July 7: White Sox 5, Angels 2

Posted by Jim Margalus on July 7th, 2010 | 1 comment

One night after losing Jake Peavy to what appears to be a season-ending injury, Freddy Garcia put the rotation back on track.  He pitched around three of a season-high five errors, holding down the Angels until the White Sox could crack Joe Saunders.  In the process, they took their second straight series from an AL West opponent, and a good one, too.

Garcia baffled the Angels with his changeup, allowing just five hits and two walks over six innings.  The only run was unearned, although the White Sox defense bailed him out when he needed it in the second.

He allowed a single to Torii Hunter to lead off the second, followed by a catcher’s interference call on Ramon Castro.  But when Mike Napoli hit a bullet to third, Dayan Viciedo was able to grab it and start a 5-4-3 double play, with Gordon Beckham making a tough turn with Hideki Matsui’s shoulder in his chest.

Unfortunately, Viciedo threw one away in the fifth with two outs that led to the only run Garcia would allow.  Two singles drove that run in — an infield one and a genuine one — but Garcia dusted himself off by picking Erick Aybar off second.

Garcia also pitched around Gordon Beckham dropping a foul ball that should’ve been the third out in the sixth, ensuring that the two runs he was given on a Paul Konerko double would hold up.

And the Sox would pile on as well in the sixth.  Joe Saunders couldn’t escape a two-on, two-out situation, with Viciedo blistering a double off the left-center wall, and Brent Lillibridge dropping a single to right-center for a 5-1 lead.

The Sox bullpen got the job done, although Sergio Santos was shaky.  He hit the first and second batters he faced, and after a strikeout, Omar Vizquel committed his first error of the year when he failed to handle a hot smash. Alexei Ramirez compounded matters by bouncing his forceout attempt at second.  The ball got away from Lillibridge, and the second unearned run came around to score.  That would be the last, thanks to Matt Thornton and Bobby Jenks.

Record: 45-38 | Box score | Play-by-play

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Comments

  1. On July 08, 2010 fustercluck says:

    Infield singles not genuine? Pierre is blushing. And Lillibridge had better not lose his power stroke.

You must be logged in to post a comment.