2006 State of the Sox

May 20: White Sox 7, Cubs 0

In a game that featured a knock-down, drag-out fight that cleared both benches, Tadahito Iguchi was actually the one-man wrecking crew today.  Iguchi hit a grand slam and a two-run homer en route to a perfect day at the plate and a personal-best six RBI.  

Even though the Cubs started the fight when Michael Barrett sucker-punched A.J. Pierzynski, evidently they didn’t use it for motivational purposes.  Rich Hill walked the bases loaded  in the second inning after retiring Jermaine Dye, then allowed the first run of the game when Brian Anderson flew out to left and Pierzynski scored.  A.J. collided with Barrett, who was blocking the plate without the ball.  A.J. slapped the plate, then went to get his helmet when Barrett got up, held A.J. and the punched him in the jaw.

Benches cleared and after the end of the scuffle, A.J., Barrett, Anderson (who threw a couple of punches) and John Mabry were ejected.  Of course, that would be the only fight the Cubs showed.  After play resumed, Hill walked Scott Podsednik (who tackled Barrett after the punch), and then surrendered a grand slam to Iguchi to make it a 5-0 ballgame.  He added another off Hill in the fifth, and after his day was done, he had his eighth third-hit game of the year, which leads the American League.  

If Barrett was trying to fire up his team, it didn’t work.  Freddy Garcia retired the North Siders 1-2-3 in the next two innings on 24 pitches.  Their best scoring chance came in the sixth when they loaded the bases with three consecutive singles, cleanup hitter Neifi Perez (who came in when Mabry was ejected) grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.  Garcia induced three twin killings in all, including one the following inning when Henry Blanco went 4-6-3 after the Cubs started the inning off with two singles.

According to Ed Farmer, Garcia was only hitting the high-80s with his fastball, but that didn’t stop him from attacking the plate.  Which is good, because the Cubs aren’t anything to be afraid of.  He threw 107 pitches over eight innings and walked nobody.  Over the first two games, the Sox have drawn 13 walks; the Cubs have two.

Record: 28-14 | Box score | Play-by-play