State of the Sox 2009

August 25: Red Sox 6, White Sox 3

The Red Sox desperately wanted to give this game away. The White Sox wouldn’t let them.

Boston tried three times to let the White Sox have this one, since Pale Hose were so kind to wrap up more than a half-dozen gift runs the same before.

Trailing 2-1 and Paul Konerko on thirdwith one out in the seventh, Alex Rios hit a fly to medium range right. Paul Konerko bluffed going home, but it baffles the mind that he didn’t commit fully. Drew caught the ball flat-footed, and his throw ended up well on the first base side of the plate.

But they pardoned Konerko (or Jeff Cox) with a strikeout of all things. Alexei Ramirez swung at a curve in the dirt, but it hit the front of the plate and skipped over Jason Varitek. Konerko scored, and Ramirez reached first, and Jermaine Dye, who was on second, moved up to third. He would score when Jayson Nix’s line drive didn’t stick in Mike Lowell’s mitt, and the White Sox led 3-2.

The Sox let the Red Sox tie it in the bottom of the frame. Freddy Garcia, who pitched so well, gave up a one-out double to Jason Varitek. Terry Francona called for Victor Martinez, and Ozzie Guillen, as he so often did when Martinez was on the Indians, brought in Matt Thornton to make Martinez hit from the right side of the plate.

Martinez, as he so often did when he was on the Indians, lined a single to left on the first pitch to tie the game.

The ever-charitable Red Sox weren’t dismayed. In the top of the eight, Carlos Quentin hit a pop-up over the mound. Hideki Okajima couldn’t make an over-the-shoulder catch, and Quentin reach on the error.

He advanced to second in stranger fashion. Okajima wasn’t looking at Martinez after his first pitch to Konerko, and Martinez’s throw back to the mound bounced into center field. Quentin moved to second, and then went to third on Konerko’s single to right.

Quentin would stay there. Jermaine Dye popped out to short, A.J. Pierzynski struck out, and Rios flew out to center on a high 2-0 pitch to end the threat.

By that time, the Red Sox just decided to win it themselves. Then again, with Scott Linebrink on the mound, it might’ve  been unavoidable.

Linebrink actually bailed out Thornton by getting Kevin Youkilis to ground out to second with runners on second and third to end the seventh, and started the eighth by getting David Ortiz to fly out. As was the case against Kansas City, he struggled to record a third out.

Jason Bay, who couldn’t figure out Garcia’s off-speed stuff, sat on a Linebrink curve and sent it over the Monster for a 4-3 lead, and they’d add two more runs with two outs for the final margin.

Record: 63-63 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 12: Mariners 1, White Sox 0 (14 innings)

Note: k8t is pinch-hitting for this recap.

In the sprint to the finish line, it was the Seattle Mariners who arrived first. It was a game that started out in a typical Mark Buehrle speed, and ended 14 innings later on a walk off. Ken Griffey, Jr., in a pinch-hitting role, hit his two-out, RBI-single off of Tony Pena, and sent everybody home.

Before that fateful at-bat, it had been a pitcher’s duel between Buehrle and Felix Hernandez that had no end in sight until their managers pulled them out. Buehrle allowed six hits over eight innings while striking out three and walking one.

The game would have ended much sooner if it hadn’t been for Mark Kotsay in the bottom of the 12th. Kotsay dove to catch a fly ball from Rob Johnson, then scooted back to first base to send Jack Hannahan back to the bench and finish the solo double play. Carlos Quentin also made a sliding catch in left field to end the ninth inning.

In terms of offense, Kotsay, Jayson Nix and Scott Podsednik each had two hits, with Kotsay having the only extra base hit for the Sox (a double).

Podsednik nullified his contributions with the dumbest baserunning play of the year, getting picked off third by catcher Rob Johnson in the 10th with one out. It’s the second time he was picked off in the series.

The blunder ruined the best scoring opportunity in a game with few of them. In the top of the fifth, Nix got thrown out at home by Ichiro. In the seventh, Gordon Beckham hit into a double play to end that inning.

This game was one of for the record books. The Mariners had never held a scoreless tie for so long, and it was the longest scoreless tie for the White Sox since 1975.

Unfortunately, it overshadowed the debut of Alex Rios, who played right field in place of Jermaine Dye. Rios went one for six with two strikeouts.

August 7: Indians 6, White Sox 2

Considering Mark Buehrle dug himself into a 4-0 hole, I felt unusually optimistic.  Alas, it was unwarranted.

The Indians had Jeremy Sowers on the mound, whom the Sox almost always beat (0-6 lifetime in seven starts).  Sometimes it takes a while, but usually the third time through does the trick.  After all, opponents are batting .466 against him that go-around.

That never materialized. The Sox scored two runs off Sowers, both in the third inning on Gordon Beckham’s double and Jim Thome’s single. That was it.

Later on, Chris Perez entered the game. He had a pretty impressive history of failure against the White Sox in his young Cleveland career, and it certainly looked promising when he walked Jermaine Dye to load the bases and started Jim Thome off with two out of the strike zone.

Problem was, the second one was called a strike, and Perez found his sea legs. He struck out Jim Thome, got Paul Konerko to pop out and A.J. Pierzynski to line out to second.

Of course, it would’ve been a tall order to bail out Buehrle, anyway. He didn’t pitch particularly well, and Kelly Shoppach punished him for two opposite-field homers.

Yet despite allowing six runs on 11 hits, because the Indians’ offense was so consistent, Buehrle was able to last 7 2/3 innings because he induced six double plays. He became the first AL pitcher to do that since Dick Drago in 1972.

He somehow achieved that feat despite Jayson Nix throwing away what should’ve been a double play ball in the first inning.  The Indians ended up loading the bases with nobody out after Buehrle plunked Shin-Soo Choo, but he got Jhonny Peralta to ground into the first twin killing to limit the damage to one run.

Gordon Beckham booted a grounder, and, because bad things come in threes, Jayson Nix dropped a foul ball for his second error of the game.

Record: 56-54 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 6: Angels 9, White Sox 5

John Danks didn’t have his good stuff.  That resulted in three homers, including no-doubt shots to Jeff Mathis and Vladimir Guerrero.

He also didn’t have his head in the game.  The Angels — like they did last year — figured him out early and ran wild.  Danks gave up a double steal in the first inning, then a pair of steals to Chone Figgins in the second.

He also had a couple things working against him:

Bad luck

*Paul Nauert might’ve erroneously called Erick Aybar safe on a bang-bang play at first after a nice bunt. He’d come around to score.

*Paul Schrieber didn’t give Danks a call on a 2-2 fastball on the outside corner to Bobby Abreu. Abreu homered to opposite-field on the next pitch. It seemed like Schrieber was squeezing him, but Pitch f/x doesn’t seem to indicate that.

Bad defense

*Gordon Beckham took a risk and lost, fielding a carom off Danks with his bare hand and firing to first.  A good throw, and the inning’s over.  Instead, he threw it way left, and it skipped past Paul Konerko and the Angels took a 2-0 lead.

*Jermaine Dye forgot how many outs there were. He caught a shallow fly ball with a genuine chance to throw out Chone Figgins at home, but instead jogged several steps toward the dugout before cutting off his brain fart. Too late.

Jayson Nix did his best to get the Sox back in the game, hitting a three-run homer on the first pitch off Ervin Santana.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t come through a second time. With one out in the third, the Sox loaded the bases on a walk, single and Paul Konerko taking a pitch to the kidney. Mark Kotsay drew a walk to make it a 6-4 game, but Nix watched a slider over the heart of the plate for the second out. Chris Getz could not pick him up, chopping back to the mound to end the inning.

Sox rallies seemed to run out of steam after that. Dewayne Wise picked up a run with a ninth-inning homer.

Making matters worse, Octavio Dotel threw only 12 of 26 pitches for strikes, and wasted a rare pickoff by giving up an RBI single anyway. Also, a kid got nailed by Howie Kendrick’s bat.

Record: 56-53 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 10: Tigers 2, White Sox 1

John Danks returned to form, but Justin Verlander was already there.  So were the Sox bats.

The Detroit ace outdueled the White Sox southpaw with nine strong innings to Danks’ seven, going the distance for the second time this year while sending the White Sox to another disappointing loss.

And the game might’ve turned on another blown call.

With runners on first and third and one out in the sixth, Danks started Brandon Inge with an inside fastball that breezed by Inge’s elbow.  Problem was, Brian Runge said it clipped him, and that loaded the bases.  Danks ended up walking in a run thanks to the packed sacks, and while he struck out Adam Everett (who hit a solo homer) and Dane Sardinha to end the inning, the Tigers had all the runs they needed.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a close loss without the Sox blowing a couple chances.  Or more accurately, Alexei Ramirez.

Brian Anderson stood on third base with one out in the sixth after leading off with a double, and advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt by Scott Podsednik.  Up came Ramirez, who popped up a 1-2 curve, failing to score Anderson.  Jermaine Dye struck out looking to end the inning.

In the eighth, Ramirez had a chance to redeem himself with Chris Getz standing on third and two outs, but he had perhaps the worst at-bat of anybody all year.  Three curveballs, all out of the zone, all miserable swings.

And speaking of miserable swings, Paul Konerko had to leave the game after jamming himself badly enough to bruise his hand on an inside heater.  Josh Fields had to take over, and he ended up swinging through two fastballs to end the game.

A mammoth Jim Thome homer provided the Sox’s only run.

Record: 27-33 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 1: White Sox 6, Athletics 2

Hey, if Jim Thome wants to keep making me look smart, I’m all for it.

The Gentleman Masher broke open a tie game in the eighth inning with a massive homer to left-center off Santiago Casilla, bailing out Alexei Ramirez and extending the White Sox’s winning streak to four games at the same time.

Ramirez nearly spoiled the inning with a baffling bunting sequence.  With Scott Podsednik on first after a leadoff walk, Ramirez showed bunt, then pulled it away on a belt-high, outer-half fastball for strike one.  The second pitch turned out the same as a first — squared around early, pulled it back, another fastball strike.

So with two strikes, Ramirez showed bunt again … and actually put this one in play.  Problem was, he popped it straight up to the pitcher for the first out of the inning.  I don’t get it, either.

The effects of that disaster were nearly exacerbated when Jermaine Dye followed up with a single that probably would’ve scored Podsednik, but Thome made it moot by ripping a 1-2 pitch into the bleachers for a 5-2 lead.  The Sox kept piling on the baserunners, and Jayson Nix eventually drew a bases-loaded walk to eliminate the save situation.

Matt Thornton picked up the win for his inning of work in relief of a pretty sharp Gavin Floyd, but it’s hard to say Thornton vultured it.  He decimated Oakland’s 2-3-4 hitters, striking out the side with just 12 pitches.

Floyd was on his game as well, with the exception of the first inning.  He should’ve had a 1-2-3 inning to begin his night, but Ramirez started off the game as badly as he ended it.

Jack Cust rolled one to the right side, but Ramirez was playing on the second base side as part of a Thome-like shift.  It should’ve been an easy play, ranging slightly to his glove side for a 5-3.  But maybe he thought he was going to collide with Nix, because he didn’t get down enough, and the ball rolled under his mitt for a single.

Matt Holliday then nearly reached the concourse with his seventh homer of the year to give the A’s a quick 2-0 lead.

The Sox would scrape back off Trevor Cahill, although it looked like Cahill would control the game after exiting a first-inning jam relatively unscathed.  Podsednik and Ramirez put the pressure on when Pods walked, and Ramirez executed a perfect hit-and-run.  Dye drove in Podsednik with a sac fly to cut the lead in half, but Thome missed a couple hanging sinkers, and Cahill started locating better.  At one point, he retired nine in a row.

A.J. Pierzynski finally took advantage of an errant pitch in the sixth, turning on a non-sinker and taking it over the Bullpen Sports Bar to tie it up.

Floyd kept the game that way, but not without a major scare that started with a two-out walk to Ryan Sweeney.  Floyd, for some reason, started going with his slide-step even though the 1-for-22 Aaron Cunningham stood at the plate.  He lined a two-seamer that didn’t sink up the middle.  Floyd then walked Jack Hannahan to set the table for Orlando Cabrera.

Cabrera, in his first game in Chicago since leaving the Sox, had gone hitless in his first three at-bats.  Floyd made it four by striking him out, getting him to swing through three changeups in the course of the at-bat.

Record: 25-25 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 7: White Sox 4, Royals 2

The 2009 Chicago White Sox may be heading in a younger direction, but this is still the same team.

They made errors on the basepaths when they weren’t going station-to-station, struggled through another shaky Opening Day starter, found no evidence of a center fielder … and somehow came away with the victory.

That’s thanks to Jim Thome, whose three-run homer off Kyle Farnsworth in the bottom of the eighth gave the Sox their only lead all day. Bobby Jenks nailed down the save — and a helluva day by the Sox bullpen — to make it stick.

The Gentleman Masher stretched his game-winning homer streak in regular season play to two games. Like I keep saying, embrace the home run. This is how they’re going to win.

The eighth-inning rally really started when Trey Hillman called for Kyle Farnsworth to replace an extremely effective Gil Meche. In the box score, however, it began with a bunt single by Josh Fields of all people, who had a tremendous Opening Day.

Dewayne Wise — the one person who is supposed to be able to bunt — popped up two of them before hitting a lazy flyout to center. But Chris Getz picked him up with a bloop single on a hit-and-run, getting Fields to third.

Carlos Quentin struck out, which was a theme all day (the Sox were 0-for-3 in scoring runners from third with less than two outs), but up came Thome, who blasted a 2-1 fastball over the wall just left of center for the winning margin.

Octavio Dotel retired all four hitters he faced, but had to strike out an extra one after a third strike got past A.J. Pierzynski. He ended up with a win for his performance, which was much better than his previous Opening Day, when he gave up a bases-clearing double to Casey Blake. Clayton Richard preceded him by pitching two perfect innings, with a strikeout and four groundouts.

They helped Mark Buehrle avoid the “L” on a day where he had trouble with his command. Pitch count was a problem right away, and he walked three batters and plunked two over five innings. He also gave up one homer, a no-doubt solo shot by Alex Gordon.

But it could’ve been worse when he had the bases loaded with no outs in the fifth. Fields prevented one run crossing the plate with a great play, backhanding a ball behind the bag and jump-throwing over Mark Teahan to get the force at home. Billy Butler’s 4-6 fielder’s choice scored a run, but Buehrle struck out Miguel Olivo to end the threat, as well as his day, only trailing 2-1.

The Sox wasted a bases-loaded, nobody-out opportunity of their own in the second. Thome, Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko greeted Meche with singles to load the bases. But A.J. Pierzynski and Alexei Ramirez both hit weak flyouts to left, freezing Thome at third.

Fields made sure the Sox scored at least one with a single to left. Unfortunately, Jeff Cox made his first bad call of the season when he waved Dye around. DeJesus had made two throws home already on the shallow flies, so he had plenty of practice to throw out Dye by 10 feet.

That wasn’t the only bad baserunning of the day, either. Pierzynski nullifed his only contribution of the day when he tried to stretch a single down the left-field line into a double after hesitating rounding first. DeJesus gunned him down at second for his second outfield assist.

Pierzynski’s bad day (effectively an 0-for-3, three stranded, one passed ball that was called a wild pitch) paled in comparison to Wise’s, who struck out his first three times at the plate before botching the bunts in his last at-bat.

Record: 1-0 | Box score | Play-by-play