August 31: White Sox 4, Indians 3
Edwin Jackson did his best imitation of an ace, striking out 11 hitters, giving his offense all the time in the world to put runs on the board, and saving an overtaxed and underperforming bullpen.
Jackson also did his best imitation of said bullpen, failing to record the 27th out, putting a three-run lead in jeopardy and requiring Bobby Jenks — who blew a three-run lead on Monday — to clean up his mess.
Jenks allowed a first-pitch single to put the tying run in scoring position, but got Michael Brantley to chop one back to get his starter the win this time.
And Jackson deserved it. Before running into trouble in the ninth, he only made one mistake — a hanging slider that Shelley Duncan sent onto the concrete in left field to give the Indians a 1-0 lead in the seventh.
It looked like it might be enough, considering how flat the offense looked. Ozzie Guillen was questioned for not starting Manny Ramirez before the game, and while watching Justin Masterson hold the Sox scoreless over the first seven innings, I’m sure the postgame criticism would have been far more intense. The Sox only had one good scoring opportunity, which Juan Pierre blew when he popped out with a runner on third in the third.
But Masterson issued the dreaded leadoff walk in the eighth to Mark Kotsay, of all people. Ramirez successfully executed a bunt, and Mark Teahen delivered a big single to right to tie the game.
Teahen would be thrown out stealing, but the Sox picked up where they left off against Joe Smith in the ninth. Smith issued a dreaded leadoff walk of his own to Alex Rios. He stole second (no bunt, yay!), and after a Paul Konerko strikeout, Carlos Quentin earned a tough walk.
Manny Acta called on Frank Herrmann to face A.J. Pierzynski, as Manny Ramirez came on deck to potentially pinch-hit for Brent Lillibridge.
Pierzynski would send Ramirez back to the bench — not with the expected 4-6-3, but with a three-run homer into the right-field seats. That blew the game open, and Ramirez had to wait another day to make his White Sox debut.
Jackson couldn’t quite get the complete game, giving up three singles and leaving with two outs and 129 pitches under his belt. Rios made a nice play in center, blocking Jason Donald’s line drive (when he thought about diving) and keeping the tying run at first. That came into play when Matt LaPorta singled off Jenks, as Donald only moved to second on the play. He died there.
Record: 72-60 | Box score | Play-by-play
