What was that I was saying about Brian Anderson needing to
play center every day?
For some reason, Rob Mackowiak made the start out in Comerica's spacious outfield, and his failure to get to a lazy, shallow flyball may have cost the White Sox the game, and more importantly, a series win -- with an assist from Javier Vazquez, of course.
Staked to a 2-0 lead, Vazquez got in trouble when he started the sixth by allowing an infield single. Three-Mile Javy began to rear his ugly head soon after, when he allowed a ripped single on an 0-2 pitch by Ivan Rodriguez, and left a fastball high to Magglio Ordonez, who hit a grounder between third and short to cut the Sox' lead in half.
But when Vazquez finally made a good pitch, Mackowiak couldn't help him out. He got a late start to a shallow flyball off the handle of the bat of Carlos Guillen and let it drop right in front of him. Rodriguez held up a bit, but got to third to load the bases.
Vazquez made another good pitch, and Juan Uribe made a great play when he threw home to force out the runner to save a run. But Vazquez nullified it when he hung a weak, weak curve to
Sox-killer Craig Monroe. Monroe sent it into the left field seats for his first career grand slam, giving the Tigers a 5-2 lead they wouldn't relinquish.
This wasn't quite the Three-Mile Javy we were used to seeing. For instance, he had two on and one out in the third, but got out of it on two pitches, and in the other innings his stuff was filthy. But given his fragile state when he has to pitch from the stretch, he can't afford to lose outs that he earned with shoddy defense. If Anderson is in the game, he makes that catch. And while you can't assume the same series of events -- wrinkles in the space-time continuum and all that -- all he needs is a double-play ball to get out of the inning. Tigers hitters looked so antsy tonight that he just might've gotten another one.
This is not to excuse the Sox offense, who didn't get a runner into scoring position if you discount Joe Crede and Juan Uribe's solo homers. But Jeremy Bonderman is a tough pitcher and nothing can be taken away from the game he threw tonight. Vazquez can't get nine runs a game every time he's on the mound, and this was his pitcher's duel to win. He just couldn't keep the floodgates shut once again -- his last eight non-scoreless innings have been for multiple runs.
Unfortunately, it's hard when you have Rob Mackowiak's glove in center field helping to to force them open. Ozzie, it's time to let Brian wear the big-boy pants.
Record: 58-35 |
Box score |
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