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