2006 State of the Sox

April 30: White Sox 6, Angels 5

Once again, thanks to Jeeves at ChiSoxBlog for picking up this series:

-Bring on the BROOMS!

(Man I love posting that broom)

A series win out in Anaheim, let alone a sweep, is awesome for the Sox. It’s the first sweep against the Angels in Cali since 1994, I believe.

-This bodes well for our short set against the Indians.

-My pick clicked this time. Crede had a solid game today with a pair of doubles and a single. He hit the ball hard every time he came up.

-Garland pitched pretty decently, his statline didn’t look all that great, but he was one pitch away from a quality outing. He hit the target on Cabrera’s homer, a few inches inside and high, but Cabrera can hit that inside pitch and he deposited it over the fences. Garland did well to stop the hurt after that homer. Earlier in the season, like against the Royals, if he gave up some runs he would get rattled and let in a whole flood of runs.

-Garland always seems to catch the Sunday lineup. This may affect his mentality as a pitcher. I know that if I was pitching and Ozuna was in left (he wasn’t there today, but I’m just saying) I’d be scared as hell to have anything hit in that direction. I’m curious to see how Garland looks with a full complement of starters in the field behind him.

-Ozzie seems to love Thornton. Every time he’s in my heart skips a beat, but he’s been okay the last two games.

-Cotts earned his first career save. How weird is that? I could have sworn he picked up a couple last year.

-It was a typical Sunday lineup for the Sox today, and you know what? I’ve come to accept it now. I know I railed on the concept earlier when we played the Mariners, but in the long run I suppose it’s better. We get to rest our starters a bit and we ensure that the bench guys aren’t rusty as hell. I still would like it to be done a bit more evenly, with the only one or two starters getting a day off. I think Ozzie should give Thome and/or Paulie a day off, which would mean more PT for Gload. It’s Ozzie’s squad, and he’s worked wonders for us so far, so I’m not going to bitch and moan too much. I’m still going to bitch and moan a bit, because that’s my job and right as a fan, but I’ll try and keep a lid on it.

-Angels’ fans have yet another reason to hate the Sox. Mackowiak looked out to me on that double. I think he got caught on the hand, it’s tough to say from the replays, but I think he was a goner.

-6 runs is a pretty good number. The offense had been a bit stagnant as of late (excluding that offensive clinic against the Mariners), so hopefully we’ll be on top of our game when we invade Jacob’s Field.

-Here’s hoping JD is okay. He left the game with soreness in his left calf. This is the same leg that he hurt before, so let's pray this isn't a recurring problem. He’s been arguably our hottest hitter on this road trip, and it would be a big loss for us if he isn’t ready to play against the Indians.

Week in a Box: April 23-29

Five out of the six games this week consisted of a dreaded West Coast swing, and the Sox managed a winning record.  Feelings cancelled each other out when the weirdness of the Sox losing a series collided with knowing the Sox would struggle in Seattle.

I managed to miss the last two games of the week, but the Sox picked up where they left off in Anaheim, taking the first two games of the series.  Missing half the games in the week disqualifies me from making any judgments in areas that numbers can't sum up, so the fielding awards are up for grabs.  Let me know who you think should win the best and worst of the week with the glove, lest I leave them blank.

Here are the winners and losers of the week that was:

Player of the Week:  Paul Konerko.  Jermaine Dye had another hot week, but he scared Sox fans by needing out of a game with a strained calf muscle.  Paul Konerko strung together four multi-hit games and closed out the week batting .372.  

Player of the Weak:  Juan Uribe.  Juan opened the week by going to 3-for-4 with two homers against Minnesota.  He finished the week going 1-for-23.  He seems like he’s just throwing the bat at everything.  Let the record show that Jim Thome struck out 11 times this week, also.  

Pitcher of the Week:  Jose Contreras.  El Conde improved to 4-0 with two victories on the week.   He completed eight innings each time, only allowing three earned runs to lower his ERA to 1.45 on the season.  He’s now racked up 12 consecutive regular-season victories, and would be the frontrunner in Cy Young polls if the season were to end today.  And if the season were to end today, it'd probably be some sort of record.  

Pitcher of the Weak:  Freddy Garcia.  Mark Buehrle had the roughest outing, but even without his best stuff he went seven innings.  Freddy has yet to last that long in any start, whether staked to a big lead or in a close game.  Of course, there may be a reason for that.

Fireman of the Week:  Neal Cotts.  After a shaky start to his season, the Illinois Redbird has been Cotts-steady.  Three scoreless innings, no walks.

Gas Can of the Week:  Brandon McCarthy.  Black Mac had a rough week – Seattle tagged him with the loss when Yuniesky Betancourt drove in the winning run with a single to left, and then he couldn’t even finish an inning against the Angels.  Boone Logan also sucked, but at least he earned the “save” for his efforts.

Super sub:  Pablo Ozuna.  Nobody really stood out this week, but Ozuna went 2-for-4 in his only appearance and finished the month hitting .500, so a tip of the hat for that.

Super scrub:  Nobody.  Ozzie relied on his starters for this week, and the brief appearances by the Sox bench didn’t hurt ‘em.

Gold Glove:  Up for grabs.  I’ll take suggestions from the crowd, as I missed the last three games of the week.

Hands of Stone:  Up for grabs.  Same goes for this one.

Dave’s not here man:  Freddy Garcia.  Like someone I can’t recall said, marijuana is only a performance-enhancing drug if you’re playing bass.

April 29: White Sox 2, Angels 1

Once again, here's Jeeves from ChiSoxBlog with his recap of the second game of the Angels series:

-Alright! That's a series win out west. Good job boys. Way to wrap it up early.

-This was a pitcher's duel, the whole game. I don't think I took one breath during the ninth inning.

-Contreras pitched an absolute gem. 12 straight wins for our man.

-I think we lucked out when Escobar got a blood blister and had to leave early. He was cruising just like Contreras. Also we got to tire out the bullpen for tomorrow.

-Why was Thornton out there? Two weeks since he last pitched, because of back spasms. It didn't back fire, so oh well, but it did probably take a couple days off the back end of my life.

-Pods hit again today, but he had some boneheaded plays. He misplayed a ball in the field, badly. And was thrown out pretty easily trying to steal. He's now 50% this year on SB's. Figgins is 7 for 7, just for comparison's sake.

-My pick to click didn't really click, but then again no one really did. No one for either team had a multi-hit game, so no, I didn't jinx Iguchi.

-I'm not going to comment on the ineptitude or eptitude (I'm aware that's not a word) of the hitting, because the pitchers were just dealing today.

-Thome is the quickest Pale Hose ever to 10 HR.

-K-Rod is filthy. He has electric stuff. His curve is DISGUSTING. Boy, do I wish he was on the Sox.

-Expect the "Sunday Lineup" tomorrow for the Sox. I don't know how, but the Garland always seems to get landed with the crummy lineup.

-I nearly forgot. Escobar hitting AJ was crap. That was dumb and uncalled for. I honestly expected it in game one, but it wasn't necessary. I was watching the game while logged into the Angel's blog I referenced earlier, and they weren't all that thrilled about it either.

-I'm surprised Crede doesn't get a round of boos like AJ does. After all, it was Crede's bomb that sunk the Angels' ship.

April 28: White Sox 8, Angels 5

Special thanks go out to Jeeves from ChiSoxBlog for offering up his game recaps to use to fill in for the games I missed.  Feel free to offer up your observations if he missed anything, because I won't be able to tell the difference: 

-Pods had another two hit game. He's all the way up to .232. He's not quite the catalyst he was last year, but at least he's not an instant out anymore.
 
-Most of the attention has been paid to Konerko and Thome, but Tadahito is quietly putting together a very solid April. He added three hits to bring his average up to .325. Now what I want to know is, was he just slumping in Spring Training or was hitting lower in the order such a big difference?
 
-Wow, Juan Uribe tripled and didn't score. Where's small ball when you need it?    
 
-Joe Crede is all of a sudden under .300. I could have sworn he was just at .330.
 
-JD is still ripping the cover off the ball. We have a real legit 3-4-5 hitters.
 
-Speaking of our 3 hitter, Thome got the golden sombrero plus some extra on the side. 4 K's, I'm shocked.
 
-Freddy pitched a very average ball game. He walked four Angels, which is tough considering they are a free swinging team. I heard that his velocity was in the mid to low 80's to begin the game. And didn't get toward the 90's until around the fourth inning. That's real troubling.
 
-McCarthy had his second straight poor outing. Cotts did well though.
 
-Getting the win tonight would be a real luxury for us. It'll take the pressure off for game 3.

Help Wanted

I will be leaving the country this weekend, and missing tonight's, Saturday's and Sunday's game in the process.  If anybody would like to pitch in by offering their version of a recap, or at least some observations of the game, please send an email to jim@soxmachine.com, and I will compile them and give all the credit where credit is due. 

Regular posting will return Monday.  Enjoy the weekend.

-Jim

April 26: Mariners 5, White Sox 1

Tonight was just one of those nights.  Jarrod Washburn made a lot of good pitches, some good Seattle defense thwarted the only rally the Sox put together, Mark Buehrle didn’t have his arsenal working for him, and Ozzie didn’t capitalize on a late-inning switch that cost the Sox an out.  That’s why you don’t give games away, because you won’t win every game with your ace on the mound.

The loss gives the Sox a 1-2 start for the first half of their six-game West Coast swing.

Buehrle suffered his first loss of the season, but his outing could’ve been a lot worse after a rocky second inning.  He didn’t have his curveball working, and because of that had trouble working away from right-handed hitters.  In the second, Richie Sexson and Carl Everett hit opposite-field singles, and then Buehrle loaded the bases when he tried to come in on Kenji Johjima and hit him.  

After a fielder’s choice RBI on a slow grounder to short by Adrian Beltre, Buehrle left a cutter up on the outer half of the plate and Jose Lopez went opposite-field again to give the Mariners a 3-1 lead.  

Buehrle did settle down and pitched seven innings, only allowing one other run, a Raul Ibanez homer in the sixth.  But with a rock-solid Washburn on the mound, the Mariners didn’t need any more.  Sox hitters didn’t look comfortable, even though the strike zone of home umpire Mike Muchlinski (making his debut behind the plate) shrunk as the game went on.  Washburn threw a lot of first pitch strikes and made the Sox beat him, and they just couldn’t today.

The Sox did put together a rally against Washburn in the seventh when Jim Thome and Paul Konerko led the inning off with back-to-back singles.  But Willie Bloomquist helped to kill a good chunk of momentum when he made a beautiful diving catch of Joe Crede’s liner to right-center.  Konerko tagged up and then scored a batter later on Juan Uribe’s sac fly to at least break up the shutout, but it was the only true threat the Sox mounted.

When they did have something going in the ninth – with Konerko and Thome once again reaching base off J.J. Putz to start the inning – I was surprised to see that Ozzie didn’t pinch-run for Konerko.  Pinch-running is Pablo Ozuna’s sole purpose on the bench, and there was no bonus to having Konerko out there on the basepaths.  Sure enough, Jermaine grounded into a slow 6-4-3 double play that Ozuna probably would’ve broken up.  That’s not saying it would’ve made a difference ultimately, but it concerns me that Ozzie would sit on his hands in that situation.  And that's not even counting the injury risk.

Putz struggled to finish up, walking Crede before finally retiring Uribe after a seven-pitch struggle.   Uribe just hit a home-run-distance foul to left before flying out on a deep drive to right-center to end the game.   Putz was leaving a lot of pitches up, and it feels like Ozzie wasn’t taking that as seriously as he should have.  Ozuna should’ve been in there.

Record:  14-7 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 25: White Sox 13, Mariners 2

See Ozzie?  You don’t have to go to great lengths to get your bench involved against the Seattle Mariners.  All you have to do is play your regulars, let them get a huge lead against a shoddy Mariners staff, and the rest will take care of itself.

Just like in Little League, everybody got to play at Safeco Field as the Sox offense steamrolled Mariners pitching and Javier Vazquez held up his end for the most resounding Sox victory on the season.  

After Joel Piniero held the Sox scoreless through the first two innings, Chicago proceeded to score in the next six mainly using a variety of extra-base hits.  The stolen base actually worked(!!!) to kickstart the offense when Brian Anderson and Scott Podsednik executed a double-steal.  Adrian Beltre actually looked like he got the tag down, but Kenji Johjima’s throw was so far towards second base that he didn’t get the benefit if the doubt from the umpire.  

Tadahito Iguchi drove them both in with an RBI double after failing to lay down a sacrifice bunt on the first pitch, once again proving that you can’t take the bat out of his hands.  Paul Konerko homered two batters later, and away they went.  

When the dust cleared, the Sox scored in six straight innings, putting up crooked numbers in innings No. 6-8 to make this ballgame not much of one.  Joe Crede homered, Jermaine Dye homered twice, Iguchi homered, Paulie had an RBI ground rule double and Jim Thome added an RBI single to the right-field corner.  

Jermaine’s second homer was a rude greeting to Bobby Livingston, who was making his major-league debut.  Livingston started his career by striking out Thome on three pitches, which nearly drove the Mariners’ announcer to orgasm.  It didn’t last long, as Livingston was shelled and pulled before he could complete two innings.

A.J. Pierzynski had two hits for his fourth multi-hit game in his last five, Pods had three hits, Anderson had two walks – everybody did something with the bat except for Juan Uribe, who at least played solid defense.  Even Ross Gload got a hit leading off the eighth with a triple, leaving Chris Widger as the only Sox batting .000 on the season.

Meanwhile, Javier Vazquez’s stuff looked electric once again – all his pitches have movement, with his fastball tailing in on right-handed hitters and his changeup fading away.  He started off by allowing an infield single to Ichiro, and a Johjima single was the only other hit he allowed through six – he was no-hitting the West.  

He started off the sixth with a walk and a single, and since that pushed him over the 100-pitch limit he was pulled for Boone Logan.  Logan looked afraid of the strike zone, hitting two batters, walking in a run, and allowing a few hits and a few more hard-hit balls that were called for outs.  

Sure, Logan recorded his first major-league save (pitching three innings “effectively” in an 11-run ballgame), but here’s hoping that’s his last major-league outing for the foreseeable future.  He’s now 4-for-4 in allowing inherited runners to score, which won’t show in his decent-looking 2.70 ERA.

Record: 14-6 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 24: Mariners 4, White Sox 3 (11 innings)

The Sox’s winning streak ends at eight, and I had the feeling it was going to happen before the game started thanks to the lineup.  They would’ve lost the game in regulation had Brian Anderson not tied it up with a homer off Eddie Guardado in the ninth, so they were lucky to even get it into extras.

It’s the Sox’s sixth eight-game winning streak in the last calendar year, as The Cheat notes, but they could’ve certainly tried harder to extend it further.  The varsity did eventually push the JV off the field, but not until it was a do-or-die situation.

That’s not to take credit away from the Mariners, who played the 11th perfectly off Brandon McCarthy.  Carl Everett singled past Paul Konerko, who was guarding the line, Willie Bloomquist then pinch-ran and stole second, nullifying that defensive shift.  Black Mac got a flyout, then intentionally walked Jeremy Reed to face Yuniesky Betancourt.  Betancourt hit a soft single perfectly placed between Joe Crede and Juan Uribe to drive in the game-winning run.

The lineup didn’t look so ominous at the start, when Pablo Ozuna doubled to lead off the game and Jim Thome drove him in with a line-drive single up the middle two batters later.

And much like against the Royals, the Sox took advantage of Mariners miscues to take the lead in the second.  Rob Mackowiak hit a sharp grounder to third and Adrian Beltre couldn’t get a handle on in time – Mack beat his throw to first by a split second.  He then advanced to second on a wild pitch, and to third on Brian Anderson’s groundout to third.  When Rivera mishandled a low, outside (but catchable pitch) to Pablo Ozuna, Mack sprinted down the line catching the battery by surprise.  The ball only rolled maybe 15 or 20 feet down the line, but Mack was running from the get-go and beat Moyer to the plate for a 2-1 lead.  

But that would be the last the Sox would score until they were down to their very last bullet.  They became increasingly less patient, and after having Moyer against the ropes, they started hacking into a lot of bad counts and first-pitch outs.  Moyer lasted seven before giving the ball to LOOGY George Sherill, who then handed it over to a filthy Rafael Soriano.

Thank God for “closers.”  Because it was a one-run game in the ninth inning, Mike Hargrove felt he had to go to the “closer,” Eddie Guardado, who had been struggling massively coming in.  He managed to get pinch-hitting Joe Crede to pop out and pinch-hitting Jermaine Dye to strike out by keeping the ball down – and that led to Brian Anderson.  

With a 1-1 count, Anderson went down and got one of those low fastballs and put it just over the left field fence to tie up the game, causing Guardado to burst into a fit of self-reflexive profanity.  Pablo Ozuna followed up with a hit, but was caught stealing to end the inning, taking the bat out of Tadahito Iguchi’s hands.  I hate these two-out steal attempts.  Hate them, hate them, hate them. 

Instead of Iguchi hitting with a runner on against a Eddie-Ready-To-Implode Guardado, he had to lead off against hard-throwing righthander J.J. Putz, who entered with 17 strikeouts to two walks on the season.  Guess what?  Iguchi struck out leading off the 10th.

On the other side of the game, Jon Garland looked like the Garland of last year with a few exceptions – and none of them had to do with allowing the homer to Raul Ibanez (Ibanez kills Garland), or the first-inning shot to Jose Lopez (those happen).  But he had himself a sixth inning that I would venture to call the Ugliest Inning That Was Ultimately Harmless.

With two outs, Ichiro hit a chopper over Garland’s head that Garland should’ve fielded, except that he jumped like I would’ve and Iguchi couldn’t get there in time.  Then he turned into old school Jose Contreras by focusing way too much on the runner – on his third pickoff move, he threw the ball off Ichiro’s back and gave him second base.  It looked like it wouldn’t matter after inducing a chopper to the mound by Jose Lopez, but Garland, in the process of doing a wussy toss to first, dropped the ball, putting runners on the corners.  Fortunately he got Ibanez to pop out that time around.  It was an embarrassing series of events, and Ozzie made sure to make fun of him in the dugout.

Record: 13-6 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 23: White Sox 7, Twins 3

Remember when Jim Thome was the only White Sox who could put a ball out of the park? 
 
Me neither. 

The Sox cranked up the power today, going back-to-back twice as they completed a sweep over the Minnesota Twins.  
 
In a turn that's as saddening as it is refreshing, Thome had nothing to do with the display of brawn, going hitless on the day and failing to score a run in a game for the first time all season.   The streak ends at 17, one short of the major-league record.
 
Instead, it was Juan Uribe providing the power, finishing the first back-to-back job in the fourth, and starting the second one two innings later.  After a slow start to his season, Uribe had three hits on the day and has bumped his average well over the Mendoza Line.

Joe Crede continued his hot streak with his third homer of the year in the fourth, and Brian Anderson hit his first of the season.  Anderson went 2-for-4 on the day, marking his first multi-hit game since Opening Day.  Paul Konerko nearly joined them in the home run derby against starter Carlos Silva, but Torii Hunter robbed him by snatching a ball over the center field wall.

However, my favorite moment of the day came in the third, when Scott Podsednik doubled to left leading off the inning.  Tadahito Iguchi tried bunting the first pitch, but it dribbled foul.  The next pitch, he roped a single to left.  Do not take the bat out of this guy’s hands – with three hits on the day, he’s now batting .344.

Of course, like Podsednik in two recent games, Iguchi was thrown out trying to steal second with two outs and Jermaine Dye at the plate, costing Jermaine a shot at doing something with runners on.  These two-out steal attempts are really the only thing I can complain about during what is otherwise a torrid stretch.

Jose Contreras pitched seven scoreless innings for his 11th consecutive regular-season victory.  He wasn’t dominant, walking more batters than he struck out and allowing a fair share of baserunners with only one 1-2-3 inning on the day, but he was still tough.  He only made one true mistake (Joe Mauer’s homer leading off the sixth), and beared down whenever runners were on – something he couldn’t do until the All-Star break last year. 

Cliff Politte was once again hit hard while getting some work in the ninth.  He did induce a key double play to limit the damage to only one run, but it’s still worrisome that he has yet to put together two consecutive scoreless outings this season.  His ERA is now an even 12.00.

Record: 13-5 | Box score | Play-by-play

Week in a Box: April 16-22

Perfect.  

Sure, a 6-0 week that includes three games against the Omaha Royals isn’t the most a team can brag about, but the six wins count no matter what – especially when the Sox had to go through Johan Santana for one of them.  The streak has catapulted them to the top of the division after losing the lead two games into the season.  Let’s hope they can start another 163-game regime.

Jim Thome also set a record by scoring at least one run in 17 consecutive games (and counting) to start the season.  Sox starters picked up the win in every game, which is a testament to their performance, solid offense and a bullpen that’s doing just enough to close games out.

This week’s winners and losers will be hard to pick, especially when there are so many of the former and so few of the latter, so feel free to disagree if you feel I made the wrong choice on a close call.

Player of the Week:  Jermaine Dye.  This was such a toss-up, between him, Jim Thome and Paul Konerko.  And that’s not overlooking the breakout week by Scott Podsednik or the hitmongering of A.J. Pierzynski either.  I may change my mind and give this one to Thome because he’s been such a force, but since his World Series-winning single, it seems like Jermaine can do no wrong with runners on.  Help me out here if your inclinations are any stronger.

Player of the Weak:  Brian Anderson.  It’s the second week in a row that Anderson receives this award, but he didn’t have the worst run.  He can surely build off a week in which he went 2-for-10 with a couple of walks, and his defense hasn't suffered through the struggles.

Pitcher of the Week:  Javier Vazquez.  Should Jose Contreras share this honor?  Maybe.  But Vazquez went eight innings without giving up a hit (Doug Mientkiewicz’s check-swing nubber didn’t count), which gives him an edge on seven innings of dominant, one-hit pitching by The Count.

Pitcher of the Weak:  Freddy Garcia.  He did go 2-0, which might make me consider sparing him the ignominy.  But he’s throwing a lot of meatballs and should’ve been beat up more by the Twins.  And it’s not cool to roll your eyes at a teammate for making an error that was mostly weather-induced.

Fireman of the Week:  Bobby Jenks.  He’s back into regular season form, throwing in the high-90s and locating his big curveball.  Jenks has four scoreless outings in a row and is 6-for-6 in save opportunities despite his early troubles.

Gas Can of the Week:  Boone Logan.  So what if he entered a game situation that was tailored for him on Saturday and didn’t execute?  If the two lefties he faced on Saturday reached on hits, that’s one thing.  But he walked them, and it wasn’t even close.  That was the only true lowlight out of a bullpen that wasn’t used much this week.

Super sub:  Rob Mackowiak.  Nobody really stands out because Ozzie’s been relying on his starters, but Mack’s batting eye is coming around.  Alex Cintron could make a case, and perhaps Saturday’s game is still too strong a memory.
 
Super scrub:  Chris Widger.  It’s hard for a backup catcher to hit, since he’ll see less at-bats than just about everybody else on a typical bench.  But he’s 0-for-9 so far, and that’s not cool.

Gold Glove:  Joe Crede.  He did have his second error of the season on a throw he should’ve made, but he’s looked so good out there otherwise.  Visually, he’s a sight to behold.  

Hands of Stone:  Scott Podsednik.  He’s alternated great games with bad ones, and I have to hold my breath whenever a ball goes to left.  It’s shades of Manny Ramirez out there – he makes you wonder where his head is sometimes.

Happy trails to you: Boone Logan.  With Javier Lopez pitching well in Charlotte, there’s little room for a situational lefty who can’t take advantage of his situations.  I don’t know if Logan will be gone, but there’s not much of a reason to keep him up.

April 22: White Sox 9, Twins 2

Freddy Garcia wasn't in command and the Sox didn't execute the fundamentals, yet they still ran over the Twins for their seventh consecutive win.  

Such is the charmed life for the Sox as of late, who are completely murdering the ball thanks to the middle of the lineup.  There isn't a better 3-4-5 attack in the game than Jim Thome, Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye right now.

They each scored two runs apiece, and they each had big, big moments.  Dye kicked off the scoring with a two-out, three-run homer off Brad Radke, scoring Tadahito Iguchi and Konerko, who reached with singles.  He added a run-scoring double in the fifth for a four-RBI game. 

Konerko had three hits, and nearly had his sixth homer of the year if the wind wasn't blowing in.  And Thome...what more can you say about him?  After a rough start to his day (two strikeouts in his first two at-bats), he hit a massive two-run shot to right in the eighth, putting the game out of reach.  And his run on Dye's double in the fifth after a walk stretched his run-scoring streak to a record 17 games. 

Thome has been such a threat that the Twins chose to intentionally walk him to bring up Konerko, who was batting .359 at the time.  Konerko drove one that Torii Hunter caught on the warning track.  That's what opposing pitchers are looking at right now.  The Sox offense racked up 16 hits on the whole and drew five walks as well, impressive during a Radke start.  They've absolutely carved up the top of the Twins rotation so far.

With this much firepower, it makes some of the miscues that would've sunk them last year less important.  And there were a few of them, both offensively, defensively and on the mound as well.

Alex Cintron had a hit, but he had a rough game, otherwise.  He faltered on a sacrifice bunt attempt in the second, but Iguchi picked him up with a double two batters later.  However, there wasn't any helping him in the eighth when he grounded into a Geoff Blum special with the bases loaded -- a 1-2-3 double play -- on the first pitch he saw from Francisco Liriano.  He did steal a base, which is something Scott Podsednik couldn't claim when he was gunned down to end the fourth inning.  He's now 3-for-6 attmepting to steal, and he took the bat out of Iguchi's hands in the process.

The Sox had an errorless game, but Rob Mackowiak showed he wasn't a true center fielder when he misread a Joe Mauer line drive in the first, taking the wrong angle and watching the ball  sail over his head.  Dye lost a ball in the lights trying to make a sliding catch, but it didn't cost the Sox anything.

Freddy Garcia won his third straight decision, but the Twins hit him hard.  Fortunately, almost all the line drives came in the form of at-'em balls.  A quality start for Freddy (6 2/3, two runs) could've instead raised his already high ERA if he weren't so fortunate.  Minnesota stranded 16 runners on the night.

The Twinkies stranded three of them in the seventh when the Sox bullpen nearly spoiled Freddy's bid for a win.  Ozzie pulled Freddy with two outs in the seventh, as the Twins had two lefties coming up, Freddy was over 100 pitches, and Boone Logan was warm. 

In the shades of a Damaso Marte outing last year, Logan walked both lefties, and it wasn't even close -- he threw only three of 11 pitches for strikes before he exited the game -- and with Javier Lopez throwing well in Triple-A Charlotte, that may be the last we see of him for awhile.  Brandon McCarthy replaced Logan and made Sox fans' hearts stop when Torii Hunter hit a flyball that Jermaine caught right in front of the wall.  If the wind is blowing out, the Twins would've tied up the ballgame.

Record: 12-5 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 21: White Sox 7, Twins 1

After a year in which Johan Santana went 5-0 against Chicago, the White Sox got their revenge Friday night.  Mark Buehrle, who went 0-2 head-to-head against Santana, outdueled the best pitcher in the American League for his third straight victory, the Sox’s sixth straight victory, and their 10th in their last 11.  

Just like in his previous two starts, Buehrle was sharp, fast and efficient.  Lew Ford’s solo homer in the eighth inning was the only time the Sox lefty found himself in a jam, and it was over in a hurry.  He was using all his pitches, and had a lot of success working away from righties with off-speed stuff.  He was keeping hitters off balance, getting a lot of pop-ups, and, surprisingly, strikeouts.  

Buehrle entered the game with only 10 strikeouts in 24 innings, well below his career rate.   But with six Ks in eight innings against the Twins, he was the pitcher that we’re more accustomed to seeing tonight.  Only Tony Batista looked like he saw Buehrle well throughout the game, singling and drawing a difficult walk.  And this is from a 40-year-old who’s making a comeback from Japan, and once had a 40-homer season without cracking a .300 OBP.  Go figure.

On the other side of the game, you could see the top of the lineup slowly adjust to Santana throughout the night.  In the first, Santana struck out the side.  The second time through, Pods and Iguchi made contact, albeit in the form of weak popouts; Thome struck out again.  

The third time was the charm against Santana.  Pods made good contact on a flyout to right (with two strikes, mind you).  Iguchi then roped a single into left, and Thome followed with a blast just left of center to give the Sox a 2-0 lead.  The homer was Thome’s eighth of the season; he’s scored a run in all 16 games, and his only two hits off Santana are homers.

Overall, the Sox had some really nice at-bats from Santana.  A.J. Pierzynski, usually a dead duck against any lefties – not just the best in the league – made Santana work.  In the two at-bats where he didn’t lay down a sac bunt, he made Santana throw eight and nine pitches, respectively, knocking a single in the latter AB.  Pods also wouldn’t let the Twins ace off easy, taking 15 pitches in his first and last appearance.  For our two lefties to hang in there with two strikes against Santana like that is impressive.

Santana may have had his best outing of the year, but after the first inning in which he struck out the side, he wasn’t fooling anybody.  The Sox made him throw 120 pitches through seven, he only struck out three more batters the rest of the night, and there was solid contact all around.  Even Brian Anderson got a couple nice swings in off Santana, going 1-for-3 while Santana was in the game.

And you could tell just how well the Sox were seeing Santana when he left the game, because they were jumping all over Juan Rincon when he entered the game.  The Sox scored four runs off Rincon, and he left the game without even retiring a batter.  Thome and Paul Konerko had back-to-back singles to start it off, and Jermaine followed with a liner to the gap to score Thome. 

Then, while Konerko was pulling into third, Juan Castro fired an errant throw into the Sox dugout.  I guess he was trying to get Konerko, but an NFL ref might’ve flagged him for intentional grounding, because there really wasn’t a receiver in the area.  And Castro is keeping the younger, more talented Jason Bartlett in Triple-A.  Big thanks to Gardenhire for that.  Dye and Konerko ended up scoring on the error, making it the equivalent of a three-run inside-the-park homer.

Gardenhire swapped Rincon for Matt Guerrier, but it didn’t make a difference.  The Sox racked up four hits off him, and Brian Anderson knocked in a run with a sac fly.  The sac fly was huge because he most likely should’ve struck out looking, but he took advantage of his second life for his third RBI of the year.

Record: 11-5 | Box score | AP Recap

April 19: White Sox 4, Royals 0

Today, we saw what the key is to playing the Royals -- you don't necessarily have to beat them, because they'll beat themselves if you wait long enough.  

The Sox didn't do much today, but they did just enough when opportunities presented themselves to win their fifth in a row, and nine of 10.  Yes, I know I used this same lede yesterday, but since the Sox only scored one run by swinging the bat, I reserve full rights to recycle it.  The Royals have now lost 10 in a row; the only two wins on the season have come against the Sox.

Thanks to a beautiful start by Javier Vazquez, the Sox finished the sweep of Omaha by allowing only one run the entire series.  Javy carried a no-hitter into the seventh until with one out, longtime thorn-in-the-side Doug Mientkiewicz broke it up with a check-swing roller that barely stayed fair inside the first-base line.  Vazquez left after allowing a single (legit) to Esteban German to start the ninth.  

His final line:  8 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K.  Now I’m wondering if I was premature in saying Jose Contreras’ start from two days ago would be hard to top.  Contreras only allowed one hit in seven innings, but Vazquez sounded unbeatable.  He had all his pitches working today and any other team would’ve been hard-pressed to score runs off him as well.

Ozzie Guillen turned into Ozzie La Russa in the ninth, using Vazquez, Cotts and Jenks to close out the game.  Jenks got a rare save in a four run game because he inherited two runners with one out.  

The Sox bats didn’t do much, but thanks to Royals pitching and defense, they weren’t needed.  Juan Uribe’s first homer of the year leading off the fifth was the only time the Sox scored via a batted ball.  Scott Elarton struggled with his control, walking five batters in 4 1/3 innings, and he also threw a wild pitch and hit a batter.  Of course, Paul Bako (a terrible ballplayer whose only asset is his defense) didn’t help him out much, either.  Here’s how the Sox scored:

• Alex Cintron scores in first on wild pitch after singling and advancing to third on two walks.
• Jermaine Dye drives in a run after taking a pitch to the torso with the bases loaded in the fifth.
  
• Jim Thome scores on a slider that goes between the wickets of Bako in the fifth.
  

Despite only six hits, the Sox got the job done.  Thome extended his run-scoring games streak to 16, and Scott Podsednik went 2-for-3 with a walk to extend his hitting streak to five games (during which he’s 9-for-20).  Unfortunately, Pods was thrown out twice trying to steal second.  Old baseball wisdom states that it’s a terrible move to make either the first or third out on the basepaths, and ol’ Pods did both.  Bako gunned him down after he reached leading off the game, and once again to end the sixth inning.

Record: 10-5 | Box score | AP recap

April 18: White Sox 4, Royals 1

Today, we saw what the key is to playing the Royals -- you don't necessarily have to beat them, because they'll beat themselves if you wait long enough. 

The Sox didn't do much today, but they did just enough when opportunities presented themselves to win their fourth in a row, and eight of nine.  The Indians won again, so the Sox still share first place with the Tribe.

We also saw the real Jon Garland, and while I'd normally discredit a quality start against Omaha, these are the same Royals that roughed him up in his first outing.  Garland didn't walk a batter, kept the ball down and the Royals hit themselves into mostly routine outs.  Brandon McCarthy provided a nice bridge to Bobby Jenks, whose save was far less dramatic this time around.  He struck out Reggie Sanders instead of throwing him a gopher ball, and he induced two other weak outs to end the ballgame. 

Garland's only real mistake was a 1-0 pitch that Mark Teahen put in the seats in the third to give the Royals a short-lived lead.  Otherwise, he was only in one other jam, when Mark Grudzielanek doubled to start off the sixth.  Jermaine Dye helped Garland to avoid another one when he threw out Mike Sweeney, who was trying to stretch a single into double. 

Jim Thome started off the Sox's big inning with a one-out walk.  Then after getting Paul Konerko to pop out, Royals starter Jeremy Affeldt should have been out of the inning when Jermaine Dye hit a routine grounder to short.  But these being the Royals, it ramped up the heel of Angel Berroa's glove to load the bases.  Two soft singles by Joe Crede and Juan Uribe later, the Sox had a 3-0 lead.  Those singles were the Sox's first two hits of the game.

Scott Podsednik added an insurance run in the seventh when he singled with one out, stole second, advanced to third on Tadahito Iguchi's flyball to right and scored on a Jim Thome single.  He's 3-for-3 stealing bases on the season, and after starting the season 2-for-34, Pods has hit in his last four games (7-for-17).  Better yet, both of Pods' hits were off lefties Affeldt and Andrew Sisco, so he's hanging in there against guys who are designed to get his kind out. 

Other streaks of import:  Jim Thome has scored a run in all 14 games this season, which is the longest streak to start the season since the man he replaced, Frank Thomas, did the same in 1994.  With no hits and one walk, Paulie ended a seven-game hitting streak tonight, as well as a streak of equal length in which he reached base twice or more.

And once again, with another hitless night, Brian Anderson's slump extends to 1-for-23.  In his last at-bat, he did draw a tough walk after Jimmy Gobble had him in a 1-2 hole, fouling off three pitches before laying off an outside pitch for ball four.  We'll see if that's something off which he can build.

Record: 9-5 | Box score | AP recap

April 17: White Sox 9, Royals 0

Tonight marked two firsts for the White Sox -- Jose Contreras, Boone Logan and Cliff Politte combined for the first shutout of the season, and it was also the first victory that didn't require Sox fans to hold their breath at the end.  That's three in a row and seven of the last eight for the tied-for-first place Pale Hose.

The whole game felt like a Spring Training affair, not only because they blew out the Omaha Royals in a laid-back fashion, but everybody got the chance to play save Rob Mackowiak and Chris Widger.  Even Ross Gload got on base!  Throw in Comcast's irritating decision to only show the behind-the-plate view towards the end of the evening and it felt like a night game at Tucson Electric Park. 

Once again, the offense jumped all over Royals pitching in the first inning.  The only difference was that Joe Mays was pitching instead of Jeremy Affeldt.  Tadahito Iguchi started off the first with a single, Jim Thome walked, and Paul Konerko hit a three-run homer to give the Sox all Contreras would need.  Paulie finished the day 2-for-4, giving him six straight multi-hit games if you don't count the rain-shortened affair against Toronto.  And if you do count it, then you can call it seven straight games in which Paulie's reached base twice, because he had a single and a walk Sunday.

But they weren't done -- thanks to that fantastic Royals defense (worst in the league last year), Jermaine Dye reached, and following a fielder's choice, Joe Crede went deep for his second homer of the year to push the lead to 5-0. 

Unlike the last time the Sox gave themselves a big early lead against the Royals, Jose Contreras made it stick.  It was never in doubt.  The only jam he faced was in the fourth inning, when he stranded Mark Grudzielanek at third after a double and a wild pitch.  He retired the first 10 hitters he faced, then finished by retiring 10 of the last 11 before handing the game to Logan.  He finished with seven innings, one hit, one walk, and six strikeouts for a starting performance that will be hard to top. 

Here's how hot Contreras is right now -- John Buck was caught stealing after walking with one out in the sixth.  Basestealers are 0-for-1 against Contreras in his first three starts after going 28-for-30 in 32 starts last year.  El Conde has won his last nine regular-season decisions, and lowered his ERA to 1.29.

Everybody played well enough -- even Brian Anderson, who broke an 0-for-16 streak with a single in his first at-bat.  Sure, he struck out in his other three plate appearances, but it's something.  He also earned the No. 3 Web Gem on Baseball Tonight with a nice diving catch on a would-be blooper.  Although Jermaine Dye and A.J. Pierzynski went hitless to go below .300 on the season, they both reached base once; Dye on the error and A.J. with his second walk of the season.

Logan and Politte worked perfect innings to close out the game, but it's difficult to gauge whether or not anything improved.  The Royals' offense looked like they were packing it in for the night, swinging as soon as they could.  Teahan flailed weakly on a Logan breaking ball that was in the center of the right-handed batter's box to end his inning, and Politte only needed four pitches to close out the game. 

But it's not a day to overscrutinize, because the Sox gave us no reason to for the first time all year.

Record: 8-5 | Box score | AP recap

April 16: White Sox 6, Blue Jays 4 (4 1/2 innings)

We'll take it. 

Sure, it always feels a bit cheap to get a whole win playing half a game, but when it was raining sheets like it was around Freddy Garcia in the fifth inning, there's not much anybody can do.  The win is the sixth in their last seven games, and it gives the Sox their second straight series win and a share of first place.

Because of Easter festivities, I did not catch any of this game, but my brother and father gave me some descriptions on the call home.  Feel free to fill out what I gathered from them, the play-by-play and box score.
Freddy Garcia threw 49 of 106 pitches in a fifth inning where he was lucky to see the plate, as pools were forming in the field around him.  He allowed four runs, walking in a run twice, allowing an RBI single and an unearned run when a ball hydroplaned underneath Tadahito Iguchi's glove.

Otherwise, all indications appear that Freddy looked sharp, even though First-Inning Freddy made a brief appearance by walking two batters.  Innings No. 2-4 provided no scares; just a couple of two-out singles in the second and third, and a 1-2-3 in the fourth.  This won't go down as a quality start officially, but for all intents and purposes, we'll call it two in a row from the White Sox staff. 

In spite of the shortening, this game meant a lot for the White Sox offense.  Everybody but Rob Mackowiak and Alex Cintron got hits (and even though Mackowiak's slumping terribly, he only got two at-bats to do something).  Jim Thome matched his home run total from last season, while Jermaine Dye added his second of the year, and reached base in all three plate appearances.  After a miserable start last season in which he hit .175 in his first month, Jermaine is batting .333 with an OBP of .474. 

More importantly, today marked the return of Scott Podsednik: Sparkplug.  Pods went 2-for-3 to bring his average over the Half-Mendoza Line, and his legs were in full working order.  He kickstarted the offense with a leadoff triple in the top of the first and scored on Iguchi's single.  The next inning, Pods singled, stole second, then distracted Towers into balking to reach third.  Jim Thome made the last 90 feet nice and easy with his seventh homer of the year, pulling a ball on the outside corner just over the right-center wall.

The Sox added an unearned run in the fifth thanks to a horrendous miscue by Joey Cora and a Bengie Molina error.  With Thome on first, Paul Konerko doubled to left.  Cora waved Thome around when he shouldn't have, and would've been thrown out by 20 feet had Molina let not the relay throw escape him. 

I'm sure you're probably thinking it's not a good idea to try to score a slow guy from first on a double when 1) the field is mud, 2) it's a five-run lead, and 3) said slow guy suffered multiple injuries last season.  Had a play at the plate occured, he was one misplaced spike away from going back on the DL.

Darrin Jackson, unsurprisingly, thought the move by Cora was an outstanding idea, saying that Cora knows the game of baseball as good as anyone.  That's true -- he must know a helluva lot to foresee the result of a play before it actually happens, because that's the only excuse Cora had for sending Thome.  And if Cora has clairvoyance, you have to think that he'd make more money in some other line of work.

Record: 7-5 | Box score | AP recap

Week in a Box: April 9-15

It’d be harder for a great week of baseball to look much uglier than it did in the past seven days.  The Sox went 5-1 including a sweep of Detroit, but the bullpen has yet to come together and Jon Garland and Javy Vazquez were shelled in victory and in defeat.  At least a steady offensive presence and solid defense should help them to weather the storm until all the pitchers are on track.

Here are the winners and losers of the week that was:

Player of the Week:  Paul Konerko.  He started the week 0-for-4; he finished the week with five straight multi-hit games, four homers and nine RBI.  He’s made the opposition pay for pitching around Jim Thome, and his turnaround from a slow start gives the Sox one of the most dangerous 1-2 punches in the game.  Nobody will talk about his gigantic contract as long as he keeps hitting like this.

Player of the Weak:  Brian Anderson.  After winning the Gold Glove last week, his defense continues to be acceptable.  And that’s the best you can say about him.  He’s been horrendous with the bat, and killed several rallies inside the same game against Toronto on Friday, earning the worst single-game performance in recent history according to Black Betsy.  He enters the coming week hitless in his last 16 at-bats.

Pitcher of the Week:  Mark Buehrle.  The lefty rebounded from a so-so abbreviated performance in the opener to post two wins, going eight innings each time and lowering his ERA from 6.75 to 2.25 in the process.  He’s also picked off a runner each time, and his defense has been excellent.  

Pitcher of the Weak:  Jon Garland.  Allowing nine runs to the Tigers won’t help out the ol’ ERA.  Only San Diego’s Dewon Brazelton has allowed more earned runs after two starts, and that’s not good company to have.  Brazelton has a career 6.42 ERA.  One theory is that he can’t pitch with a big lead.  The other is that last year might not happen again.

Fireman of the Week:  Brandon McCarthy.  The first two-time winner in site history!  Only because nobody else has stepped up.  Not that he had a bad week, but it wasn’t anything special.  Two earned runs in five innings is okay, but it’s sad that it’s the best we have.  Bobby Jenks is looking better than he has been, thankfully.

Gas Can of the Week:  Cliff Politte.  After being spared this dubious distinction last week, Politte comes away with the prize this time around.  He’s allowed earned runs in three of his four outings this year, and got torched for four runs after Boone Logan got the first batter of the inning out.  He did follow up with a scoreless second inning of work, but something doesn’t look right.

Super sub:  Alex Cintron.  As Juan Uribe gets over a sore muscle in his left side, Cintron has looked great filling in.  He hit two triples in the slugfest against Detroit, and in four starts this week he went 7-for-17.  He’s not Uribe with the glove, but he hasn’t made any mistakes, either.  Pablo Ozuna bounced back this week after a rough start to his season as well.

Super scrub:  Rob Mackowiak.  With Brian Anderson having a rough go of it during his rookie season, Mackowiak’s the only one who can fill in.  Let’s hope his recent 0-for-11 skid (with six strikeouts) will come to an end soon.

Gold Glove:  Joe Crede.  As much as I want to give it to The Emperor for his amazing diving throw Saturday, Crede has been a difference maker with the glove.  He started the week preserved the Sox’s victory in Kansas City singlehandedly with two diving stabs, and has made a few more along the way.  

Hands of Stone:  A.J. Pierzynski.  I know the Sox have a lot of pitchers who are prone to throwing balls in the dirt, but there are a few where he could’ve tried harder to block ‘em.  By and large, the Sox’s defense has looked great, though.

Get your head out of your ass:  Neal Cotts and Cliff Politte.  Nobody’s expecting them to have last year’s success, but Cotts has already surrendered more homers this year than he did in 2005, and Politte’s ERA is 15.75 at this point.  Matt Thornton is outperforming both of them right now – handily.

April 15: White Sox 4, Blue Jays 2

After giving up 22 runs and 38 hits over the last two games, Mark Buehrle ushered in a return to values for the White Sox pitching staff.  Throwing another quality start, Buehrle tossed eight innings for his second victory of the season to push the White Sox back over .500.

For a short while, it looked like more of the same for the Sox.  Buehrle allowed an infield single to Reed Johnson, and Alex Rios followed up with a homer that barely made it into the seats for a 2-0 lead.  But the Blue Jays didn’t score again, as Buehrle gave up only five hits and two walks.  Bobby Jenks closed out the ninth thanks to a tremendous play by Tadahito Iguchi that will be described momentarily.

Back to Buehrle, he was the stopper the Sox expect him to be.  After that uncharacteristic 25-pitch first inning (in which he also allowed a steal to Troy Glaus), he cruised through the rest of the game with 80 pitches over the next seven innings.  Buehrle also made up for letting Glaus steal by picking off Vernon Wells, so he’s picked off a runner in his last two starts now. And then he got Glaus back by making a great play on a 1-6-3 double play when there were two on and no outs to start the sixth.

Buehrle outdueled A.J. Burnett in the process, who was making his first start for Toronto after signing a five-year, $55 million contract in the offseason.  Burnett was tough, but obviously Paul Konerko had him figured him out, hitting two two-run homers to provide all the scoring for the Sox.  

He launched the first one in the bottom of the first to tie the game at 2 (thanks to a borderline Jim Thome walk preceding him), and then gave the Sox the lead for good with a two-run shot, driving in Tadahito, who singled two batters prior.  

And speaking of The Emperor, he came up with the play of the year in the bottom of the ninth.  With one out and one on, Bengie Molina hit a nubber off the end of the bat that bounced over Jenks’ head.  However, some nasty English kicked it back towards the mound.  Iguchi only had one play, and he made it.

He picked it up barehanded while stumbling towards the ground, then, using what little leverage he had, pushed off the ground to twist and throw.  With his knuckles nearly scraping the grass, he threw the ball to first – slightly high – to get Molina by 15 feet.  Yes, Molina is the slowest runner in baseball, but it was still a phenomenal play that will be showing on every year-end highlight reel.

Between the last out of the World Series and the second-to-last out today, Bobby Jenks should never touch any ball that goes over his head. 



Record: 6-5 | Box score | AP recap

April 14: Blue Jays 13, White Sox 7

Home cooking is giving the Sox food poisoning.  

On the heels of a significant sweep against the Tigers in Detroit, the Sox came crashing down to Earth at home against the Blue Jays.  The Sox took a dump at the Cell in a game they were supposed to win, considering Roy Halladay missed a start with a forearm injury and Scott Downs was forced to fill in.  They've now lost three straight at home.

After looking sound in his first start, Javy Vazquez suffered the same fate as Jon Garland, getting dinked and dunked to death.  Sure, a few balls were hit hard, but I’d say six of the nine hits he allowed could qualify as “well placed.”  Unfortunately, he surrendered six hits during the fifth inning, and a 5-2 lead turned into a 7-5 deficit by the time the inning was over.  A fine relay between Jermaine Dye and Tadahito Iguchi perhaps saved further damage (although Jermaine missed the relay man on a throw earlier in the inning).

Cliff Politte continued his struggles – Joe Crede held Reed Johnson to a single when it could’ve been a double down the line, but it didn’t really matter when Vernon Wells blasted a no-doubter into the left field seats.  Two batters later, Lyle Overbay hit one out, too.  Add in a RBI double to Gregg Zaun, and Politte surrended four runs before the inning was over.  

He did settle down to throw a 1-2-3 eighth, but Neal Cotts came in and surrendered four hits, including another homer to Troy Glaus.  Cotts now has already thrown more gopher balls this year (2) than he did all last year (1).  

It’s a little scary when Boone Logan did the best job of any reliever all night.  He came in to get one lefty out and then Ozzie pulled him.  Overall, Sox pitching has given up 22 runs and 39 hits in the last two games.

The offense wasn’t nearly as efficient as it was Thursday against the Tigers, but it can’t be expected to score 14 runs every night.  Pablo Ozuna had another strong day at the leadoff spot going 3-for-5, and this time, he didn’t have any gaffes in left field to mess it up.  Jim Thome didn’t homer in his fifth straight game, but he did draw two walks.  Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye homered, Joe Crede went 4-for-4, and everybody reached base at least once…

…except for Brian Anderson.

Anderson had another rough day at the plate:

• Striking out with the bases loaded in the second
• Grounding into an inning-ending double play in the third
• Striking out with two on in the fifth
• Flying out in the eighth with a runner on third
• Flying out to end the game
  

He stranded nine runners overall, and is currently in a 0-for-16 slump.  He’s at least playing solid defense, but it’s definitely putting a strain on the rest of lineup to produce before Anderson can get his hands on the rally.  

Record: 5-5 | Box score | AP recap

April 13: White Sox 13, Tigers 9

After losing the first two intradivisional series of the season, the Sox made up some ground by completing a sweep of the Detroit Tigers today, in what could be best described as a “bloodbath.”  

The wind was blowing out to left, and both teams took advantage of it, combining for a Comerica Park-record 38 hits, only two scoreless innings and only one 1-2-3 half-inning.  Yes, the Sox went the entire game without being retired in order.

Let’s get the bad news out of the way first.

The Sox offense once against staked Jon Garland to a big lead, and once again Garland did not do a good job holding it.  Sure, he got the victory and actually lowered his ERA (to 13.94), but he took a 9-1 game and left with it 10-7.  He gave up a career-high 13 hits, including homers to Future Sox Killer Chris Shelton (his second of the series) and Magglio Ordonez.  In short, Garland had trouble finishing both hitters and innings, and got too much of the plate when he wanted to put hitters away.

And guess which two hitters ended up hitless on the day?  You guessed it – Scott Podsednik and Brian Anderson.  It’s slightly redeeming that they both scored each time they got on base, but they shouldn’t have been on base in the first place.  They each walked once, and Pods was hit by a pitch.  Jim Leyland should’ve had Jason Grilli doing push-ups on the mound for walking Pods, who would later score on a Jim Thome double in the third.  And Pods also had an error, his second of the season.

Alas, it wasn’t a day for pitching.  It was a day for hitting, and while the Sox didn’t match Detroit’s feat (every Tiger starter had a hit), everybody else in the lineup besides Podsednik and Anderson had two hits or more.  Hitters No. 2-7 in the Sox lineup went a combined 17-for-35 and drove in all 13 runs.  

Tadahito Iguchi and Jim Thome (homering for the fourth straight game) went back-to-back in the first inning off stud rookie Justin Verlander.  The start was reminiscent of the Sox’s effort against Felix Hernandez last year.  Facing a vaunted rookie who hadn’t been figured out yet, the Sox had no problem against Verlander.  They chased him before he could complete even three innings thanks to a brilliant two-out rally in the third.

After Velander retired Pods and Iguchi, Jim Thome walked and the Sox ended up batting around.  This is exactly what I was talking about yesterday when I said that every inning could be a big inning.  The Sox racked up five runs without needing to put a ball over the fence.  Thome has some kind of effect on the offense.  Not only is he hitting the cover off the ball – along with a homer, he smoked a double off the deepest wall in Comerica – he’s barely striking out now.  A K in his last at-bat brought his season total up to three.

Along with great performances by the usual suspects Thome, Iguchi, Konerko, and Dye, Alex Cintron helped bail out the bottom of the order some.  Starting for the struggling Juan Uribe, Cintron went 3-for-5 with two triples to make the first definitive impact off the Sox bench.  Before today’s game, the starters had combined to go 3-0, while lineups with any reserves in it were 1-4.  

Unfortunately, even with all these great performances, Sox fans couldn’t breathe easy until Matt Thornton ended the game by striking out Curtis Granderson, who represented the tying run with the bases loaded.  Brandon McCarthy bridged the gap with three good-enough innings (he gave up two runs, but looked better than Garland while doing it).  

Garland remains the only starter without a strong outing this season, and ended a four-game streak of quality starts by Sox pitchers.  Yet despite the ugly numbers, with his first victory of the season, he extended the Sox starters’ winning streak to four.

Record: 5-4 | Box score | AP recap

April 12: White Sox 4, Tigers 3

The Sox returned to .500 with a victory over the Detroit Tigers today, meaning tomorrow isn’t only a brand new day – it’s a brand new season.  

Okay, it’s a brand new season in which we start the season in third place behind the Tigers and Indians, but you get what I’m saying.  

Jose Contreras proved his disastrous first inning against the Indians was a fluke, as the old Count never surfaced in this start.  He was on top of hitters from the get-go, changing arm slots and throwing more sliders than usual, and he didn’t begin to labor until the eighth inning.  Through seven, he had only thrown 85 pitches and didn’t walk anybody.  He gutted his way through the eighth inning before handing the ball over to Bobby Jenks.

Contreras’ eight innings of one-run ball means the Sox have racked up four quality starts in a row.  Only Jon Garland has yet to deliver a strong outing this season, and he’ll try for the sweep against the Tigers tomorrow.

The Sox offense managed to scrape together enough runs despite not bringing their bats against Nate Robertson.  Robertson pitched well against them last year, but he doesn’t have dominating stuff.  For one reason or another, the Sox have difficulty hitting him hard as of late.  

Except for Jim Thome, of course, who’s hitting everybody hard these days.  Thome slammed another homer for the third consecutive game and his fifth of the season.  Add in another double, and he’s now slugging an even 1.000 for the season.  

The reason he’s seeing so many pitches is that Paul Konerko is starting to swing the bat, too.  Paulie went 2-for-4 today with a key single that drove in two runs and gave the Sox a 3-0 lead.  After starting the season 1-for-13, Konerko is 8-for-18 with three multi-hit games in his last five.  

Thome and Konerko had four of the six Sox hits.  Jermaine Dye added a single, and Scott Podsednik led off the game with a double for his second hit of the year to bring his average up to .067.  Unfortunately, he had a brain fart running the bases and was thrown out easily trying to advance to third on Tadahito Iguchi’s grounder to short (see above pic).  There have been no indications that he’ll be heading to the DL anytime soon from management, but his head hasn’t been in the game the past couple of days.

The good news is that the Sox only stranded five runners, meaning they took advantage of the one good scoring opportunity they had all game.  Unfortunately, the lack of runners is due in large part to a brutal performance by the 8-9-1 part of the order.  Juan Uribe, Brian Anderson and Podsednik are well under the Mendoza Line so far.  

Bobby Jenks helped the Sox to win their first one-run ballgame of the season by allowing a two-run homer to Future Sox Killer Chris Shelton in the ninth.  But if Brian Anderson didn’t misjudge Magglio Ordonez’ flyball before Shelton’s at-bat, it would’ve only been a solo shot, if he homered at all.  So while we can’t say Jenks nailed down the save, we’ll instead say he sat on the save until it couldn’t breathe anymore and stopped kicking.

Record: 4-4 | Box score | AP recap

April 10: White Sox 5, Tigers 3

The Tigers returned to Detroit with the division lead and momentum for their home opener, but the White Sox spoiled all of the above with a well-rounded 5-3 victory.

The Pale Hose once again took their cues from last year's formula, featuring pitching (both starting and relief), power (from somebody else besides Jim Thome), and defense (from A.J. Pierzynski, even!) 

Freddy Garcia erased one major concern for the Sox by pitching six innings and getting the win.  After letting the Tribe walk all over him by piping 88-mph fastballs, Freddy was able to get loose and throw regularly in the low-90s.  He made a couple mistakes, such as throwing a 3-0 meatball to Future Sox Killer Chris Shelton for an RBI double, and giving Craig Monroe a first pitch to jump on for a two-run homer.  On the other hand, he struck out Shelton with a runner on third and one out, and generally didn't find himself in a lot of jams otherwise.

However, compared to the Freddy we saw in his first outing, this is the one we're supposed to have.  He'll drive us nuts from time to time, but he'll put up a quality start more often than not.

Scott Podsednik is the other major concern, and he looked even worse than he has been.  I thought his sterling defensive play yesterday in Kansas City might've made him valuable even while struggling to find his stroke, but he was all over the place in left today.  He misjudged two balls -- one in front and one over him -- and overran a single towards the line for a one-base error.  Is a Triple-A stop in the cards?  The Magic 8-Ball says "Try again later."

What we do know is that he shouldn't be hitting that close to Jim Thome, who is absolutely destroying the ball.  He smashed a two-run bomb deep into the right field seats, which in Comerica Park is no small feat.  According to Ed Farmer, the homer was so majestic Magglio Ordonez didn't bother moving.  It doesn't help Thome's case that only two batters have a chance to get on in front of him because the other one is doing jacksquat.

Not enough has been said about Tadahito Iguchi, who singled before Thome's at-bat.  The Emperor is getting on base at a .444 clip right now, and has scored five runs in six games thus far.  So expect to see something in Sox Machine on this later tonight.  I'll update the link here when I do.

Joe Crede and A.J. Pierzysnki continued their quality play.  Crede is bound and determined to fill an entire Web Gems segment by himself, and he added his first homer of the year with a laser over the left field bleachers, that was hit at such a low trajectory and it caught Hawk Harrelson and Chris Singleton completely by surprise.  If the last two games are any indication, he's picked up where he left off last October.  Pierzynski was robbed in left of a double by Monroe, but he returned the favor to the Tigers offense by making a fantastic diving catch on a bunt attempt when it was a one-run game. 

Up until today, Jim Thome had all the homers for the Sox, so it was nice to see Crede and Paul Konerko, who added an insurance solo shot in the eighth, pitching in.  Normally I'd be concerned if the Sox could only score runs via the homer, but I'll take anything they can get off Jeremy Bonderman, who was tough against the Sox all season in 2005.  They only stranded four runners, meaning they maximized their opportunities -- something they hadn't been doing to this point.

And speaking of pitching, that's what Brandon McCarthy has been doing -- he had Tigers completely off-balance with only a fastball and a changeup.  He only allowed two hits -- both were soft, and one should've been caught by Podsednik. 

I felt Ozzie should've left McCarthy in to pitch the ninth, but Ozzie handed the ball off to Jenks, who had his best outing of the year, spring or otherwise.  He started off by striking out Shelton with a 98-mph heater on the inside corner, then induced two weak groundouts to end the game -- both to the right side, indicating Detroit hitters couldn't get around on him. 

If these versions of Garcia and Jenks stick around, Sox fans will be able to breathe a lot easier.

Record: 3-4 | Box score | AP recap

April 9: White Sox 3, Royals 1

It wasn’t a coincidence that the day Jermaine Dye returned to the lineup was the day that the Sox resembled their old selves.

He was the difference-maker during Chicago’s 3-1 victory over Kansas City that ended a four-game losing streak and helped the South Siders to avoid an embarrassing sweep.  That should come a no surprise to the Daily Southtown’s Nathaniel Whalen, who wrote in his blog that the Sox are 66-30 when Dye gets a hit.

After a 1-for-2 day with two walks, make that 67-30.

Dye’s mildly strained left calf was tested right away when Tony Graffanino hit a slicing liner towards the right-field corner, but Jermaine made the grab in stride.  Along with a well-judged over-the-shoulder grab a few innings later, Dye made a couple plays today that perhaps Rob Mackowiak wouldn’t have made, and Ross Gload wouldn’t have gotten to.  

Jermaine also keyed the 5-6-7 part of the lineup which had an outstanding day both at the plate and on the field.  Dye started the second off KC starter Scott Elarton with a walk, A.J. Pierzynski moved him over to third with a single, and Joe Crede drove them both in with a broken-bat liner over the third-base bag to give the Sox a 2-0 lead.  

Pierzynski also had a great day at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a flyball that moved Dye (once again) to third as his only out.  He also reached after laying down a nice bunt that Mark Teahen inexplicably threw into the dirt.

Also like last year, Sox situational hitting suffered – they failed to get a runner in from third with less than two outs twice – but Jim Thome crushed another solo shot in the eighth to add an insurance run.  Thome hit the ball hard three times, including two line shots to the infield.  

Mark Buehrle righted the rotation, going eight scoreless innings for not only his first win of the season, but the first win by any Sox starter.  He took a bit of the beating, as two of the three comebackers clipped him in some variety, but his defense helped him out big-time.  

Along with Dye’s two catches, Scott Podsednik gunned down Tony Graffanino, who tried to stretch a single into a double.  Crede and Iguchi turned a key double play when the Royals started to find their sea legs against Buehrle.  Buehrle helped himself out by picking off Mark Grudzielanek, his second of the year.  

Buehrle finished the day with only one strikeout, but the defense took care of the rest.  Ozzie nearly pulled him with runners on first and second with only one out in the eighth.  He came out to the mound, but left Buehrle in the game, and Buehrle induced two weak groundouts to end the inning, leaving the Sox-killing Mike Sweeney on deck.

That defense also saved Bobby Jenks’ sizable ass.  Sweeney started off the ninth inning with a rocket to third that Crede snared with a fantastic diving catch.  Crede lost the ball while trying to show the umpires he caught it, leading to a temporary “safe” call by Bruce Froemming before the other umps overruled.  Buddy Bell came out to try to overrule the overruling and was ejected.  

Reggie Sanders then took a high fastball over the fence in right-center field (juiced ball, says Hawk), but Joe Crede once again stopped the momentum with a diving stab of Emil Brown’s grounder.  Jenks K’d Angel Berroa with a big curve to end the game.  It seems as though he’ll need to feature the big hook more often, because Royals hitters had no problem timing his fastball (which was back in the high-90s according to Comcast guns).

So, let's recap:  Quality start?  Check.  Outstanding defense?  Check.  A burst of run manufacturing, followed by missed opportunities later?  Check.  A solo homer?  Check.  Never feeling like the game was out of reach until the final out was recorded?  Check.

Now that's a White Sox game.

Record: 2-4 | Box score | AP recap

Week in a Box: April 2-8

The Sox stumbled out of the gate on their victory lap, celebrating more ceremonies (3) than victories (1).  Mike Sweeney and Travis Hafner wasted no time making their presences felt, Boone Logan looked like a fluke (but the rest of the bullpen didn’t look much better), Paul Konerko and Scott Podsednik started out 0-for-two-dozen between them, and Jermaine’s leg forced some unusual lineups far too early. 

But alas, on to the awards:

Player of the Week:  Jim Thome.  Thome made his presence felt immediately in Chicago, homering in his first two games in a White Sox uniform.  He looks healthy, and if he stays the course he’ll turn what was a weakness last year (DH) into a major strength. 

Honorable mention to Tadahito Iguchi for picking up the pieces after what has been a horrible start by Sox leadoff men – he’s got five walks in his first four games.

Player of the Weak:  Scott Podsednik.  He started 0-for-13 before adding a single and scoring a key run in Saturday’s affair against the Royals.  I know he’s still rounding into form since his spring was somewhat abbreviated, but he’s fouled off a lot of bunt attempts, and he’s hit too many flyballs.  He should get a whipping whenever he does either.

Honorable mention to Paul Konerko for hitting into three double plays in his first three games and playing a subpar first base.

Pitcher of the Week:  Javier Vazquez.  He’s looked the sharpest after one full turn through the rotation and it’s not even close.  I didn’t realize his changeup was that good. 

Pitcher of the Weak:  Freddy Garcia.  We’ll see if he “just couldn’t get loose,” but when he’s hitting 88 instead of 93, there’ll be trouble.  Jon Garland also got hit hard, but at least he pitched three solid innings to build off of during his next start.

Fireman of the Week:  Brandon McCarthy.  The stick-thin righty says he’s feeling increasingly comfortable in the bullpen and it shows.  He’s allowed one hit and zero walks in four innings, striking out four.  It’s going to tough to not overuse him because his curveball looks filthy. 

Gas Can of the Week:  Boone Logan.  In a week where there are a few culprits, we’ll tip our hat to the rookie.  His appearance just may have cost the Sox a series win against Cleveland.  Cliff Politte, you’ve been spared.

Super sub:  Rob Mackowiak.  This is a tough one, as nobody’s looked phenomenal.  I guess we’ll go with Mack, who’s only 3-for-15, but he’s driven in a few runs when he’s had the chance.

Super scrub:  Pablo Ozuna.  He’s been his Secret Weapon self at the plate, but his misadventures in left field may have led anywhere from one to seven runs against Kansas City on Friday.  His “performance” made us long for the days of Joe Borchard.

Gold Glove:  Brian Anderson/Juan Uribe.  This isn’t so much a vote for them as much as it is a vote against everybody else.  They’re the only two who haven’t missed plays they should’ve made.  Joe Crede arguably had the most aesthetically pleasing week, but he did let a routine grounder eat him up.

Hands of Stone:  Pablo Ozuna.  It was between him and Paul Konerko, but Ozuna looked so bad in left field on Friday that it couldn’t be avoided.  Especially considering his counterpart that game, Emil Brown, had no problem handling the winds at Kauffman – and he’s widely considered the worst defensive everyday outfielder in the American League.  So Konerko gets away with three misplays against Kansas City in the first two games (though he was only charged with one error).  

Get well soon:  Jermaine Dye.  With the large number of lefties in the division, he’ll be a key to roster continuity.

April 8: Royals 4, White Sox 3

Another winnable game, another homer allowed to a White Sox killer to extend the losing streak to four.  But unlike the Boone Logan-Travis Hafner debacle, this call to the bullpen was defensible.

With a 3-2 lead and Mark Grudzielanek leading off, Ozzie decided to pull starter Javier Vazquez, who was brilliant in his Sox debut, for Cliff Politte.  The Grudz-Sweeney-Sanders part of the Royals order did the only damage to Javy, when Grudz singled, Sweeney was hit by a pitch, and Sanders doubled them both in to give the Royals a lead. 

So while Javy was only at 98 pitches, I could see Ozzie's reasoning.  Unfortunately, Politte couldn't get Grudz out either.  The Royals' second baseman hit a soft single to center, and Sweeney followed up with a two-run homer to give KC a lead it wouldn't reliniquish.  During a day when the wind was killing every hard-hit flyball, Sweeney's ball somehow carried.  It always does against the Sox -- his .996 career OPS against us just got a little higher. 

Unfortunately, Grudzielanek is proving to be a complete pain in the ass as well.  He went 3-for-4 today and scored two of the four runs today.  He's scored five times so far this series, and is 5-for-8 -- all singles except for the triple he got when Brian Anderson missed the diving catch and Rob Mackowiak didn't back him up.  Making matters worse, he's reached base all four times he's led off an inning this series.

It's still early, but what we've learned so far is that it'd be nice if the Sox maximized their scoring opportunities more.  Like that Cleveland game, when they stranded 14 runners, they could've done more with the eighth inning today. 

The Sox scored two runs via unexpected ways off quality lefty reliever Andy Sisco.  Brian Anderson led off with a double, and Scott Podsednik got his first hit of the year -- off a lefty -- after failing to lay down a bunt.  Two batters later, Jim Thome scored Anderson with a an opposite-field double, and after an intentional walk to Konerko, A.J. Pierzynski hit an infield RBI single -- off a lefty.  But with the bases loaded, Joe Crede grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Sure, that rally gave the Sox the lead, but the early returns show one-run leads aren't as safe as they were a year ago. 

Crede did manage to drive in the only run off Denny Bautista with a sacrifice fly in the fourth for a 1-0 lead.  Bautista only allowed one hit, but probably due to the fact that he 1) throws in the high-90s, and 2) walked five in six innings.  Nolan Ryan got a lot of no-hitters that way. 

Ross Gload ended the game with a first-pitch flyout to center, so he's made three outs seeing three pitches so far this year.  Projected next at-bat:  April 22.

Record: 1-4 | Box score | AP recap

April 7: Royals 11, White Sox 7

It was too good to be true – a 6-0 lead after two innings?  Everybody taking good at-bats?  Paulie coming up with a force-out possible and not hitting into a double play, but hitting a bases-clearing double instead?  

Well, it was.  The Sox jumped all over Jeremy Affeldt, but they couldn’t do much against Royals relievers.  Though since seven runs should always be enough – especially against Kansas City – pitching and defense let the Sox down tonight.

Jon Garland cruised until the fourth inning, until he allowed a veritable barrage of hits – though two of them might have been avoided had Scott Podsednik started in left instead of Pablo Ozuna, who doesn’t even belong in the Royals’ outfield.  First, he pulled up to field an RBI single that he should’ve caught if he had a normal jump; then a stiff crosswind made him look foolish on a towering fly to left.  He dropped back too far on it, then did a face plant while trying to lunge forward.  The ball caromed into the corner to put runners on second and third.  

Somehow, even though the ball glanced off his mitt, it wasn’t an error.  And now Garland will have some work to do to get his ERA down to “respectable.”

Still, Garland had a four-run lead to work with.  But then there were a couple of well-placed doubles down the line, which made it a one-run game.  Garland wasn’t throwing meatballs, but he wasn’t fooling anybody as far as changing speeds was concerned.  They were going down for knee-high pitches and hitting them flush.

Same thing happened