If somebody told me that Jon Garland, Javier Vazquez and Jose Contreras were going to allow three runs over 22 innings this series, wouldn't you have expected more than one win?
Alas, Jose Contereras and a suddenly alive White Sox offense helped them to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Red Sox, with the former throwing eight strong innings and the latter putting up eight solid runs for victory No. 8-0.
Contreras had his forkball, or at least used it more. In his starts between his last gem in Detroit several weeks ago, he'd been relying too much on his two-seam fastball, which lost effectiveness when he dropped won. This time, his pitches had sink, and he frustrated the Red Sox all night long. He struck out five of the first seven hitters he faced, and only Coco Crisp's solo home run tarnished his line.
On the night, he had nine strikeouts to only one walk and four hits. He ended his night after the eighth inning, with Crisp the only Red Sox to reach scoring position. Contreras stranded him at second in the first and sixth innings, the only innings in which he had to work out of anything resembling a jam.
Contreras was close to perfect, but it didn't stop the Sox offense from finally providing a starter some breathing room. Kyle Snyder scared me when he struck out two of the first three batters he faced for a 1-2-3 first, but Jim Thome homered to lead off the second, and the Sox were on their way. They scored more runs in the second inning than they did in the first two games of this series combined. A Sox hitter finally did something with the bases loaded when Alex Cintron hit a ground-rule double (one of his three hits) with the bases loaded to drive in two.
Ryan Sweeney, starting in center and batting leadoff while Scott Podsednik hit eighth, racked up his first career RBI with a groundout, for a 4-0 lead. That was the only good that came out of his night, as he went 0-for-6 with a double play and two strikeouts.
Snyder left the game in the middle of the third when Jim Thome doubled and scored on one by A.J. Pierzynski. Thome went 4-for-4 with three runs scored, so it appears he's back in the groove. Jermaine Dye hit his 40th homer to let himself off the hook, and added a nice diving catch in right field.
Paul Konerko was the only offensive player to maintain his struggles. With runners on the corners and one out, he lined out to third. It was a nice play by Mike Lowell, but he keeps failing to elevate the ball in those situations.
Dustin Hermanson, appearing in his first major-league game this season, worked a 1-2-3 ninth with two groundouts and a strikeout, a performance reminscent of what he did so well for most of 2005.
Record: 80-59 |
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