With Brad Radke gone after two innings and a huge chance to wear out the Twins bullpen in the first game of the series, this was a game the White Sox needed to win. They didn't, and now they're behind the Twins in the Wild Card, and they'll be lucky to avoid the sweep.
The complexion of the game changed over the course of two pitches -- when Neal Cotts allowed a single to Justin Morneau on a 1-0 pitch, and then Torii Hunter followed up with a first-pitch, three-run homer off David Riske to give the Twins a 4-3 lead. Riske pitched Hunter away, which was where Hunter looked for it, and he put it into the right-field bullpen.
The fact that Mike MacDougal took the loss in the eighth inning is almost immaterial, because he pitched well, getting groundballs. They just happened to be extremely well-placed. Hunter hit a weak single, Lew Ford replaced him at first after a fielder's choice on a weak grounder, he advanced to second on a weak grounder, and then scored on Bartlett's grounder. There's not much he could do about that.
But Cotts -- September call-ups can't come soon enough, because Boone Logan (54 Ks, 1 HR in 40 IP) might be a better option to get a lefty out. Cotts has now allowed 17 of the last 28 lefties he's faced to reach base. And Riske, who's been effective more often than not, made a bad pitch. It's a shame, because Ozzie made the right decision in pulling Javier Vazquez, who'd pitched well but has teased with the five-and-dive all year.
That doesn't excuse the Sox offense, which was suppressed by former Sox farmhand Matt Guerrier after it jumped on Brad Radke for three runs in the first two innings. Paul Konerko hit his first homer in 60 at-bats for a two-run lead after Jermaine Dye walked, and then Rob Mackowiak contributed an RBI single in the second.
Joey Cora killed the rally when he sent Ross Gload home, testing Jason Tyner's quality arm. Problem was, Gload had just touched third when Tyner got the ball. Instead of having runners on the corners and one out, they had a runner on first and two outs. Scott Podsednik hit a flyball to center that would've scored Gload had he held up, but for reasons only Cora knows, he wasn't there.
Mackowiak, for reasons only Guillen knows, was starting in center. Fortunately, he had two hits, because he didn't need to be out there. And when Pods dragged ass on a flyball that was closer to left than center and went to the wall for a double, Anderson's abscence was felt even more.
The Sox offense fell asleep, with A.J. Pierzynski's first pitch homer off Pat Nesheck serving as the only additional run. And if they're not going to score off the Guerriers of the world, they're not going to score off Jesse Crain and Joe Nathan. They made things a little exciting in the ninth when Podsednik singled with one out, then advanced to second on a bad pickoff throw.
But the unflappable Nathan locked up Alex Cintron (pinch-hitting for Tadahito Iguchi, a move I didn't get) on a curveball for out No. 2, and Jermaine Dye fouled out for the final out. A fan interfered with the ball as Justin Morneau lined up for the catch, and the first-base ump ruled Dye out. It was a good move by the fan, as he didn't touch Morneau and tried to keep the Sox alive. It's better to do that than to completely yield, like Astros fans did for Juan Uribe in the bottom of the ninth of Game 4.
Record: 75-53 |
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