2007 State of the Sox

Week in a Box: April 23-29

Player of the Week: Darin Erstad.  And it isn't even close.  He is having a great week, but it'd be nice if somebody else were even in the discussion.

Player of the Weak: The rest of the Sox offense, aside from Juan Uribe, who's doing everything anybody could reasonably expect from him.

Pitcher of the Week:  John Danks.  If the offense won't give him any support, then I will.

Pitcher of the Weak:  Javier Vazquez.  Four first-inning runs is nothing new, but against the Royals?

Fireman of the Week:  David Aardsma.  Rebounded from the blown save against Detroit with a couple of scoreless outings.

Gas Can of the Week:  Matt Thornton.  Five baserunners in 1 1/3 innings is awfully Neal Cottsish.

Super Sub of the Week:  Um.... Ryan Sweeney?  He started a key double play in his only game, so sure.  Sweeney.  Whatever.

Super Scrub of the Week:  Brian Anderson and Alex Cintron.  Anderson's at-bat against Todd Jones was pretty hard to look at, and Cintron's the only one hitting worse than Anderson.

Gold Glove:  Tadahito Iguchi.  Hell of a job turning four double plays against the Angels.

Hands of Stone:  Nobody.  The defense has actually been pretty good.  Rob Mackowiak even made a great play in left.

April 29: Angels 5, White Sox 2

(In order of interest...)

So, the Bulls swept the Heat in the first round of the playoffs, thanks to some impressive defense that refs couldn't hold against them, even though Dwyane Wade was on the other side.  Ben Wallace made seven of his eight free throw attempts.  Luol Deng looks like the first consistent, complete scoring threat the Bulls have had in years, the kind of guy who should be touching the ball on every play.

And hey, the Bears drafted a local kid.  Local to me, at least.  So that's pretty cool.  Some thought he could've gone as high as the second round.  Can't have too many offensive linemen, nosirree.

Rules mean nothing to Garfield.

It's been raining on and off here.

The Sox offense looked completely helpless once again.  Hawk Harrelson rolled out the red carpet for the opposing starter once again.  The Sox offense had four lousy hits off Kelvim Escobar, but at least managed to score two runs on Darin Erstad's second homer of the year.

Mark Buehrle had no-hit stuff for the first few innings, and even pitched around two errors -- a wide Alex Cintron throw, and a Joe Crede bobble.  But then the Angels took the game right back after Erstad's homer, going back-to-back themselves.  Buehrle's pitch to Maicer Izturis wasn't bad, but Izturis did a nice job getting the hands in.  On the other hand, Vladimir Guerrero's gopher ball caught way too much of the plate.

One day, a quality start is going to be good enough to win, but it probably won't be until the Sox see production from Paul Konerko, Jermaine Dye and Crede (0-for-10 combined).

Ryan Sweeney didn't have a hit in his 2007 major-league debut, but he did make a nice play in left to help David Aardsma get out of a jam Buehrle started.  Sweeney made a nice diving catch towards the left-field line, on which Reggie Willits, tagging from third, left early.  Well, he didn't actually leave early, but his upper body looked like it did to the home plate umpire.  A.J. Pierzynski pointed to the bag immediately, and the Sox tried their luck, and lucked out. 

It's not a good sign when, for a second consecutive day, the only real highlights are late-inning defensive plays while trailing.

Record: 12-11 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 28: Angels 3, White Sox 0

I don't know why the Sox even bothered playing this game.  Not because of a lack of effort, but because the result was merely an extension of trends that could've been easily predicted.  Here, you had:

1. Jon Garland and his propensity to give up runs early on in the game.
2. The Sox facing a starter they'd never seen before.

It worked out just like you thought it would.  The game was in effect over by the fifth pitch, when Gary Matthews Jr. homered off Garland on a 2-2 count leading off the game.  The Angels added a couple more thanks to a fluke double off the fists of Casey Kotchman, and a single through the box that Garland would usually grab eight out of 10 times.

Garland would settle down to retire 16 of 17 at one point, and ended up throwing seven solid innings.  He has yet to win a game this year, though his ERA is sub-4.00.  Last year, he was 2-1 after four starts despite a 7.30 ERA.

Meanwhile, in the tradition of J.P. Howell and Kason Gabbard, Jered Weaver simply stumped the Sox offense.  The leadoff man reached base only twice in nine innings, and incidentally, those were the two frames in which the Sox came closest to scoring, stranding a runner on third each time.  Paul Konerko led off the fourth with a single, but was held up at third when Joe Crede singled sharply to Vladimir Guerrero with two outs.  Razor Shines made the right call, though given the all-too forseeable outcome of the game, I was curious about how far Konerko would've been thrown out by.  At the time, this came to mind.

I suppose the only real highlight of the game came in the ninth inning, when the Sox made three fantastic plays on defense in a row.  Rob Mackowiak recorded the first out with a well-timed sprinting leap, Nick Masset quickly fielded a Guerrero swinging bunt for the second out, and Juan Uribe made an awesome throw from deep in the hole, capped off by a Konerko scoop that needed some fancy backpedaling.

Record: 12-10 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 27: White Sox 7, Angels 3

What a difference a Dye makes!  Sorry, just trying to predict a headline.

After a slight back issue that helped turn the White Sox lineup into a middling Triple-A squad, Jermaine Dye returned to his normal spot in right field, hitting No. 5 behind Paul Konerko, and promptly belted two solo homers as the Sox rolled over the Angels.

Thankfully Dye played the whole game, because Jim Thome couldn't even make it past his first swing.  He walked back to the dugout holding his side, and Ozzie Guillen responded by replacing him with Alex Cintron, back from the bereavement list, and his .091 average.  Even though Cintron went 0-for-4 (he's now 2-for-16 as a DH in a White Sox uniform), the Sox offense looked a whole lot smoother than normal, scoring at least one run in their last five innings.

The Sox had more hits (8) than walks (7), and didn't gain their first hit until the fourth inning, when Dye and A.J. Pierzynski went back-to-back off Ervin Santana.  Thanks to exceptional timing, all but one hit resulted in a run -- Darin Erstad's leadoff single in the fifth inning, and even he would come home a few batters later on Paul Konerko's double, scoring from first.

Juan Uribe also scored from first on an Erstad double to the right-center gap.  Razor Shines made a couple of nice calls waving runners home -- perfect throws might've had Erstad and Uribe, but with two outs and the relay men far away from the infield, being aggressive was the right call.

Meanwhile, defense helped out Jose Contreras quite a bit, with Tadahito Iguchi involved in turning four double plays.  The first (pictured right) ranked highest in terms of degree of difficulty -- bases loaded, scoreless game, one out, Vladimir Guerrero at the plate and Orlando Cabrera at his ankles, and the Emperor turned it perfectly.  He also made a nifty 4-3 double play by applying the tag in the baseline and snapping a throw to first.  He did commit his second error of the year on a weak Erick Aybar grounder, but Matt Thornton induced a 5-4-3 twin killing that Iguchi turned.

Heck, the Sox even had the rare outfield assist, with Uribe cutting off Dye's throw from right and chucking it to Joe Crede just in time to tag out Guerrero.  That play turned out to be a big one, because Contreras grooved a 3-0 fastball to Casey Kotchman that ended up in the right-field seats to tie the game.  If that relay from Uribe is late and Contreras throws the same pitch, the Angels have the lead.

The only drawback was that Ozzie Guillen was forced to make multiple pitching changes once again in the eighth inning -- but it's hard to blame him this time.  Thornton lost Gary Matthews after having him down 1-2 by throwing three pitches nowhere close the strike zone, and Mike MacDougal plunked Guerrero.  You know it's a weird situation when Andy Sisco is the example of control -- and even he nearly threw a double-play ball and a pickoff away.

Fortunately, Iguchi's two-run triple (preceded by two walks, and ending with Iguchi getting nailed in the head by the throw) in the bottom of the eighth limited ninth-inning dramatics, and David Aardsma finished the game with little problem.

Record: 12-9 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 25: Tigers 6, White Sox 2

Jim Leyland did the Sox a big favor when he sent Joel Zumaya out in the ninth inning of a six-run game.  Even in the best-case scenario for the Tigers, where Zumaya retires the Sox 1-2-3 on five pitches, the Sox still gain an advantage of getting another look at him.

It seemed like a fairly innocuous decision when Guitar Hero erased a leadoff single with a Paul Konerko double play, and then had A.J. Pierzynski down 0-2.  But then he hit A.J. with his next pitch, and the wheels fell off. He'd walk the next four batters -- including Pablo Ozuna and Juan Uribe -- to bring in two runs, and all but Andy Gonzalez's walk were easy decisions for hitters.  He threw 17 of his last 22 pitches out of the strike zone, and Uribe and Ozuna were taking steps back as he released the ball.

Fortunately for Detroit, Brian Anderson came up with the bases loaded representing the tying run and hit a broken-bat groundout to end the ballgame.  He had a belt-high 88 m.p.h. Todd Jones fastball right down the middle, but swung under it.  It seems like Anderson can't hit anything higher or lower than the middle of his thigh -- and yet he was the DH.  And when Rob Mackowiak pulled an abdominal muscle running the bases, it forced Ozzie to replace him with Andy Gonzalez.  Nothing like making a major-league debut and a positional debut at the same time.

The Tigers gained their big cushion in the first inning off John Danks, continuing a trend of big first innings against Sox pitchers, by scoring three runs with their first four batters.  Magglio Ordonez hit the big two-run single, and went 3-for-4 overall against his former team.

Danks once again received minimal support, thanks to a lineup missing Jim Thome (oblique strain) and Jermaine Dye (bad back).  The lineup hit as well as you might imagine.  By throwing eight shutout innings, Chad Durbin joined J.P. Howell and Kason Gabbard as the next dominant major-league pitcher, according to Hawk Harrelson.

Record: 11-9 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 24: White Sox 9, Royals 7

As is often the case when anybody plays the Royals, tonight's rain-delayed contest came down to who wanted it less.  And try as the White Sox might -- and battle they did -- they couldn't match the Royals' lack of resolve.  The Sox simply had too much of it, when they thought they had nothing at all.

They threw everything they could at Kansas City.  Ozzie batted Darin Erstad at DH, taking away half of the Sox's only good outfield options.  The other quality outfielder -- Brian Anderson --turned a double into a triple when he booted a ball.  But he wouldn't be the only one in on the three-error action -- Pablo Ozuna overran a ball, and A.J. Pierzynski's throw to second escaped Juan Uribe.

Javier Vazquez put the Sox in a three-run hole by allowing four runs over a 32-pitch first inning.  When the Royals stopped scoring on Vazquez, Matt Thornton came in and left everything over the heart of the plate.  Mike MacDougal had his wildest night as a Sox, throwing only 13 of 28 pitches for strikes, including two wild pitches.  Boone Logan even saw extended action.

The Sox threw everything they could at the Royals, and yet they still couldn't stop Kansas City from walking away with the loss.

The Royals started strong when Darin Erstad reached base via catcher's interference (add that to the list).  John Buck's intrusive glove nullifed a diving catch by Ross Gload, who had a two-run triple in his first at-bat against his former team.  He'd come around to score to give the Sox their first first-inning run in quite some time.  Gload would eventually get with the program when he slipped on A.J. Pierzynski's routine flyball to left, turning it into a double.  He and Jermaine Dye would score on Juan Uribe's double.

The umpires screwed the Sox over in their efforts, too.  Rob Mackowiak, after reaching on a bang-bang play at first, appeared to be picked off at second, but was called safe.  Erstad followed up with a double, and the Sox regained the lead.

The Royals showed how a closer is supposed to finish a game -- Joakim Soria allowed the go-ahead run when he bounced a throw to first, trying to nail Ozuna after Ozuna nailed him with a liner off his leg.  Alex Gordon couldn't scoop it, and Paul Konerko came around to score.  He brought an insurance run home with a wild that went behind Joe Crede's head, and that was the ballgame.  Bobby Jenks proved he was no match when he sent the Royals packing 1-2-3.

Record: 11-8 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 23: White Sox 7, Royals 4

Now here's a game that'll drive you away from baseball.  But more on that later.

The big story was after Paul Konerko had a troublesome quote in the paper, the White Sox first baseman exploded with a two-homer, five-RBI day, and made a nice pick of a liner in the ninth inning to make the final frame less scary.

I still have to watch the first seven innings of this game, but the last two took a solid hour to complete due to the Royals and Sox combining to use nine pitchers in the last two innings.  So I can't say I feel cheated.  The guy who wrote Genesis 5 could write the recap:

Mark Buehrle begat Andy Sisco, who lived for three batters, allowing two to trespass and throwing a errant orb; and Sisco begat Mike MacDougal, who received a flyball out and begat the pinch-hit coming off the bench from Ross Gload; the mere sight of Gload begat Matt Thornton, who in turn begat Reggie Sanders off the bench and promptly singled; Sanders begat Esteban German who finally retired himself into the guarded hands of Jermaine Dye...

Of course, anything Ozzie Guillen hath wrought, Buddy Bell did wrought better -- the Kansas City manager used four relievers in a single inning and five overall, and to even less savory results.  Jimmy Gobble came in to face Jim Thome in the top of the eighth and allowed a single, and Bell replaced him with David Riske -- who gave up Konerko's second homer.  Riske would eventually retire two hitters, but he was pulled when Rob Mackowiak came up for lefty Neal Musser.  Ozzie countered with Brian Anderson, who walked without taking the bat off his shoulder, and Bell went to the bullpen to bring in Ryan Braun to face Juan Uribe.

Bobby Jenks managed to bring the tying run to the plate in a three-run game by putting runners on the corners with one out, but he ended the game with a double-play ball off David DeJesus' bat.  At least he finished the whole inning, and preserved Mark Buehrle's second victory of the season.

Outside of a scary sixth inning, Buehrle looked almost as good as he did during his no-hitter.  The extra two miles per hour on the fastball helps a lot, because it kept hitters from sitting on the changeup.  He spotted it well and didn't allow a lot of hard contact aside from John Buck's homer.  Even Esteban German's triple was on a low pitch, and it just happened to get past Rob Mackowiak, which is prone to happen.

The line drives started coming in the sixth, but he roared back with a vengeance in the seventh, closing out his start with two strikeouts and a weak popout.

Konerko, meanwhile, jumped on a couple of fastballs that he was swinging under in days past.  But Tadahito Iguchi impressed me almost as much, because he's back to looking comfortable in the second spot and hitting bad balls where they ain't.

While I wasn't a fan of all the pitcher switching, I did like Ozzie's call to start Joe Crede after his leadoff single.  Rob Mackowiak couldn't find a hole, but it worked like a sac bunt without automatically giving up the out, and set up the go-ahead run when Darin Erstad ripped (yes, ripped) a single back up the middle.

Record: 10-8 | Box score | Play-by-play

Week in a Box: April 16-22

Player of the Week:  Jim Thome.  A .690 OBP is hard to beat.  Not only did he draw 15 walks in six games, but of the five hits he had when people pitched to him, three left the yard.

Player of the Weak: Paul Konerko.  He's the reason why people are walking Thome.  Paulie did have a couple of big hits, but going 3-for-25 (including an 0-for-6 stinkbomb) with Thome on base all the time hurts.

Pitcher of the Week:  Mark Buehrle.  Duh.

Pitcher of the Weak:  John Danks.  Like in his start, Danks is once again the hard-luck loser.  Everybody else is pitching pretty well, while Sox defense limited Danks to only 4 2/3 innings in his start.

Fireman of the Week:  Bobby Jenks.  Jenks saved three games this week, and his ERA is falling while his radar gun readings rise.  Plus, everybody else either had a blemish or didn't see much action.

Gas Can of the Week:  Mike MacDougal and David Aardsma.  Both provided gigantic gut punches this week -- MacDougal's 0-2 fastball to Sammy Sosa, and Aardsma's slider to Marcus Thames.

Super Sub of the Week:  Rob Mackowiak.  Mack is giving Ozzie Guillen another reason to not play Brian Anderson, posting a couple of multi-hit games and his first homer of the season in relief of Scott Podsednik.

Super Scrub of the Week:  Gustavo Molina.  The guy still hasn't given A.J. Pierzynski a day off.

Gold Glove of the Week:  Joe Crede.  The diving stab and amazing throw to nail Jerry Hairston Jr. made Buehrle's no-hitter possible.

Hands of Stone:  Nobody.  The Sox played errorless ball this week, although Darin Erstad's failure to call Juan Uribe off on a pop-up helped submarine John Danks' start, and Tadahito Iguchi's dropped exchange on a double-play ball led to a two-run homer.

April 22: Tigers 6, White Sox 5 (11 innings)

Without a doubt, the root cause of this disappointing defeat is simply a hanging David Aardsma slider.

However, if you're looking for a deeper explanation of why the Sox blew a two-run lead with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Ozzie Guillen's recent bullpen usage might be the direction in which you can point your finger.

Because Bobby Jenks had already been used in the first two games of this series, Ozzie called upon Aardsma to close out the game.  However, Aardsma had also pitched in the first two games this series.  The decision looked like it didn't matter when Aardsma retired the first two guys he faced, but after a Carlos Guillen single, Marcus Thames hit a belt high, inside-half slider over the left-center fest to create a whole new ballgame.

It spoiled a nice effort by Jon Garland, who made the bullpen a nonfactor by pitching eight strong innings, and overcoming what could be one of the weakest three-run outbursts imaginable.  Garland made good pitches in the first inning, and all he had to show for it as a looped double, a nubbed RBI single, a groundball single where Juan Uribe should've been playing in double-play depth, an inside-out single leading to an early three-run deficit.

Garland kept making quality pitches, and eventually was rewarded.  Those three runs would be the only ones he'd allow all day, and at one point he retired 18 consecutive hitters, using mainly that two-seam fastball that had a lot of life on it today.

Unfortunately, he wouldn't get the win.  Nick Masset would instead be tagged with the loss.  In his third inning of work, he walked Ivan Rodriguez to start the 12th, and after a sacrifice bunt, Boone Logan came in, intentionally unintentionally walked Craig Monroe, and Placido Polanco ended it with a single into the left field corner.

Until Thames' homer, it looked like the Sox would earn the win in the same manner as yesterday's victory, slowly chipping away against Justin Verlander.  A.J. Pierzynski hit a solo homer to put the Sox on the board, and the Sox would tie it up on two balls that never left the infield -- a Darin Erstad infield single, and Pablo Ozuna's fielder's choice.  Joe Crede gave the Sox their first lead with a two-run homer off Aquelino Lopez, his first of the season.

Paul Konerko has the inside position on the worst game of the season, going 0-for-6 with three strikeouts and eight left on base.  Opposing pitchers keep walking Jim Thome (three more BBs today) to get to Konerko, and they're not paying for it.

Record: 9-8 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 21: White Sox 7, Tigers 5 (10 innings)

Today's victory was most unusual on many fronts.  Let's list them:

1) The Sox scored all seven of their runs without a homer.  I can't remember one situation where the Sox didn't score when they should've -- and of course, having 10 hits for the first time since Opening Day helps.  Jim Thome and Juan Uribe hit sacrifice flies, and Jermaine Dye hit a huge double in the 10th off Fernando Rodney to drive in the go-ahead run.  And I'm not forgetting that:

2) The Sox managed to score three of them with the bases loaded without lifting a pitch.  The Sox actually grounded into double plays -- the Tigers just couldn't turn them.  Paul Konerko chopped what should've been a 5-3 DP to Brandon Inge, but he misplayed the hop and only ended up with a forceout, soring the run.  Jermaine Dye then hit into a 3-6-1, but Nate Robertson lost his footing and couldn't find the bag falling down for the third out.  Joe Crede then grounded a single between first and second to cut the Tigers lead to 4-3.

3) Joel Zumaya didn't intimidate.  Zumaya was cracking 102 on the Detroit's feed gun, but the Sox seemed to pick him up well aside from Darin Erstad, who went down flailing on three pitches.  Disregard the three strikeouts, and instead look at the three baserunners during Zumaya's 1 2/3 inning outing.  Joe Crede came up with the big hit, driving in Brian Anderson, who pinch-ran for Jim Thome.  More on that later.

4) Jose Contreras was lit up in the first inning despite throwing 16 of his first 17 pitches for strikes.  The only pitch out of the strike zone hit Gary Sheffield in the elbow, loading the bases to set up a Carlos Guillen grand slam two batters later.  Contreras settled down and then some, retiring the next 16 batters until Magglio Ordonez homered to break the tie.  Contreras went seven innings, throwing only 86 pitches and walking zero.

5) Ozzie Guillen burned Anderson.  It wasn't a bad idea to pinch-run for Thome, but using Anderson then, and then pinch-hitting Rob Mackowiak for him when it was his turn to hit, was a questionable call.  First, it left the Sox without a defensive replacement and Pablo Ozuna in left.  Secondly, there's not a world of difference between Anderson and Mack in terms of speed, so if I wanted Mack's bat in the lineup eventually, I would've called upon him right away.  Personally, I would've used Alex Cintron to run, because I can't think of any other situation where I'd say, "Damn, I wish Cintron were out there."

The only thing that resembled a Sox victory was the outstanding work by the bullpen once again.  Ozzie used way too many pitchers once again, but he didn't run into a cold hand.  Boone Logan, Mike MacDougal, Andy Sisco, David Aardsma and Bobby Jenks allowed only one hit and one walk in three innings, striking out four.  And for once, Bobby Jenks closed the door without allowing the tying run to come to the plate.

Record: 9-7 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 20: White Sox 5, Tigers 4

Take note, Ozzie Guillen: This is what your offense looks like when your leadoff man actually reaches base.

Now, to qualify that note: Don't count on your leadoff man routinely getting on base the way he did.

Darin Erstad's two singles took 648 bounces (I counted) to get through the infield, and they ended up being among the two most important hits of the game.  The first of them, which took forever to get through the hole between first and second, eventually led to a bases-loaded Paul Konerko single that erased a two-run Tiger lead.

The second, a seeing-eye single up the middle that exploited every inch of Carlos Guillen's range issues, drove in Rob Mackowiak for the decisive run after Mack singled and advanced to second on Juan Uribe's sacrifice bunt that almost fell into Sean Casey's mitt.

Of course, the Sox had to make it closer than it had to be from beginning to end, missing some golden opportunities on offense and having some issues on defense.

The Tigers were able to take the lead when some confusion between short, left and center gave Ivan Rodriguez a double and the Tigers an extra out.  That would prove to be crucial, as Detroit did all their damage against John Danks with two outs.   Juan Uribe appeared to have a bead on it, but either lost the ball in the lights or felt he was called off by either Mackowiak or Erstad, both of whom arrived late.  After a four-pitch Gary Sheffield walk, Magglio Ordonez doubled and Carlos Guillen singled for a 4-2 Detroit lead.  Up until that point, all scoring had been accomplished the traditional Sox way -- solo homers by Uribe and Tadahito Iguchi, and one by Brandon Inge.

The Sox never blew the game open, and some of that was their own doing.  They had the bases loaded an one out after that Konerko single, but Jim Thome unwisely tried scoring on Joe Crede's pop-out to Placido Polanco.  He was out by plenty, and if that was Razor Shines' call, that's two Joey Cora-like decisions in two days.  Additionally, the Sox couldn't bring home Mackowiak after a one-out triple.

Fortuantely, the Tigers also ended the game with a runner on third.  Bobby Jenks retired the first two batters with four pitches, but Polanco doubled on the first pitch he saw and advanced to third on a wild pitch.  Jenks racked up a backwards K on Sheffield though, who couldn't figure out Jenks' assortment of knee-high cutters on the outside part of the plate.

Nick Masset, David Aardsma, Matt Thornton, Mike MacDougal and Jenks combined to throw 4 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Danks, who is still in search of his first major-league win after a taxing 94-pitch outing.  Tonight, it's Masset who will go home with his first 'W'.

Record: 8-7 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 19: White Sox 6, Rangers 4

Today was a day for the much-maligned:

A.J. Pierzynski came through with a three-run homer off nemesis Vicente Padilla, who plunked the Sox catcher twice during an infamous evening last year.

Joe Crede had a triple and a go-ahead single, finally using the opposite field to fend off that low and outside pitch.

Rob Mackowiak shook off missing a difficult play and cranked his first home run of the year, a two-run shot.

Mike MacDougal helped minimize damage out of the bullpen, Matt Thornton pitched 1 1/3 lights-out innings, and Bobby Jenks closed out the game despite a shrinking strike zone.

Hell, Darin Erstad even had a hit, and reached base later when Scott Feldman put his fingers to his mouth.  I'm sure Erstad caused that to happen somehow.

All of the above helped the Sox to right the ship after what was a very Soxtastic first six innings, take the series and even their record at .500.

The White Sox shot themselves in the foot early on when Razor Shines had his first Joey Cora moment of the season.  With Pierzynski on first after a walk, Crede hit a long drive to right-center, just past the outstretched glove of Nelson Cruz.  A.J. had to hold up until it fell, but Razor waved him home anyway.  A solid relay brought the ball to the plate well in advance of Pierzynski, who was tagged out trying to slide.  A Mackowiak pop-up later, the threat was over.

Pierzynski's blast two innings later couldn't have come at a better time, but it certainly appeared as though the Sox couldn't score without the homer, because up until Crede's go-ahead single in the eighth, all 10 of the Sox's runs came via the long ball.

Crede drove in Jermaine Dye, who led off with a double, and helped the Sox regain the lead lost when Javier Vazquez crashed into the 75-pitch mark. 

Aside from a Sammy Sosa solo homer off an 89 m.p.h. fastball center-cut, Vazquez cruised through the game until the seventh -- or, the 75-pitch mark, since Michael Young doubled in a run on pitch No. 76 the inning before.  Vazquez got out of that jam, but promptly put himself in another one when Sammy Sosa led off with a double off the left-field wall -- one that Mackowiak could've played better, but by no means routine.

Ozzie pulled Vazquez immediately afterwards, even though Javy had only 80 pitches.  Andy Sisco relieved him and made a beautiful pitch to jam Hank Blalock, but unfortunately it fell into no man's land in left field for a double to put runners on second third.  MacDougal came in and retired the next three hitters flyball-strikeout-groundout to keep the game tied.

Rangers pitchers prevented Thome from homering for a third straight game because they didn't give him anything to hit -- he walked five times.  Of course, they could afford to do that with the game Paul Konerko had.  Konerko struck out swinging at an outside slider in the seventh with two on, and looking in the eighth with the bases loaded.  Overall, he stranded eight runners.

Record: 7-7 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 18: White Sox 6, Rangers 0 (Buehrle no-hitter)

Mark Buehrle had come close to throwing a no-hitter on a couple of occasions -- he had one one-hitter, two two-hitters and three three-hitters under his belt, including one outing in 2004 where he faced the minimum.

Today was his day, and he received plenty of help from his defense and a suddenly somewhat resurgent Sox offense.

I already went into plenty of detail about Buehrle's outing on Sox Machine, but he didn't earn the no-no on his own.  Several Sox made big plays behind him, including:

1. Jermaine Dye's catch at the wall in the second.
2. Joe Crede's diving stab and throw in the third.
3. Tadahito Iguchi's diving stop in the fifth.
4. Juan Uribe's throw (and Paul Konerko's dig) in the seventh.

Ozzie Guillen even went the extra mile and brought in Brian Anderson as a defensive replacement for Rob Mackowiak in the eighth.  Anderson didn't have anything come his way, but he did draw a walk off Eric Gagne in his only plate appearance.

The Sox offense also scored more runs tonight than they had in their previous three games combined, all of them coming via the homer.  Jim Thome had a huge day -- two solo homers and two walks in four plate appearances, and Dye hit his first grand slam of the year.

Dye's slam was impressive on two fronts.  One, the rally started with two outs, when Iguchi singled and Thome and Konerko walked.  Secondly, the at-bat lasted 11 pitches, with Dye fouling off six straight quality pitches from Kevin Millwood before finding one he could drive.  The result was a roped liner that barely cleared the left field wall.

Sox hitters had a better plan at the plate today, going the opposite way more often when the pitches called for it.  The only missed opportunity came in the first, when Paul Konerko missed two hanging curveballs before locking up on a hittable fastball, and Jermaine Dye also missed a grooved fastball.  Both were with two runners on.

The Sox only had seven hits in all, so they have a ways to go before the offense could be considered cured.  Also Darin Erstad went 0-for-4 in the leadoff spot, his average dropping to .156 as his slump hits 2-for-32.

Record: 6-7 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 17: Rangers 8, White Sox 1

If his last two starts are any indication, it could be a long season for Jon Garland.  Not only did he receive one run of support for the second straight start, but his defense faltered on him, too.



With a 1-0 lead, a runner on and one out, Garland got a double play ball off the bat of Ian Kinsler, hit right at Joe Crede for an apparent 5-4-3 job.  But Tadahito Iguchi dropped the ball on the exchange, and though he managed to smother the ball for the forceout, it extended the inning.  Brad Wilkerson followed up with a homer, and that was, in effect, the ballgame.

Kinsler made it official with a three-run homer two innings later, his seventh of the year.  I suppose if anybody is going to kill us, I’d prefer it to be the Missouri Tiger – especially considering Sammy Sosa homered in his return to Chicago on a boneheaded 0-2 pitch by Mike MacDougal, exposing Sox fans to the kissy-tappy-hoppy BS once again.

Jim Thome had an impressive night, hitting a solo home run for his third of the year, and adding two hard-earned walks to boot.  The homer, a 410-foot drive over the CF fence, came one pitch after Thome let go of the bat on a swinging strike and hit a fan in the face.

A.J. Pierzynski also had a nice night, hitting two singles, including one where he extended an at-bat five pitches after an early 0-2 count.

No other White Sox showed up, and most of them had no idea what to do with Robinson Tejeda’s fastball.  For a guy who only allowed three hits, he wasn’t spotting the ball all that well.  Sox hitters just couldn’t turn on it – Joe Crede whiffed on a 91-m.p.h. fastball down the middle with two on before stranding them -- and they didn’t go the opposite way, either.  Alex Cintron and Rob Mackowiak looked particularly unimpressive trying to pull the ball, especially with Cintron swinging at a ball on 3-1.

Darin Erstad went 0-for-3, extending his slump to 2-for-28.  Unfortunately, one of the outs was hard-hit ball – a liner picked off the first base line by Mark Teixeira. 

Record: 5-7 | Box score | Play-by-play

Week in a Box: April 9-15

Considering all the ugly twists and turns this week took, along with turns in the rotation for Sox killers Johan Santana and C.C. Sabathia, it's almost a miracle the Sox finished 2-3.

Player of the Week:  Juan Uribe.  A four-RBI game against Cleveland helped the Sox to avoid the sweep, and he drove in runs in the final two games against Oakland as well.

Player of the Weak:  Darin Erstad.  He went 2-for-20, one walk, eight strikeouts, hitting second all week long.

Pitcher of the Week:  Mark Buehrle.  Jon Garland pitched seven shutout innings, but Buehrle retired 17 out of his last 18 batters a start after he was nearly knocked out for the season. 

Pitcher of the Weak:  John Danks.  If we can have more weeks where the worst starter only gave up two runs in 5 1/3 innings, we'll be happy campers.

Fireman of the Week:  David Aarsma.  Four innings, one hit, no walks, seven strikeouts.

Gas Can of the Week:  Bobby Jenks.  Added another chapter to the Oakland horror story by blowing a save in the opener.

Super Sub:  Pablo Ozuna.  Went 2-for-4 against C.C. Sabathia, one of the few to show up.

Super Scrub:  Gustavo Molina.  Get well soon, Toby Hall.

Gold Glove of the Week:  Brian Anderson.  Saved a game against Oakland in a rare start.

Hands of Stone:  Joe Crede.  A rare two-error performance led to a Cleveland win, even though the Tribe only collected one hit.

April 15: Indians 2, White Sox 1

In a way, it's too bad that José Contreras walked away from Cuba while the national team was in Mexico. If he had escaped from Cuba on a tiny boat and had to be rescued from a speck of an island in the Caribbean Sea, the way Orlando "El Duque" Hernández did, perhaps he would have been prepared for the way his White Sox teammates left him so all alone in Cleveland Sunday.

It certainly wasn't late 2005-vintage Contreras out there Sunday. He struggled mightily with his control, walking five and throwing 101 pitches over five battling innings. Of course, perhaps he could have shaved 30 or so pitches off that total through five if his defenders hadn't played like a Little League team. Joe Crede made two errors, both on grounders to his left (although the second error was a wild throw to second after fielding the ball cleanly) and Darin Erstad, making his first start of the season at first base, threw wildly trying to get a forceout at second base. Contreras managed to limit the impact of his wildness and his teammates' poor fielding, allowing just two unearned runs. But with Crooked Cap Sabathia once again shutting down the White Sox offense, thsoe runs were enough to give the Indians a second two-games-to-one series win.

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillén fielded a lineup with only one left-handed batter, the aforementioned Erstad. Pablo Ozuna played in left for Scott Podsednik, Gustavo Molina gave A.J. Pierzynski a day off behind the plate, and Brian Anderson played center, with Erstad at first and Paul Konerko as the designated hitter, leaving Jim Thome a spectator.

A more questionable managerial decision came in the seventh inning. Andrew Sisco had struck out Grady Sizemore to end the sixth inning and remained on the hill to start the seventh. Indians manager Eric Wedge pinch-hit Jason Michaels for the scheduled hitter, lefty Trot Nixon. Guillén chose to bring on David Aarsdma, who was dominant in his two innings of relief, striking out four. What I found a little curious about the decision was that Guillén was deciding to give the platoon advantage to Travis Hafner, due up next, instead of giving it to the decidedly inferior Michaels. That said, Aardsma has been blowing batters away so far, having struck out 15 batters in 10 innings. It seems like the better option would have been to leave in Sisco to face Michaels and Hafner and then bring on Aardsma to face righty Ryan Garko (who finally was quieted after going 6-for-9 in the first two games of the series). Perhaps this is a sign that Guillén will focus more on the quality of the pitcher than which arm he throws with, and that's fine with me. Still, it was a little curious.

So, too, was Guillén's decision to pinch-hit Podsednik for Juan Uribe in the ninth against Indians closer Joe Borowski. Uribe was 0-for-3 against Sabathia, but he is one of the few Sox hitters who could be considered hot -- and by hot, I mean, he's not awful -- so I might have passed on the platoon advantage there. Swapping Pierzynski in for Molina and Thome for Anderson are moves that make more sense to me.

The Sox managed 3-3 on a road trip to Oakland and Cleveland, and they seem to be coming home to some more seasonable temperatures, with daytime highs expected in the high 50s for Tuesday's game, the start of a three-game series against the Texas Rangers.

Record: 5-6 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 14: Indians 4, White Sox 0

I didn't see any of this game, and based on the results, I'm somewhat glad I didn't.

Big bullet points:

• Once again, the only runs scored on John Danks came via the homer -- two solo shots.  Given that his home run rates were similar to Brandon McCarthy's in the minor leagues, this isn't necessarily surprising.  If he can minimize baserunners (only one walk today), it should help the growing pains.
• Paul Byrd threw six shutout innings en route to the first blanking of the Sox all year long.
• Darin Erstad and Joe Crede went 0-for-4 and 0-for-5, respectively stranding five runners apiece.

The Sox did manage to keep Grady Sizemore hitless for the first time all year, and Travis Hafner went 0-for-4 as well.  It's just a shame that Danks couldn't get any support.

Record: 5-5 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 13: White Sox 6, Indians 4

It's hard to remember a more agonizing, torturous victory that featured the Sox holding a multi-run lead for the bulk of the game.

Considering how poorly the top of the order performed -- Scott Podsednik, Darin Erstad, Jim Thome and Paul Konerko went 0-for-16 -- the Sox were lucky to get six runs.  Joe Crede had a three-hit night, Juan Uribe hit a big three-run homer and added a sac fly, and Jermaine Dye hit a homer for the second consecutive game, but the relief provided by each big hit was short-lived.  How did that happen?

1) The Indians' leadoff man reached in seven out of nine innings.
2) The Indians stranded thirteen runners.
3) The Indians battled Javier Vazquez and made him throw 112 pitches in 5 1/3 innings.
4) Several crucial at-bats were taken to full counts, namely:

• Vazquez's strikeout of Grady Sizemore in the second with runners on second and third (preceded by a strikeout of Kelly Shoppach).
  
• Vazquez's strikeout of Travis Hafner with runners on first and second in the fourth.
• David Aardsma's strikeout of Shoppach with runners on first and third in the seventh.

Vazquez actually pitched pretty well, but a couple of lucky bloop hits extended innings a couple dozen pitches.  More importantly, Sox pitchers held Hafner in check, even though they gave Pronk every opportunity to drive in runs.  After a sac fly in the first, Hafner struck out, grounded out and grounded into a double play to end innings, all with runners on base.

Bobby Jenks once again looked shaky after allowing the first two runners to reach in the ninth, but he induced two double play balls after Ozzie Guillen's pep talk.  Unfortunately, the Sox couldn't capitzalize on either one. 

Uribe's throw to Tadahito Iguchi almost pulled Iguchi off the bag, but he held onto the ball while hitting the ground to at least get the force.  Josh Barfield beat out the second grounder, but Jenks retired Casey Blake via the pop-out to A.J. Pierzynski to help the Sox get over .500 for the first time all year.

Record: 5-4 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 11: White Sox 6, Athletics 3

I could take the easy way out of this recap and just say to take a look at yesterday's game, but flip the teams.  Today, it was the Oakland bullpen giving up a game after a strong outing by a starter, with the White Sox employing some late-inning heroics at the plate.

After a day off, Jermaine Dye came back with a vengeance, tying the game up with a two-run, two-out homer of Justin Duchsherer, his first of the year.  After adding three more in the ninth thanks to a Darin Erstad sac fly and a Paul Konerko two-run double, the Sox took a rare series win in Oakland and evened their record at .500 once again.

The offense snapping out of its mini-funk takes a backseat to Mark Buehrle's performance today.  After taking a season-jeopardizing line drive off his left forearm in his last start, Buehrle looked as good as he did in the first half of 2006.  Even in the first inning, when the A's jumped out to a 3-0 lead, Buehrle made good pitches.  Mike Piazza has power to all fields, and Eric Chavez stuck his bat out into a double.

Buehrle would be rewarded for hitting his spots, retiring 20 of the last 22 batters he faced.  Only one ball, a flyout to Scott Podsednik in left, was hit reasonably well.  The only hit off him after the first, a Nick Swisher single, happened thanks to a Jermaine Dye misread, coupled with an error.  Brian Anderson kept Swisher from scoring with an inning-ending diving catch, flashing that defense we never get to see enough of these days.

David Aardsma worked a quick 1-2-3 inning, and Bobby Jenks followed up in similar fashion, striking out the last two hitters he faced.

If there's one dour angle to this ballgame, it's that the Sox once again struggled against a mediocre lefty.  Joe Kennedy, coming off a spring in which he gave up 40 hits in 20 innings, held the Sox to one run over five innings.  Anderson didn't provide immediate results with his first start, going 0-for-3 with a strikeout and a GIDP.  With Joe Crede continuing to scuffle (0-for-4, dropping his batting average to .200), I'm not sure how this is going to be resolved.

In the meantime, the Sox should cross their fingers than Juan Uribe has figured something out.  He continued his hot hitting, going 2-for-4 with an RBI single for the only run off Kennedy.

Record: 4-4 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 10: Athletics 2, White Sox 1

It's always something in the House of Horrors, AKA McAfee Coliseum.

Bobby Jenks blew his first save of the season, and with it, the Sox's first chance to get over .500 on the season -- and right after it looked like he was going to get out of a jam.

After Milton Bradley and Mike Piazza reached with singles, Jenks stalled them by striking out Eric Chavez and getting a weak flyout from Nick Swisher.  With two strikes on Todd Walker, Jenks couldn't close the door. 

With Walker chasing high fastballs, Jenks threw two curveballs in a row, the second over the plate, and Walker dumped it into left field for the tying run.  Mark Ellis followed by driving a center-cut fastball off the left field wall that Pods just missed (or misplayed), and that was the ballgame.

Of course, the Sox could've given the relievers more of a cushion.  Alex Cintron led off the seventh with a bloop to right that Mark Ellis couldn't handle, and it rolled into foul territory while Cintron cruised to third.  But Sox hitters left him there, as Rob Mackowiak grounded out (with Jermaine Dye on the bench and a lefty on the mound), Juan Uribe struck out, and Scott Podsednik was wrongly called out when C.B. Bucknor ruled Pods' bunt attempt hit him in fair territory.  The bunt landed in the batter's box, and should've been a foul ball. 

I'm not sure why Pods was bunting in the first place.  When I saw him square, visions of Neifi Perez's game-ending bunt out flashed before my eyes. If that was the only option, then Pablo Ozuna should've been sent in.

Then again, Oakland spoiled a similar chance against Jon Garland when Travis Buck led off the fifth with a triple.  He, too, wouldn't score, as Garland got two 1-3 putouts and a flyout to right to end the threat.

Garland didn't only pitch well -- seven innings, three hits, zero runs -- he fielded his position well, too.  He handled everything that came back to him, including a screamer off the bat of Chavez that ended the sixth.

Unfortunately, he needed to pitch that well, because the offense gave him little support. 

Strangely enough, the only right-handed hitter who could solve Chad Gaudin was... Juan Uribe.  The only other guys to get hits were lefties Podsednik and Mackowiak; everybody else was simply disabled by Gaudin's fastball-slider combo.  Despite rarely coming inside, Sox righties flailed weakly at every low and outside offering

Uribe's single wasn't impressive -- it found its way past a diving Nick Swisher and Mark Ellis to bring home the Sox's only run.  But he actually stayed with it and pushed it towards the opposite field, when the rest of the Sox hitters appeared to be pulling away from it.

Record: 3-4 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 9: White Sox 4, Athletics 1

Since I spent a good amount of time ripping into Scott Podsednik's play last week, it's only fair to give him a gigantic tip of the hat for his performance tonight.

It's not that he has to reach base 75 percent of the time, or have two extra-base hits including a homer, like he racked up against Oakland in the opener.  He just can't nullify production when he actually produces.

Pods contributed tonight.  He led the game off by stretching a single into a double, running hard out of the box.  When he reached on a fielder's choice in the third, he stole second to get himself into scoring position.  He then homered off Rich Harden in his third at-bat to give the Sox a lead they wouldn't relinquish, and scored an insurance run when he singled, advanced to second on Darin Erstad's bunt, and scored on Jim Thome's single.

He also made two nice catches on hard liners, which gave him all sorts of trouble last year.  He starred in a night of all-around smart play (aside from a Joe Crede baserunning error to end the eighth), and the Sox and Jose Contreras benefited from it.

Contreras looked much better tonight in comparison to his first start, although he exceeded it when he retired the A's 1-2-3 in the first inning.  His fastball was livelier, and it helped him make Oakland hitters swing at his forkball.  I can't say I counted, but it seemed like he was dropping down less, which is always good.

The Count got into trouble a couple times when he couldn't find his fastball -- or didn't rely on it.  Travis Buck ripped a straight-line heater at the knees to drive in Nick Swisher, who walked with two outs in the second to give Oakland the lead.  Contreras started the next inning by walking Jason Kendall -- not a smart idea considering he has one home run in his last 1,200 at-bats.  A single and a walk later, the A's had them loaded with two outs, but Contreras induced a routine flyout to left to end the threat.

Jim Thome may have broken out of his rut with a three-hit night.  One of them was a homer over the center field wall off Rich Harden, another was an RBI single off lefty specialist Jay Marshall.  Even Crede and A.J. Pierzynski had hits, so that leaves Jermaine Dye as the sorriest of the struggling at this point.

Jermaine went 0-for-3 and stranded two runners, but perhaps he can find some silver lining in his eighth-inning sacrifice fly.  He fell down 0-2 to Kiko Calero after watching a hanging slider for strike one, and chasing a high fastball for strike two.   But he laid off a low offering, and then hit a fly ball deep enough that even Paul Konerko could score.  It ain't much, but it could be a start.

Mike MacDougal continued his strong start to the season with 1 2/3 innings of solid relief, and Matt Thornton and Bobby Jenks both retired the first two batters they faced as well. 

Week in a Box: April 2-8

Considering all the ugly twists and turns this week took, along with turns in the rotation for Sox killers Johan Santana and C.C. Sabathia, it's almost a miracle the Sox finished 2-3.

Player of the Week:  Darin Erstad.  He hit a homer in his first at-bat in a White Sox uniform and has played a solid brand of ball.  He hits for power!  Average!  He moves runners over!  He bunts!  He steals bases!  He plays a competent center field!  At least for a week, he's lived up to the enormous amount of hype.

Player of the Weak:  Jermaine Dye.  There have been a slew of disappointing performances -- Jim Thome and A.J. Pierzynski have been equal or worse in terms of average and on-base percentage -- but Jermaine's failed in a couple of key spots.

Pitcher of the Week:  Javier Vazquez.  An easy choice, although John Danks represented himself well.

Pitcher of the Weak:  Jose Contreras.  Duh.

Fireman of the Week:  Nick Masset.  David Aardsma had the most explosive outing of them all, and Andy Sisco, Mike MacDougal and Bobby Jenks have delivered thus far, but Masset's 4 2/3-inning stint bailed out Mark Buehrle and helped the Sox to avoid the sweep.

Gas Can of the Week:  Matt Thornton.  Easy choice.

Super Sub:  Brian Anderson.  Hey, he's batting 1.000.

Super Scrub:  Rob Mackowiak.  Not really his fault, but two strikeouts in three at-bats makes him the clear-cut cellar dwellar among the bench players.  Even Gustavo Molina has an RBI.

Gold Glove of the Week:  Darin Erstad.  He hasn't done anything remarkable about there, but more importantly, there haven't been any scary moments.

Hands of Stone:  Nobody.  Joe Crede and Juan Uribe own the only errors, but both were inconsequential and not worth damning the rest of their play for.

April 8: Twins 3, White Sox 1

Another Johan Santana start, another White Sox loss.  But thanks to Ron Gardenhire and John Danks, the South Siders were in it until the end.

The Minnesota ace threw seven innings of one-hit, shutout ball, lowering his already stellar ERA against Chicago in the process.  He looked a little bit shaky in the early going, walking three in the first two innings while allowing a hit, and stranding a runner in scoring position in each frame. 

The soft line-drive single to Joe Crede would be the only chink in the armor, however, because from the third inning through the seventh, Santana faced the minimum, and he retired the last 17 batters he faced.  The closest the Sox came to putting a runner on was when Darin Erstad dropped a quality bunt down the first base line, and Santana made a spinning throw for an out by a half-step.  Otherwise, it was the same old story -- nine strikeouts in seven innings.

Updating his line against the Sox since the last time Carlos Lee, Magglio Ordonez and Frank Thomas were in the same lineup:

102 1/3 IP, 61 H, 16 ER, 19 BB, 109 K, 1.41 ERA, 0.78 WHIP

While he was no Santana, John Danks performed admirably in his debut, striking out six in six innings himself and eventually gaining command against the strike zone.  I went more into detail about Danks' debut on Sox Machine.

Gardenhire granted the Sox a slight reprieve when he pulled Santana after seven innings.  He had only thrown 97 pitches, and only 55 in his last five innings, and his body language upon being informed his day was done said he could've gone another solid inning. 

Instead, Gardy called for Jesse Crain, who allowed Juan Uribe to go ¡profundo! for the second straight day, helping the Sox get back into the game in the process.  Uribe had struck out in his first two at-bats against Santana on seven pitches combined.

Thanks to three excellent innings of relief work by David Aardsma and Andy Sisco, the Sox were able to bring the tying run to the plate against Joe Nathan in the ninth after Paul Konerko led off with a single.  He's the only member of the 3-4-5 combo who's clicking right now, though.  Jim Thome struck out for the third time and Jermaine Dye couldn't duplicate what he did last year -- he was a tick late on several hittable Nathan fastballs and flew out. 

Crede extended the inning with a single just over the head of Luis Castillo, but A.J. Pierzynski rolled out harmlessly to first to end the threat and the game.

Record: 2-3 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 7: White Sox 3, Twins 0

I may have more later when I'm actually able to see some video, because I'd like to see exactly how Scott Podsednik scored after making a mistake on the basepaths for the third straight game.  Thanks to Fox's blackouts, I only had the radio call going.

Here's what I do know:

*Javier Vazquez owns the first quality start of the season, and it was more than quality -- it was excellent.  He allowed one only hit in 6 2/3 innings, and though he walked four and hit a batter, it sounded like he made a concerted effort to jam hitters on a frigid day.  He even staved off what appeared to be a Five-and-Dive coming an inning late.  With runners on first and second and nobody out, Vazquez induced a 5-4-3 double play, and got out of the inning unscathed with some help from Andy Sisco.

*Baserunning-wise, the Twins looked like the Sox, and the Sox looked like the Twins.  Michael Cuddyer helped the Sox out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam when he seemed to lose track of how many outs there were on a pop-up to shallow left field.  Juan Uribe caught it, threw home, Vazquez cut it off and threw to Joe Crede for a rare 6-1-5 double play.  Meanwhile, Darin Erstad and Scott Podsednik each scored from second -- Erstad on Paul Konerko's single, and Pods on a bad pickoff throw that I'm looking forward to seeing.

(Update:  I saw the pickoff, and Pods made a Babe Ruth-league mistake -- taking a lead before the pitcher looks in.)

*Uribe picked up the bottom of the order with his first homer of the season and a 2-for-3 day.  The four batters preceding him (Jermaine Dye, Joe Crede, A.J. Pierzynski and Tadahito Iguchi) went 0-for-13 with a walk.

*The bullpen's starting to settle down.  Andy Sisco picked up Vazquez by striking out Jeff Cirillo after the aforementioned key double play, and he retired the other batter he faced, too.  Ozzie Guillen's enormous amount of respect led him to pull Mike MacDougal for the struggling Matt Thornton, who thankfully struck out Little Nicky for the final out of the eighth.  Bobby Jenks hammered down the save in the ninth, and the Sox are back to .500.

Record: 2-2 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 5: White Sox 4, Indians 3

You knew when the White Sox finally broke into the win column, it wasn't going to be pretty.  I don't think I'd bet on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch to end the game.

On the other hand, if you told me who would be the guy getting plunked, A.J. Pierzynski would be the first one I'd guess.  The Sox catcher check-swung into the way of an inside Roberto Hernandez fastball to drive in the game-winning run for the Sox's first victory of the year. 

The Sox offense, which mainly consisted of a Scott Podsednik single for most of the day, finally got going off Hernandez in the ninth when Jermaine Dye and Joe Crede led off with singles.  They advanced one base when Hernandez's pickoff throw to second rolled into center field, and an intentional walk to Iguchi later, Pierzynski's Homer Simpson moment closed it out.

Ugly as it was, the victory couldn't be more beautiful when considering that the game strongly resembled the opener at the start.  Once again, Grady Sizemore led off with a homer and the Sox starter couldn't make it through the second inning.

Mark Buehrle was the starter who exited early today, but he was forced out after Ryan Garko's screamer scored a direct hit on Buehrle's forearm.  Given the velocity of the line drive, and how far it deflected off him, it could've been far worse.  Instead, it appears that Buehrle suffered a nasty bruise, and is day-to-day.

And once again, like the first game, Nick Masset was called upon to fill in.  This is where the similarities end, because Masset looked far more polished this time around.  Outside of a Jason Michaels homer, Masset did what no other Sox pitcher has been unable to do -- make Cleveland look like an average offense. 

Bobby Jenks would go on to get the win, and he worked hard for it, helping a once-again ineffective Matt Thornton get out of a jam to close out the eighth, and pitching a scoreless ninth on top of that.  It's a shame Thornton gave up the lead, because Masset deserved the "W" more.  He threw 4 2/3 innings of effective relief, allowing only four hits, walking nobody and striking out two, and keeping the Sox in the game through six innings.  Mike MacDougal also looked dominant in his inning of work.

The Sox offense, to the surprise of few, sputtered against a lefty starter.  Textbook baseball got the Sox their first run when Podsednik singled, stole second, advanced to third on Darin Erstad's nice groundout to the right side of the infield, and scored on Paul Konerko's groundout.

That'd be the end of solid baseball on the offensive side, with Juan Uribe at the center of the ugliest moments.  Uribe was doubled off second to end the third inning on Darin Erstad's liner to right, and then failed to drive in the go-ahead run in the seventh with a runner on third and less than two outs. 

Fortunately, Podsednik would pick him up with a two-out RBI single for a 3-2 lead.  Unfortunately, Pods was then thrown out again by Victor Martinez, which would give Eric Wedge a second chance at getting a lefty in the game and turning the matchup advantage against the Sox in the eighth.  This is what I'm talking about, Dad.

The Sox's first two hits came six innings apart, though they did tie the game when Iguchi hit a sac fly after the Sox had loaded the bases with two walks and a hit batsman.

Record: 1-2 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 4: Indians 8, White Sox 7

With a gametime temperature of 30 degrees, whipping wind and an umpire with a strike zone that expanded and contracted from inning to inning, both teams were just lucky nobody was hurt or thrown out.

As it stood, the game turned out as stupid as the weather, with an ugly ending to boot.  Joe Crede nearly came up big against the Indians again when he hit a deep flyball with two outs and two on, and the Sox down 8-7.  Instead, Jason Michaels ended the game with an awkward, sitting basket catch on the warning track to give Cleveland the win and the series.

It capped the ballgame in a fitting way, considering the Indians left the bases loaded in both the eighth and ninth innings while stranding 15 runners, and Sox pitchers walked 10 batters. 

Jon Garland and Jake Westbrook both struggled in their starts.  That didn't surprise, since both pitchers prominently feature sinkers, and they weren't working today.  Jim Thome opened up the game with a three run homer after Scott Podsednik and Darin Erstad reached, and the Indians came right back in the second, taking a 4-3 lead by hitting for the cycle with their first four batters, capped off by Andy Marte's first homer of the year.

It didn't help that the cold caused shrinkage to Larry Vanover's strike zone, which drew complaints from both A.J. Pierzynski and Victor Martinez.  Garland allowed 11 baserunners in 5 1/3, but everybody else struggled mightily as well.  Neither Andrew Sisco, Mike MacDougal or Matt Thornton escaped without allowing further damage.

Sisco came in to face four lefties and allowed three of them to reach, allowing a single to Grady Sizemore, a walk to Trot Nixon and a double to the switch-hitting Martinez. Oddly enough, he retired Travis Hafner with a liner, the only out Hafner made in six plate apperances.

Enter MacDougal, who ended the inning by striking out David Dellucci with the bases loaded, after Meiklejohn walked Casey Blake.  MacDougal would start the seventh with two strikeouts, but then he walked Andy Marte.  Matt Thornton came in to face Sizemore, who promptly homered off him to give Cleveland the lead. 

The next inning, Thornton got into further trouble when Hafner doubled, Martinez singled and Blake received an intentional walk to load the bases.  Finally, David Aardsma provided some decent relief by striking out the side on 11 pitches.  Either Comcast's gun was slow, or Aardsma's slider threw hitters off.  His fastball, clocked at 90-92 m.p.h., teamed up with the slider to throw Cleveland hitters off.  If they weren't behind on the fastball, they were either ahead or frozen by his second pitch.

Aardsma looked just as good in the ninth, when he struck out the first two he faced for five in a row.  But then even he got in trouble, when Nixon doubled over Paul Konerko's head (thanks to the cement blocks Konerko calls feet), and Hafner and Martinez drew walks.  He needed an adventurous catch by Scott Podsednik against the wall to get out of the jam.

Nixon, Hafner and Martinez combined to go 7-for-11 with seven walks.  Mercifully, Nixon was the only one to tally a run.

Sox pitching blew a nice outing for the Sox offense. Tadahito Iguchi tied up the ballgame with his first homer of the season, set up with a two-out single by A.J. Pierzynski, while Joe Crede returned the lead to the Sox with a two-run, two-out single of his own, all off Westbrook.

Podsednik, on the other hand, was thrown out by Victor Martinez, the worst-throwing regular catcher in the baseball last year, trying to steal second in the fifth inning.

Record: 0-2 | Box score | Play-by-play

April 2: Indians 12, White Sox 5

Three words for Jose Contreras: Lose the goatee.

I find it a little bit coincidental that he just happened to look his worst, exacerbating his ugliest qualities and getting smacked around the park for it, while trying to rock some facial hair.

It wasn’t Contreras out there.  It was his evil twin, the guy that Don Cooper and the Sox managed to subdue for a good calendar year.  

He couldn’t get his forkball over, and he seemed to shy away from throwing a curve to Cleveland’s lefty-heavy lineup.  So he was left with his fastball, which he conveniently left up and over the plate for the Indians to smack it around the park.  Grady Sizemore started it off with a homer on the second pitch, and it went downhill from there towards a five-run first.  And that's with A.J. Pierzynski saving a run by picking a shoulda-been wild pitch.

Contreras recorded only three outs on the day.  Ozzie Guillen pulled him after Juan Uribe made a sharp pick of a smoked Travis Hafner grounder, hopped the throw to first and caught Paul Konerko in between.  The ball skipped into foul territory, two more runs crossed the plate, and that was all for the Count. 

Fortunately, the bullpen looked a little better.  Nick Masset looked shaky in the early going, but settled down well enough to fill three innings.  Andy Sisco benefited from a couple nice plays in the outfield by Pablo Ozuna and Darin Erstad (two plays that wouldn't have been made with a Mack-Pods/Ozuna pairing) to throw two scoreless innings.  David Aardsma overpowered the Tribe in his first inning of work, but gave up a run when he struggled with his control in the eighth.

Most encouraging was Bobby Jenks' outing:  1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K.  Two weak pop-outs and a strikeout on a nasty cutter, even if it was only topping out at 94 m.p.h.

As you might expect with C.C. Sabathia on the mound, Cleveland pitchers kept the Sox generally in check.  However,  the Sox gave fans some hope after the early five-run hole when Pablo Ozuna led off with a hustling double off C.C. Sabathia, and Darin Erstad ushered in the White Sox part of his career with a two-run homer hooked around the right field line. 

Captain Cheeseburger looked sharper as the game progressed -- he was around 91 m.p.h. in the first inning, and around 94 m.p.h. in the sixth, and the Sox hit him as well as anybody reasonably expect, considering recent history.  Konerko added a solo homer, but aside from Tadahito Iguchi popping up with the bases loaded and less than two outs, and Brian Anderson doubling and scoring in his only at-bat off the bench, not much more needs to be said about the offense.

Record: 0-1 | Box score | Play-by-play