September 5: White Sox 5, Red Sox 1
Tim Wakefield wasn’t as sharp, and the White Sox hitters wisened up. As a result, the Good Guys jumped on the knuckleball early, giving a halfway-perfect Gavin Floyd a nice early cushion en route to their four consecutive victory.
Scott Podsednik provided a positive omen when he led off with a single up through the middle — a nice change of pace after Sox hitters were way too pull-happy in their first outing against Wakefield. He stole second, Jayson Nix (pinch-hitting for Gordon Beckham, who left early with a stiff back) walked, and A.J. Pierzynski tested Wakefield’s bad back with a bunt that at least moved the runners over.
Paul Konerko lined a single back through the middle to drive two runs in, and two batters later, Paul Konerko would score on Chris Getz’s flare for a quick 3-0 lead.
That was all Floyd needed. He took a perfect game into the sixth inning before Nick Green spoiled it with a two-out single. It appeared that he might have a Mark Buehrle performance in him thanks to some nice defense. Mark Kotsay ran a ball down in deep right field, and Alexei Ramirez gloved a grounder up the middle and made a spinning throw to get Mike Lowell out at first.
Even though Green shattered that dream, it didn’t seem to bother Floyd too much. He finished with a career-high 11 strikeouts, with only Jason Bay’s leadoff homer in the eighth getting on the board.
Ultimately, it was no harm done, because Paul Konerko answered in the bottom of the inning with his 25th homer, doinking it off the left-field foul pole to get the run back.
Mark Kotsay also homered off Wakefield, giving him two in two games against his former team.
Record: 68-69 | Box score | Play-by-play
