That was the month that was
A quick summary of the events that happened while I was largely offline:
July 7: Paul Konerko homers three times in a 10-6 victory over Cleveland, including a go-ahead grand slam off Chris Perez, who just came in from the bullpen.
July 9: Clayton Richard, coming off a poor abbreviated outing against the Royals, is pitched on short rest against the Indians. He couldn’t record an out in the second inning.
July 10: Immensely satisfying takeout slide of Nick Punto by A.J. Pierzynski, but the Sox lose.
July 11: The Sox actually win a game in the Metrodome, but the Sox nearly blow a five-run lead. Bobby Jenks induces a game-ending double play from Denard Span to survive.
July 12: The Twins blast Mark Buehrle for eight runs over 3 1/3 innings, after Ozzie Guillen altered the pitching schedule to get Buehrle one more first-half start. That’s why Richard threw on short rest.
July 14: Buehrle throws a perfect inning in the All-Star Game.
July 17: Jim Thome drives in a career-high seven in a 12-8 win over the Baltimore Orioles with a grand slam and a three-run homer.
July 19: Aaron Poreda walks both batters he faces in a 10-2 loss to Baltimore, which ends up being the last outing of his White Sox career. He threw only two of 10 pitches for strikes.
July 20: Konerko’s three-run homer off David Price holds up as the Sox beat the Rays 4-3. Bobby Jenks leaves them loaded in the ninth.
Also, Carlos Quentin returns to the lineup for the first time since May 25.
July 21: Jenks wastes a terrific comeback outing by Clayton Richard (8 IP, 1 ER) by blowing the save. Guillen deserves partial credit by sending out Jenks again after he’d thrown 28 pitches the day before (15 for strikes).
July 22: Carlos Torres turns in a quality start in his big-league debut, allowing three runs on six hits and three walks over six innings. The Sox win when Alexei Ramirez — after Dan Wheeler basically struck him out looking — triples over the head of B.J. Upton to drive in the go-ahead run.
July 23: Somebody perfect something something.
July 24: Bartolo Colon returns to the rotation after a two-month absence and pitches seven strong innings. Scott Linebrink blows the game. The Tigers sweep the doubleheader.
July 25: Bobby Jenks blows the save when Curtis Granderson rips a too-fat 0-2, two-out pitch over first base to tie the game. D.J. Carrasco loses it in the 10th.
July 26: Clayton Richard picks up a huge win in his final start with the Sox, preventing the sweep with eight inings of one-run ball and beating Rick Porcello in the process.
July 27-29: The Metrodome series. Mark Buehrle sets a major-league record by retiring 45 straight batters, and he still loses.
July 28: The Sox trade Brian Anderson for Mark Kotsay.
July 29: Alexei Ramirez sprains his ankle sliding into second.
July 31: The Sox trade Richard, Poreda, Dexter Carter and Adam Russell for Jake Peavy.
In the minors:
Charlotte Knights
*Tyler Flowers was promoted at the All-Star break, and is hitting .277/.306/.447 through his first 47 AB.
*Cole Armstrong, perhaps inspired by the move, hit .341/.356/.750 with three doubles and five homers.
*Brent Lillibridge had a really nice July — .326/.414/.465 over 86 AB with seven extra-base hits and 12 walks (18 strikeouts).
*Jack Egbert, Jeff Marquez and Jon Link all seriously regressed. Marquez is back on the DL.
*Jhonny Nunez was promoted to the Knights, and pitched well enough (12 1/3 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 10 K) to earn his first big-league call-up.
*Lucas Harrell is enjoying success in his first stint at Charlotte, allowing zero or one run in three of his last four starts.
Birmingham Barons
*Dan Hudson became the best pitcher in the Sox system by going 5-0 with a 1.64 ERA in July. He struck out 40 with just four walks over 38 1/3 innings, and hasn’t allowed an earned run over his last 20 innings.
*Dayan Viciedo‘s improvement is like clockwork: .303/.354/.472 in July. He hit four homers and three doubles, showing the power that the Sox signed him for.
*Jordan Danks slowed down a little, hitting .250/.357/.403.
*C.J. Retherford bounced back (.307/.337/.477). John Shelby did not (.197 BA, .609 OPS).
*John Ely has been rock-solid since the All-Star break, allowing just three earned runs over 26 innigns, and just 15 hits to 17 strikeouts.
Winston-Salem Dash
*Brent Morel finally had his breakthrough month: .314/.387/.543 with a whopping 12 homers to go along with four homers.
*Tyler Kuhn has transferred his game quite nicely to High-A (.330/.374/.410 in July). Justin Greene has not (.192/.300/.25) in 52 AB.
*Nathan Jones is fine: 16 1/3 IP, 14 H, 5 BB, 17 K, 2.76 ERA.
*Gregory Infante has had big-time control problems, walking 16 batters over 14 2/3 innings to just seven strikeouts.
Kannapolis Intimidators
*Jared Mitchell is off to a flying start, hitting .295/.426/.432 despite a recent 1-for-14 slump.
*Josh Phegley, not so much: .167/.208/.333, four walks, 16 K.
*Jon Gilmore posted a .589 OPS in July.
*Daniel Black is hanging in there. He’s only hitting .238/.325/.317, but he’s walking (11 in 101 AB).
*Charles Leesman‘s control comes and goes. He went 5-0, but walked 16 over 34 1/3 innings to 30 strikeouts.
*Dan Remenowsky struck out 27 over 14 1/3 innings.
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Minor league roundup:
- Louisville 8, Charlotte 4
- Jack Egbert was roughed up for four runs in the first inning, then settled down to throw five scoreless frames afterward. Final line: 6 IP, 7 H, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 HR.
- Wilson Betemit hit a pair of solo homers.
- Josh Fields went 1-for-4; Brent Lillibridge 0-for-4.
- Birmingham 3, Mobile 2 (Game 1, 7 innings)
- John Ely went the distance, allowing two unearned runs on four hits and a walk. He struck out four.
- Dave Cook and Stefan Gartrell each went deep.
- Jordan Danks and Dayan Viciedo each went 0-for-3.
- Birmingham 4, Mobile 2 (Game 2, 7 innings)
- Christian Marrero hit his seventh homer, a solo shot.
- Danks singled and was hit by a pitch in three PAs.
- For the second straight game, Viciedo went 0-for-3 with an RBI.
- Kyle McCulloch allowed one earned run over six innings, allowing seven hits and a walk with three K’s.
- Wilmington 11, Winston-Salem 3
- Bad times for Gregory Infante: 3 1/3 IP, 8 H, 8 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 3 HR.
- Jim Gallagher and Seth Loman had two hits apiece.
- Brent Morel went 0-for-2 with two walks.
- Lake County 6, Kannapolis 3
- Jared Mitchell went 1-for-2 with two walks.
- Josh Phegley went 1-for-4
- Stephen Sauer struggled, allowing four runs on nine hits and three walks over 4 1/3 innings.
- Great Falls 3, Billings 1
- Nick Ciolli and Jordan Cheatham each went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Ciolli walked and stole his seventh base, Cheatham dropped down a sac bunt.
- Ryan Buch struck out three over two perfect innings.
- Bristol OFF
