Gordon Beckham was the only guy in the White Sox lineup without a hit on Thursday, going 0-for-5 with a pair of strikeouts during a 14-hit attack.
I don't know if he ever looked worse than he did in the second inning. Scott Podsednik stole second on a 1-0 pitch, then took third because Victor Martinez thinks baserunners are trying to swipe center. Beckham then proceeded to swing through the one pitch Junichi Tazawa had working for strikes two and three.
To my untrained eye, it looks like Beckham is chasing the high fastball, and he's pulling off pitches when they throw him strikes. Including Thursday, Beckham has just five hits over his last 40 at-bats.
It might help if the guy could get a day off. Beckham has played in 72 straight games, and has started 71 of them, including the last 56.
Trivia question time: Do you know was the last guy not named "Gordon Beckham" to play third?
Answer: Josh Fields, who started on June 25. Beckham has played every defensive inning at the hot corner since.
It's understandable why Beckham hasn't seen any time off -- Jayson Nix is the closest thing to a third baseman on the Sox roster, and I don't know if Ozzie Guillen wants to trot out a lineup with Nix and Brent Lillibridge in the same lineup.
In fact, I think he's afraid to play Lillibridge under any circumstances. He has only started one game in the two weeks he's been with the club. There's good reason for that, of course, but it really speaks to your suckitude if you're a bench player Guillen can't find time for.
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In the problem-solving department:
*Jermaine Dye says his slump has nothing to do with Alex Rios, which is true in all respects. The numbers check out, and Guillen still has no preference for Rios. Dye got the day off on Thursday, and Mark Kotsay took his place.
(I don't quite get the need for Kotsay in the lineup -- it seems like his chief offensive skill is hitting it where they are.)
*Mark Buehrle thinks he's been relying on his changeup too much. During the post-game show, Bill Melton said that it merely lacks the movement it had earlier.
I'm inclined to agree with the former. Buehrle threw some nice changeups in terms of count and location against Baltimore, and guys like Brian Roberts and Adam Jones, even though they were out in front, were still able to reach out and pull them.
He has his work cut out for him tonight against C.C. Sabthia. He's 0-6 lifetime against Captain Cheeseburger, and the Yankees roughed him up pretty good the last time around.
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Minor league roundup:
- Charlotte 6, Gwinnett 4
- Dewayne Wise went 3-for-4 with a triple in his first rehab start.
- Chris Getz played another half-game, going 0-for-2.
- Tyler Flowers and Cole Armstrong (double) both went 1-for-4.
- Mike Restovich went 3-for-4 with two homers, and has left the yard in three consecutive games.
- Lucas Harrell was decent: 6 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, no homers, seven groundouts.
- Winston-Salem 4, Salem 3
- Justin Greene went 2-for-4; Kent Gerst doubled and walked twice.
- Tyler Kuhn went 1-for-5.
- Jacob Rasner allowed three runs on six hits and a walk over seven innings, striking out three.
- Kannapolis 7, Greenville 3
- Jon Gilmore went 3-for-5; Luis Sierra also had a pair of hits.
- Brandon Short doubled and walked twice.
- Josh Phegley went 0-for-5, Daniel Black went 0-for-4 with a walk.
- James Albury had a wild outing, allowing just two unearned runs despite six hits and five walks over five innings. He struck out five.
- Enrique Lechuga and Kyle Bellamy eached pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief.
- Pulaski 8, Bristol 2
- Leighton Pangilinan doubled twice and walked.
- Miguel Gonzalez doubled, walked and drov ein a run.
- Trayce Thompson went 0-for-2 with an HBP and a walk.
- Goldy Simmons allowed one run on four hits over 3 2/3 innings of relief, striking out three.
- Missoula 6, Great Falls 2
- Joucer Martinez had problems with the long ball over his five innings, giving up six runs on seven hits, including a pair of two-run homers. Three walks, six strikeouts.
- Kyle Colligan went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
