This is how the season ends
This is how the season ends
This is how the season ends
Not with a bang, but with a whimper.
I suppose
"The Hollow Men" would be a fitting name for this year's Sox -- not because of their hearts or hunger or whatnot, but because of the results. The Sox lead the league in homers. They hit two today. They were both solo shots, and that's all the offense they had.
They're not mathematically eliminated, but there's no real way the Sox can make up this much ground against two opponents 5 1/2 games ahead with weaker schedules. This was a must-win game, and they lost it.
They lost it in classic 2006 Sox style. The Sox offense missed some opportunities early when Jeremy Bonderman started the game struggling. Jermaine Dye grounded out to third with a runner on third and one out in the first. Joe Crede had runners on first and second in the second, and grounded into a double play. He hit into not one, not two, but THREE twin killings, and is hitless in his last 22 at-bats. He needs a day off.
Jon Garland pitched a mediocre game. He kept the Sox in it, but it didn't look pretty, giving up double-digit hits, often times in clumps. He gave up three straight hits in the third, resulting in two runs, and three straight hits in the fifth for two more. Garland threw a lot of fastballs, and the Tigers benefited when they counted on them early in the count. His night ended when he gave up a first-pitch fastball homer to Magglio Ordonez at the top of the eighth, when Garland was still out there for some reason.
Meanwhile, the Sox finally put runs on the board when Juan Uribe and Tadahito Iguchi hit solo homers in the sixth to cut the lead in half. Dye followed with a single to put some pressure on. But Jim Thome struck out, and Paul Konerko flew out to end the threat.
Record: 85-67 |
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