2006 State of the Sox

May 2: Indians 7, White Sox 1

Barf.  

Barf lineup, barf pitching, barf offense, barf weather.  Just barf.
 
Once again stuck in a drizzle against the Tribe, Mark Buehrle struggled for his second straight start, not lasting six innings for the first time in 18 non-rain-delayed starts.  He got off to a rocky start in the first when he walked Jason Michaels, allowed a Jhonny Peralta single, and then a three-run homer by – who else? – Travis Hafner for an immediate 3-0 hole.

Ozzie Guillen should set up a fine in kangaroo court for anybody who walks any of the three batters preceding Hafner unintentionally.  It happened yesterday, too, when Brandon McCarthy walked Peralta before Pronk’s grand slam.  It’s just not a good idea to make Hafner hungrier.  I’d almost rather see a solo shot than a walk when he’s either on deck or in the hole.  

Buehrle settled down until the fifth inning, when he just couldn’t get any Indians out.  He allowed 13 hits on the night, and it seemed it was mostly due to not having a changeup – at least according to Ed Farmer.  Farmer was pleading for a change when Buehrle was throwing an overabundance of curveballs.  He did rack up three strikeouts, but two came at the expense of an out-of-control Rafael Belliard.  

Belliard had quite a day at the plate – he cracked up Farmer and Chris Singleton when he tried calling for time in the box, couldn’t get it, and made a running lunge at an outside pitch, which Farmer likened to a Happy Gilmore swing.  Later in the game, Belliard whacked Chris Widger on the head with his backswing, and Widger eventually had to leave the game due to dizziness and an upset stomach.  Looks like somebody can beat the Widge after all. 

Boone Logan finished the game with five strikeouts in 2 1/3 hitless innings.  Perhaps we should hold off the death knells right now, because he actually does have utility in a mop-up role at the very least.  I was not aware he could go more than one inning, but he's gone 5 1/3 innings in his last two appearances, and he seems less scared of the strike zone than he did before.

The Sox offense stranded 14 runners for the second consecutive game, with the only RBI coming via a Joe Crede infield single.  They had C.C. Sabathia and Jason Davis on the ropes on several occasions but couldn’t get the big hit.  Most of it was due to the lineup, which featured Pablo Ozuna in left, Rob Mackowiak in right (when Jermaine Dye left the game with that troublesome calf), Widger behind the plate and Alex Cintron at DH.  Only Widger’s presence was defensible.  

Is Ross Gload in roster purgatory or what?  Really, the only time he can start is when/if Paul Konerko or Jim Thome is out of the game.  Then when finally one of them does sit, Cintron fills in?  Cintron should be playing for Juan Uribe, who still can’t get it going with the bat, stranding four more runners today for 12 on the series.

And to bring it back to the top, Pablo Ozuna led off the fifth via the rare walk and was promptly caught stealing by Victor Martinez.  Martinez hadn’t thrown out a baserunner in the 27 attempts on him prior in the 2006 season.

Barf.  

Record: 18-8 | Box score | Play-by-play