fastball and an outside changeup make it 2-1.  Teixiera fouls off a slider in on the hands, then watches a fastball nail the outside corner for strike three.

No. 23: Sammy Sosa
Comcast misses strike one.  Slider up and in evens the count, and another slider misses high.  One more slider, and Sosa flips it weakly to Iguchi for out No. 2.

No. 24: Hank Blalock
Blalock gets jammed by a fastball, grounds it just foul, making a nifty flip worthless.  Another inside fastball, and Blalock grounds to Iguchi for a routine 4-3.

TOP OF THE NINTH

No. 25: Matt Kata
Hawk Harrelson mentions "no hits" and "no-hitter" for the first time.  Kata fouls a slider off his knee for strike one.  Another slider fouled off his shin for strike two.  Fastball on the outside corner, and Kata looks at it for strike three.  K No. 7 for Buehrle.

No. 26: Nelson Cruz
Cruz misses on a low changeup for strike one.  Another swing and miss on a low change, and it's 0-2.  Buehrle bounces a slider in the dirt, and just misses with a change off the corner to even up the count.  A slider in on the hands, and Cruz swings and misses for strike three.  The ball gets away from Pierzynski, Cruz recognizes this belatedly and doesn't make much of an effort.  Pierzynski throws to Konerko, two outs.

No. 27: Gerald Laird
Fastball misses in, and Laird chops an inside slider foul, 1-1.  Laird is sawed off by another slider, Crede charges and makes a running throw to get Laird by two steps.  That's the first no-hitter at home for the Sox since Joe Horlen in 1967.

Inventory:  9 innings, 27 batters faced, 0 hits, 1 walk, 11 groundouts, 7 flyouts, 8 strikeouts, 1 pickoff, 106 pitches, 66 strikes, 40 balls, 59 fastballs, 27 changeups, 16 sliders, 4 curveballs, 2 pitches Comcast missed. Here's the chart.