Another day, another satisfying effort – and this excited me the most:
After a slow start that mirrored the Sox’s
disappointing first effort against Kameron Loe this season, Chicago broke it open in the sixth with four straight hits – Tadahito Iguchi and Jim Thome singles, followed up by Paul Konerko’s 17th homer of the year to give the Sox a four-run lead. Jermaine Dye would double, advance to third on A.J. Pierzynski’s grounder and score on Joe Crede’s sac fly.
It was all the offense they’d get (as
Corey-Feldman shut them down, with an assist by Rick Bauer), but thanks to some nice Sox pitching, it was all they’d need.
During Jon Garland's
last start, the outfield misplayed two balls, which eventually led to four Tiger runs as Detroit blew open the game to avoid the sweep. Garland received a similar lack of help tonight – Scott Podsednik’s misplay on Brad Wilkerson’s flyball to left led to a triple (not an error), and Jermaine Dye’s ugly play in left gave Michael Young an RBI double (also not an error). If the defense makes those plays, perhaps Garland has a scoreless outing.
After the Young “double,” Guillen decided to pull Garland at only 5 1/3 innings and not risk an implosion. Last time against Detroit, Marcus Thames ended Garland’s night with a two-run bomb. Tonight, Jon left without surrendering a homer, something that hadn’t happened in his previous six starts. Over that stretch, he had allowed 13 big flies.
Neal Cotts entered with two runners on and one out, bringing back memories of Jacque Jones and Travis Hafner as Mark Teixiera came to the plate. Unlike those previous debacles, Cotts pitched flawlessly, striking out the Rangers first baseman, then retiring Hank Blalock on a grounder to end the threat.
He then added another 1-2-3 inning, then handed it over to Brandon McCarthy, who added two more of those. It was an important moment for the bullpen bridge, which is usually not called upon until the seventh inning, and it answered the call.
Record: 40-24 |
Box score |
Play-by-play