State of the Sox 2009

September 12: White Sox 4, Angels 3 (10 innings)

If the White Sox can’t make wins look easy anymore, then we’re all screwed.

They held a 3-0 lead entering the eighth with their best relievers — Matt Thornton and Bobby Jenks — tanned, rested and ready. They finished the game in the 10th, clinging to a one-run lead with Tony Pena, of all people, attempting to rack up the save.

Thornton started the ruination of a perfectly good win opportunity for John Danks by allowing four straight singles — good for two runs — in the eighth inning. He could only retire one batter, and needed Jenks to clean up his mess.  Jenks did so in one pitch, getting Juan Rivera to ground into a double play immediately.

Then Jenks ran into his own problem, giving up a nine-pitch leadoff walk to Gary Matthews. He went to third on Kendry Morales’ single and scored on Maicer Izturis’ sac fly. Just like that, the game was tied.

Thank goodness for Scott Podsednik.

Podsednik led off the top of the 10th with a double to the right-center gap off Brian Fuentes. Gordon Beckham singled him to third, but A.J. Pierzynski couldn’t score him, flying out to shallow center and keeping Podsednik at third.

Kevin Jepsen came in to face pinch-hitting Paul Konerko, and it looked like Pods would be stranded at third when Jepsen got ahead 0-2.  But he bounced a slider that skipped past Mike Napoli, and Podsednik came around to score the winning run.

Of course, the Sox wouldn’t end it without drama. Randy Williams got ahead on Bobby Abreu 1-2, then walked him without challenging him. Reggie Willits bunted him over (thank you), and Ozzie Guillen called for Pena. Pena got Torii Hunter to ground out, but it looked like Oakland all over again when Rivera bounced a single back through the middle.

This one was hit a little slower than the one Kurt Suzuki knocked through for the game-tying run on Wednesday, and a diving Alexei Ramirez kept it in the infield. That saved the game, because Pena got Napoli to ground into a 4-3 to end it for his first save in a Sox uniform.

The game was closer than it should’ve been after the Sox built an early 3-0 lead through three innings. Gordon Beckham, the second batter of the game, took Ervin Santana deep for a solo shot over the left-center wall. In the third, Podsednik added one of his own — the hard way.

He hit a deep fly to right field, and sent Bobby Abreu up against the wall. Much like what happened to Pods in Oakland a couple years ago, the ball hit the wall, and then Abreu’s head on the way down. It ricocheted away from Abreu toward center, and with Hunter not backing up, Pods circled the bases for the first Sox inside-the-park homer since Joe Borchard’s.

John Danks, meanwhile, kept the Angels down despite pitch count issue. It’s a minor miracle that he got through six considering he had thrown 60something pitches through three. He didn’t have a traditional 1-2-3 inning, but he did benefit from two double plays. One was A.J. Pierzynski’s second strike-him-out-throw-him-out this week.

Unfortunately, the Sox failed to score a run in the sixth when, with runners on the corners and one out, Chris Getz hit a fly to shallow right. It wasn’t deep enough for Ramirez to score on it, but they tried anyway, and Ramirez was out by 15 feet.

Record: 71-72 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 2: White Sox 4, Twins 2

Gordon Beckham and the White Sox were down to their last bullet. Down 2-0 because they couldn’t get to another pitcher of no repute, the Sox faced a taller task of having to get to Nathan … with nobody on and an 0-2 count.

Nathan threw his best put-me-away slider, diving down and out of the zone. Beckham checked his swing, and first-base umpire ruled no swing on Mike Redmond’s appeal. Another slider, same location, but Beckham found it easier to lay off. Beckham didn’t bite on a low-and-away fastball, either, filling up the count.

Nathan then threw a fastball right down the pipe, and Beckham cranked it into the left field seats to put the Sox on the board.

But the Minnesota closer got back on the horse, getting Paul Konerko against the ropes with a 2-2 count. Konerko laid off an outside fastball to work the count full. He fouled back another fastball, and when Nathan came back with a hanging slider, Konerko got enough of it to put it in the first row, over the glove of a leaping Denard Span.

Suddenly, the Sox that showed nothing against Brian Duensing tied the game against one of baseball’s best closers.

And, they weren’t done.

Nathan lost control of his slider, with Jermaine Dye drawing an easy walk watching four of them slide out of the zone. He was replaced by Dewayne Wise, who stole second during Carlos Quentin’s at-bat. Quentin tried helping him out by chasing a well-outside breaking ball to fall behind 1-2, but Nathan threw three more out of the zone.

Ron Gardenhire had seen enough, as he called for Matt Guerrier to finally end the Minnesota misery. Guerrier picked up where Nathan left off, getting an 0-2 count on Alexei Ramirez. But Ramirez got down for a weak breaking ball, and lined it into left field.

Jeff Cox tested Span’s arm in left, sending Wise. It was a smart decision, but it nearly backfired when Span’s throw appeared on line. Mike Redmond couldn’t handle the short hop, however, and Wise slid in under the catcher as the ball caromed away, giving the Sox an unlikely 3-2 lead.

Another bad bounce gave the Sox the luxury of an insurance run, when Redmond couldn’t block a Guerrier slider, allowing Quentin to score.

Bobby Jenks finally got to pitch when it counted (although, I’m sad to say, Guillen didn’t warm him up until a two-out mound meeting after the Sox tied the game). He couldn’t get Jose Morales out either, as the third catcher fisted a flare to left to keep the Twins’ hopes alive. Jenks ended it one batter later, when Wise made an ugly catch around Jayson Nix in shallow right for the game’s final out.

Mark Buehrle once again failed to record a win since the perfect game, and much like his cohorts in the rotation, his quality start went unrewarded. He held the Twins scoreless until the sixth, when he couldn’t survive the Minnesota cadre of Sox killers.

Alternating between guys who hammer Sox pitcher and guys who don’t, Buehrle ended up on the wrong side of the numbers.  He retired Punto (no big deal), gave up a single on an 0-2 count to Span (per usual), and struck out Orlando Cabrera.  All he had to do was retire one of the Twins’ tough lefties to preseve the shutout.  He couldn’t.

Buehrle even caught two breaks.  Joe Mauer’s opposite-field double bounded over the fence, which kept Span at third when he would’ve scored easily.  After an intentional walk to Justin Morneau to face the equally unfriendly Jason Kubel, Buehrle fell behind 3-1.  He threw a fastball well out of the zone, but as Kubel bent down to unbuckle his shin guard, home plate umpire Bob Davidson surprisingly called “strike.”

Buehrle couldn’t take advantage, as Kubel went the other way on an outer-half pitch and flared one just in front of Quentin for a 2-0 lead.

That appeared to be plenty for the buzzsaw known as Brian Duensing, especially since the Sox routinely shot themselves in the foot.

Scott Podsednik started it in high style by leading it off with a single, then running into an out. He saw hit-and-run when nobody gave him the single, and was effectively picked off.  That set the tone for the day, because when Beckham followed with a walk, Paul Konerko grounded into a double play.

That was the first of four twin killings on the afternoon. Ramirez’s one in the fifth particularly hurt, as the Sox had two on and nobody out, but the seventh inning was the most fitting.  The Sox brought the best of both worlds together — Jermaine Dye grounded into a double play, and Carlos Quentin was thrown out at second trying to stretch a single into a double to end the inning.

But while Buehrle couldn’t get the win, at least the bullpen earned it.  Scott Linebrink survived his inning of work, getting help from Ramon Castro (throwing Brendan Harris out at second) and working around a typical Punto infield. single.

Ozzie Guillen then summoned Randy Williams to start the eighth, and didn’t push his luck after facing Mauer and Morneau.  Carlos Gomez came to the plate, Guillen countered with D.J. Carrasco, and the Sox won the battle with an inning-ending 4-3.

Record: 65-69 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 17: White Sox 8, Royals 7

Scott Linebrink knows how to win.

He knew what he was doing when he walked two batters with two outs, then gave up a first-pitch homer to Mike Jacobs, erasing the 7-4 lead Ozzie Guillen brought him in to protect.

He knew Scott Podsednik’s deal with the devil would continue, as he would drive in Alex Rios (dreaded leadoff walk, Alexei Ramirez sac bunt) with a single up the middle off drop-down lefty John Bale. He also knew Josh Anderson would bobble the ball in center, which made what should’ve been a play at the plate an easy run.

He also knew Bobby Jenks would have his easiest save in ages: a 1-2-3 ninth, eight pitches, seven for strikes.

Unfortunately, Mark Buehrle is a little befuddled by it all.

Buehrle didn’t exactly deserve the win. When you let Yuniesky Betancourt help put you in a 3-0 hole, you shouldn’t expect any favors. But he kept the Sox in the game, enduring some soft hits and bad defense by Jermaine Dye (who misread a high fly, stopping short then flopping in vain) to last six innings, only trailing 4-3 when he departed.

The Sox put him in position for the win in the bottom of the sixth. Brian Bannister hit Carlos Quentin to start the inning, and Rios drove him in as Mark Teahan pulled his own Dye, overrunning his double to the gap and turning it into a run-scoring three-base event. Ramirez followed with a sacrifice fly for a 5-4 lead.

A.J. Pierzynski looked like he put it out of reach in the seventh. Two batters after a Paul Konerko walk, Pierzynski blasted a no-doubter through a downpour for a 7-4 lead.

Record: 61-58 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 14: White Sox 8, Athletics 7 (10 innings)

Considering the amount of miscues and miscommunications, the Sox shouldn’t have won this.

The scoring began with a home run, and ended with a home run 10 innings later. Alexei Ramirez played the hero once again, hitting the go-ahead home run in the 10th inning, ending the 7-7 deadlock.

The late game heroics wouldn’t have been necessary if it weren’t for the lack of communication in the field, and two fateful innings. Twice miscommunications almost lead to collisions, one in the outfield, one in the infield. Both led to runs.

Staked to a 6-0 lead, Jose Contreras surrendered five runs thanks in part to some horrible defense. Alexis Rios dropped a ball in left center after Carlos Quentin crossed right in front of him, and Jayson Nix muffed a slow roller to his left. He was finally pulled for D.J. Carrasco with one out in the fifth, and although he allowed Contreras’ inherited runner to score, he finished with 2 1/3 scoreless innings.

A few things to note: Jermaine Dye had an RBI single in the first and a two-run single in the second. Ramon Castro had a two-run dinger in the second and Gordon Beckham went 3 for 5 with a double. Bobby Jenks earned his 24th save with Octavio Dotel (2-3) earning the win.

In other news, Jayson Nix replaced Chris Getz as the temporary starter at second base while Getz takes a trip to the DL for his latest injury, a strained oblique muscle. With Getz moving down, Brent Lillibridge moved up to take his spot on the roster.

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