Posted by Jim Margalus on August 5th, 2009 |
0 commentsThis type of game is a White Sox tradition — a strong start bolstered by a couple of big homers. It’s the simple formula that works.
Gavin Floyd threw eight terrific innings and actually got a win to show for it. Jim Thome shouldered the load for the offense, hitting a pair of opposite-field homers. His second was a three-run shot that broke open the game.
Thome came to the plate with runners on first and third and nobody out. Mike Scioscia pulled Sean O’Sullivan in favor of left-hander Darren Oliver. The Gentleman Masher punished Scioscia for that decision, blasting his second opposite-field shot of the night to give the Sox a 5-2 lead.
Gavin Floyd made sure the lead stood up, even though his defense made more mistakes than Floyd did:
*Jermaine Dye let an inning-ending Vladimir Guerrero line drive skim off his mitt. It’s unclear whether he lost it in the lights, but either way, it allowed Bobby Abreu to score from first. Guerrero made it to third on the error, but Floyd stranded him there by getting Juan Rivera to pop out.
*Jayson Nix made an inexplicably errant throw on a grounder to short, allowing Rivera to reach and put runners on first and second with nobody out. Floyd erased the mistake with a 4-6-3 double play.
*A.J. Pierzynski once again let a third strike get past him. A down-and-in (but catchable) curve made its way back to the screen, and Morales made it to first safely. Floyd erased the mistake with a 4-6-3 double play.
*Paul Konerko took his eye off a Chone Figgins grounder — perhaps in an effort to turn a 3-6-3 double play. He ended up deflecting it to Chris Getz, who got it back to Konerko in time, but Paul Shrieber called him safe. Perhaps it was a makeup call, as Konerko got credit for tagging out a diving Erick Aybar when the replay showed he missed.
Floyd had to do a little more work to pitch around the third error of the game, but he got the job done. Maicer Izturis tapped weakly in front of the plate to freeze Gary Matthews Jr. at third, and Floyd struck out Abreu with a beautiful inside-half fastball.
Floyd departed after allowing a pair of singles to start the ninth, and one would come around to score on a sac fly. It wouldn’t spoil his night, though, one in which he struck out six batters and induced three double plays.
At least Nix and Konerko atoned for their errors. Nix picked up Getz — who struck out on a bogus called third strike — by scoring a runner on third with a flare to right field. Konerko hit his 21st homer off Brian Fuentes in the ninth inning, putting the game outside of a slam.
Record: 56-52 | Box score | Play-by-play
