2006 State of the Sox

September 3: Royals 7, White Sox 3

I never thought I'd be so glad to see no more games against the Royals on the schedule.  This time, Mark Redman was the soft-tossing lefty who spun Sox hitters into the ground, and with Freddy Garcia susceptible to giving up runs early, I didn't like this match-up from the get-go.

The Sox did take the lead thanks to a Paul Konerko homer, but they failed to capitalize an inning later when they had the bases loaded and Jim Thome was at the plate with a 2-0 count.  He looked at the next two strikes, then struck out swinging.  That's been the way it's gone for Thome as of late, although he did hit his first homer since Aug. 14 later on.

Speaking of homers, Freddy Garcia allowed more of them than walks once again today.  Angel Berroa and Ryan Shealy went deep in back-to-back innings to give the Royals a 3-1 lead, and Shealy victimized Freddy again with an RBI single to make it 4-1.  Aside from the homers, Freddy looked decent, racking up seven strikeouts and his fastball hitting 92.  Unfortunately, he was left in one batter too late.  Mark Grudzielanek doubled off the wall, setting off an unfavorable chain of events that Brandon McCarthy was thisclose to getting out of. 

Neal Cotts issued an intentional walk, and McCarthy got Emil Brown to pop up.  He unintentionally intentionally walked Shealy to get to Paul Bako -- which was the right move.  Bako just happened to hit a jam-shot too far in front of Uribe, and it scored a run.  The inning unfolded from there, as Angel Berroa singled two more home to give the Royals some key insurance runs.

The Sox finished the season series against Kansas City 11-8 -- the same record they had against that Tigers team that lost 119 games in 2003.  The Twins, meanwhile, went 15-4 against Detroit that year, and ended up winning the division by four games.

Record: 79-57 | Box score | Play-by-play

Week in a Box: August 27 - September 2

The season's been infuriatingly inconsistent, and this week was no different.

Player of the Week:  Jermaine Dye.  Joe Crede had nearly an equally good week, with the exception of a throwing error in Friday night’s game.  Dye strengthened his MVP candidacy, even with a golden sombrero on Saturday.   

Player of the Weak:  Scott Podsednik.  If nothing else, he earns this one due to his maddening inconsistency.  He started the week with a primo Pods performance (bunt single, 3-for-4, two stolen bases, outfield assist), and then finished the week 2-for-18.

Pitcher of the Week:  Mark Buehrle.  He’s back over .500 with two wins this week.  He prevented two sweeps with a vintage outing against Minnesota, and a serviceable start against Kansas City.

Pitcher of the Weak:  Jose Contreras.  Another turd of a start.  He’s allowed 26 runs in his last 19 1/3 innings.  The defense let him down, but he didn’t help himself out either.  

Fireman of the Week:  Bobby Jenks.  He picked up saves No. 37, 38 and 39, allowing only one baserunner in three innings of work.  

Gas can of the Week:  Neal Cotts.  This is getting out of hand.  He’s pretty much allowing two baserunners for every out.  He finished August with a WHIP of over 3.00.

Super Sub of the Week:  Ross Gload.  Gload continues to produce.  He’s got an eight-game hitting streak going, which is impressive considering that includes a couple pinch-hit appearances.  August was his busiest month (38 at-bats), and he was up to the task (.919 OPS).

Super Scrub of the Week:  Rob Mackowiak.  I know it’s unfair, but his presence is beginning to frustrate me.

Gold Glove:  Juan Uribe.  Made a couple nice plays in the hole this week.  He definitely has a defensive presence.

Hands of Stone: Tadahito Iguchi.  He spoiled an unusually gritty outing by Javier Vazquez with a bad throw to first on what should’ve been a routine double play.