2007 State of the Sox

June 30: White Sox 3, Royals 1 (10 innings)

John Danks, going eight innings on only 96 pitches? 

I'm going to have to sit down and actually watch this one tomorrow night.  In the meantime, feel free to get a head start on the recap.

Record: 34-43 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 29: Royals 8, White Sox 1

Now these are the White Sox we grew accustomed to watching:

• The Sox couldn't get two hits in a row.
• They had the bases loaded with one out and only scored one run, on what should've been a double play ball off the bat of Juan Uribe.
• David Aardsma gave up a couple runs in his inning of work on four pitches.

Jose Contreras didn't pitch as poorly as his line -- 6 1/3 IP, 6 R -- indicates.  However, he did create most of his own trouble.  The game-deciding rally -- which in typical Sox fashion came in the fourth inning -- started with a piss-poor 0-2 pitch to Shane Costa.  He promptly ripped a double, and when the inning was over the Royals turned a 1-1 game into a 3-1 game.

Ozzie Guillen should have pulled him before giving up another hit to Costa.  Contreras had already given up a run in the inning and intentionally walked Mark Teahan to load the bases.  With a warm Boone Logan in the bullpen, Guillen kept Contreras in the game, and he threw a meatball heater which Costa lined into right to drive in two runs.  Logan came in to face the next batter and induced a double play to end the inning.

Record: 33-43 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 28: White Sox 5, Devil Rays 1

Thursday's game was my first chance to watch the White Sox play since they were pantsed by the Cubs on a suicide squeeze on Saturday. The next day, I flew to San Diego on a business trip. A friend picked me up at the airport, and we went to the Padres-Red Sox game, which was already in the third inning when we arrived. I learned the bad news about the shutout and the sweep on the right-field scoreboard at Petco Park.

While on that trip, I missed the first three games of this series against the Devil Rays. I don't want to put down the Rays too much, but they should be concerned that they did not manage to score off the White Sox bullpen in 10 innings over four games. If all it took was me going to San Diego and then having some travel nightmares in the Dallas and Nashville airports to turn the Sox bullpen around, well, then it was all worth it. I'm glad that my return to town didn't jinx the winning streak, which reached four games with a 5-1 victory that completed a four-game sweep in St. Petersburg.

I would prefer seeing Scott Podsednik sit against a tough lefty like Scott Kazmir, but with Jermaine Dye sitting out to rest his quadraceps, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillén doesn't have enough right-handed-hitting outfielders to go around. That's no excuse for starting A.J. Pierzynski, however. Toby Hall could have started Sunday against Cubs lefty Sean Marshall, too, but he didn't. Hall did start against J.P. Howell on Monday. Pierzynski would say that he can't hit lefties if he doesn't get enough plate appearances against them. I would say that any plate appearances against lefites are too many for Pierzynski. (Hall could make the argument that he's simply not getting enough playing time to get going himself.) To be fair, Pierzynski did battle Kazmir in their second encounter before Pierzynski, as he had done the first time, tapped out weakly to short. He struck out in his third at-bat against him.

Overall, however, the White Sox did a nice job of wearing down Kazmir, forcing him to throw 114 pitches over 5-1/3 innings. He doesn't have particularly good control, as evidenced by his 4.5 walks/9 innings pitched performance this season and in his career, and he has thrown 4.07 pitches per plate appearances.

Javier Vázquez, on the other hand, was more economical with his pitches, throwing seven innings and allowing just one run. He was particularly sharp with his off-speed pitches, primarily the curve ball and the change-up. When he ran into trouble in the third, fifth and sixth innings, he managed to avoid the crippling mistake pitches that Sox fans came to dread last season.

Paul Konerko continued his climb out of the very deep hole he dug himself through May 13, when he had a 617 OPS. He was at 897 OPS going into Thursday's game, and went over 900 with two solo home runs and a single in five at-bats. Tadahito Iguchi had a homer, a triple and a walk. On his triple, I thought, "Jonny Gomes is not out there for his glove." And he proved the point further when he allowed Josh Fields's jam shot to fall in for a single knocking in Iguchi. If the infield isn't playing in, it's possible that the second baseman makes the play, but if Gomes is a better outfielder, he hauls that one in. If Delmon Young were still playing right field, I believe he would have caught it, although he made an error, his fifth, playing center field.

I'm not sure why this game wasn't played at an hour more convenient to both teams. The Sox were scheduled to fly after the game to Kansas City for a three-game series, while the Rays had to fly to Cleveland. At least the White Sox boarded their plane happy.

This isn't normally part of State of the Sox, but I have to mention that Frank Thomas hit his 500th career home run today in Minnesota. Congratulations to Thomas, who will always be my favorite Sox player.

Record: 33-42 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 27: White Sox 5, Devil Rays 3

Considering all the rumors surrounding Mark Buehrle since the Sun-Times stated that he and the Sox were close to an extension this morning, his start tonight seemed more like an afterthought.  If a deal is coming, he may have spoiled a chance to wring a few extra dollars out of Kenny Williams.

But here's the interesting thing -- he was off his game, and yet still got the win.  That's almost unheard of this year.

Buehrle was, in a word, sloppy.  He foreshadowed some turbulence when he left the bases loaded in the second after retiring the first two hitters, including a walk of former White Sox Raul Casanova, who's best remembered for being one of the most charged up in the champagne celebrations for achievements he barely contributed to.

He hit Carlos Pena with the bases loaded and two outs in the third for the Rays' first run.  He gave up three singles in the fourth, leading to another run.  He gave up another run in the fifth, assisted by a Scott Podsednik error after a single.  He was hit hard and didn't have great control of the strike zone... yet only gave up three runs over seven innings.

Even more amazing was the fact that the White Sox offense, which was absolutely dormant for the first six innings against Rays rookie Andy Sonnenstine, actually scored enough to give Buehrle the win.  And to top it all off, the bullpen actually held the lead, pitching multiple scoreless innings for the second straight game.

Josh Fields put the first run on the board by ripping a sharp single to left, followed a couple batters later by a ducksnort RBI single by Alex Cintron to make it a one-run game.  An inning later, Scott Podsednik led off with a "triple" -- it was a single, but Carl Crawford couldn't handle the short-hop, and it got past him -- and Andy Gonzalez tied it up with a single through the left side.  Jim Thome singled, and after they both advanced a base on a wild pitch, Paul Konerko drove them both in with a chopper double just over third base.

When Mike MacDougal came in to try to preserve the lead, he made it look like Rob Mackowiak's strikeout with a runner on third and one out was going to come back to bite him.  MacDougal walked two batters -- including Casanova again, leading off the inning, and needed Boone Logan to help him get out of the inning.  Logan sawed off Carl Crawford, but a harmless bloop nearly turned into trouble when Juan Uribe collided with Cintron going after the ball.  Cintron held on, and Bobby Jenks would do the same an inning later to give the Sox their first series win in over a month.

Record: 32-42 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 26: White Sox 6, Devil Rays 1

Today's matchup featured an interesting contrast in results between James Shields and Jon Garland.

Shields struck out 11 White Sox on the day and looked dominating for most of the evening, while Garland used his two-seam fastball to induce weak contact. 

On the other hand, Shields gave up four runs over three pitches, all with two outs.  Juan Uribe came around to score on a Shields throwing error, Andy Gonzalez hit the first pitch he saw for a two-run homer, and Jim Thome followed up with a first-pitch homer to make it back-to-back.

There were no pyrotechnics with Garland on the mound.  He pitched his typical calm, controlled game, and the Devil Rays failed to put two runners on base against him until the seventh, when Garland struck out Akinori Iwamura with the bases loaded.  The only run came on a solo shot by former Sox Greg Norton.

Uribe had a great game, scoring the first run on the game by tripling and scoring on a Gonzalez single.  Although he almost cost the Sox a run when he failed to come home on a Podsednik groundout with the infield back, he made up for it later by busting it from second on the throwing error that set of the Sox's microburst.

Record: 31-42 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 25: White Sox 5, Devil Rays 4

So this is what a real bullpen looks like.

Once again, John Danks failed to work more than five innings, and left the ballgame with a 5-4 lead... and he actually got the win without more help from the offense!  Nick Masset aside -- he allowed a hit, a stolen base and a walk, and threw less than half his pitches for strikes and was five feet away from giving up a two-run homer -- the relievers actually did their jobs for once.  Matt Thornton, Ryan Bukvich and Bobby Jenks threw perfect innings in relief, and the Sox snapped a five-game losing streak in the process.

Equally impressive, and by "impressive" I mean "adequate", was the Sox offense, which pushed across five runs without a homer.  They racked up 12 hits, including a team-season-high four by Andy Gonzalez.  Tadahito Iguchi and Josh Fields showed some nice patience by drawing two walks in a row, the second one forcing in the Sox's first run of the game.  Unfortunately, Luis Terrero couldn't capitalize further when he swung at two balls to get in an 0-2 hole, and watched an outside-corner fastball for strike three.

After stranding six runners over the first three innings, Gonzalez came up with a two-out RBI double, and Jim Thome followed up with a single, making up for the earlier inning.  It was his only at-bat to not end in a strikeout.  They finally took the lead in the fifth when Toby Hall started a rally against his former team with a bloop single.  Scott Podsednik chopped a single over third, and they would both come around to score; Hall on Gonzalez's single up the middle, and Pods on Konerko's single through the left side.

All in all, it was a pretty impressive performance considering a mediocre lefty, J.P. Howell, started for Tampa Bay.

The only downside was Danks' performance, which was once again shaky at best.  He allowed four hits and four walks in five innings, and was lucky to get out with only four runs.  He walked the first two batters he faced in the game and ended up throwing 88 pitches over five innings.  He keeps saying he needs to improve his efficiency, but we're not seeing it.

Record: 30-42 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 24: Cubs 3, White Sox 0

Well I know they miss more than hit
With batters that are doomed to stink
An’ I seldom feel, the bright relief
It’s been the Worst Day Since Yesterday

If there’s one thing I have said
Is that the dreams they once had, now lay in bed
As Kenny Williams blows some Sox out the door
It’s been the Worst Day Since Yesterday

Fallin’ down to you sweet ground
Where the flowers they bloom
It’s there they’ll be found
Hurry back to me, World Series calling
It’s been the Worst Day Since Yesterday

The lineup is unable to score
Maybe one run, but never more
And starters' stuff, well it’s never enough
It’s been the Worst Day Since Yesterday

Hell says hello, well it’s time they should go
To pastures green, that they’ve yet to see
Hurry back to me, World Series calling
It’s been the Worst Day Since Yesterday
It's been the Worst Day Since Yesterday
It's been the Worst Day Since Yesterday

Record: 29-42 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 23: Cubs 2, White Sox 1

When Scott Podsednik walked, stole second, advanced to third on one groundout and scored on another in the bottom of the first to tie the game at 1, it looked like something might be different about this game.

Nope. 

Javier Vazquez overcame another leadoff homer by Alfonso Soriano and turned in his best outing, yet didn't earn the win.  Bobby Jenks once again gave the opposition a lead, not by home run this time, but by a well-executed suicide squeeze in the top of the ninth, and that was the ballgame.

Fortunately, I didn't see it, as I was helping destroy a wall in my friend's house for renovation.  That seemed more fun.

Record: 29-41 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 22: Cubs 5, White Sox 1

White Sox Loss Checklist:

• Early hole? YES
• Cold bats? YES
• Bullpen making it worse? YES

Mark Buehrle gave up solo homers to Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez in the first inning, but only allowed two hits over the next five innings.  Another team might've been able to give him some help -- the White Sox, not so much.

Carlos Zambrano, throwing harder than he did in his previous crosstown start, ate White Sox hitters alive.  He attacked them mercilessly with strikes, and let them swing through every fastball and cutter he threw.  Zambrano struck out seven of the first nine hitters, and only experienced trouble in the fourth.

Tadahito Iguchi cracked him for a single, and Jim Thome walked to put runners on first and second with one out.  Paul Konerko missed a double by about three feet in the left field corner that might've changed the complexion of the game.  Instead, he struck out looking on a fastball that looked inside, and A.J. Pierzynski grounded out to end the threat.

Konerko would eventually gain revenge with a solo homer in the seventh, but the Sox couldn't do any more damage.  All in all, Zambrano struck out 13.

The bullpen did their thing -- after Boone Logan and Nick Masset combined for a 1-2-3 eighth, Masset started the ninth and allowed the first three men to reach, including a Ramirez RBI single.  Matt Thornton almost got out of the inning two pitchers later when he got a fielder's choice with the bases loaded, but Felix Pie's weak chopper found a hole through the left side to eliminate any hope of a comeback.

Record: 29-40 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 20: Marlins 5, White Sox 4

I only saw one inning of this game, and I picked the right one.

I came home for lunch, turned on the game to see Jon Garland taking the mound at the top of the eighth and the score 2-1.  After a leadoff single, Garland fielded a sac bunt attempt and threw to second.  Juan Uribe didn't extend enough for the throw, and it deflected off his mitt and into center field, putting runners on the corners.

Ozzie Guillen calls for Bobby Jenks, which was the right move.  He promptly gives up a homer to pinch hitter Jason Wood on the third pitch, and the Marlins have a 4-2 lead.

In the bottom of the inning, the Sox had runners on second and third with nobody out.  Jermaine Dye strikes out on three pitches, Rob Mackowiak grounds out weakly to third to ruin the Sox's best chances.  Josh Fields and Luis Terrero made it tantalizingly close with back-to-back walks, with the latter bringing in a run, but Brett Carroll made a diving catch on a soft Uribe liner to end the inning.  "Dadgummit!" Hawk yelled.

Jenks gave up another run on two hard-hit balls, and all the Sox could muster in response was a solo shot with two outs in the ninth.  A.J. Pierzynski popped out to end the game.

Record:  29-39 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 19: Marlins 7, White Sox 5

Sure, Matt Thornton was tagged with the loss after giving up the go-ahead homer to Dan Uggla in the ninth and another run came in to score a few batters later.

But this one is pinned on the offense.  After jumping on Dontrelle Willis to the tune of four runs on three hits, Sox hitters called it a night, for all intents and purposes.  They added an unearned run in the second when Andy Gonzalez made it to second on an error, got to third on Tadahito Iguchi's grounder and scored on Paul Konerko's sac fly, and that was it.

Maybe it would've been better for Ozzie Guillen to start Bobby Jenks in the ninth inning, but he can only throw two, maybe three innings.  That wouldn't have been enough, because you have to figure it would maybe take until the 17th or 18th inning for the Marlins to start putting position players on the mound.

Until the ninth, the bullpen had actually done a decent job, all things considered.  Ryan Bukvich gave up the lead with a solo homer to Josh Willingham, a deep drive to center sandwiched between two slightly lesser drives to center, but other than that, the relief corps actually survived.  David Aardsma working a scoreless (albeit scary) two innings of work, and between he, Bukvich and Thornton, it wasn't a disaster.  One run over four innings would be acceptable under every other set of circumstances.

It could've been worse considering John Danks couldn't retire a batter in the fifth.  He actually pitched better than his line -- outside of a hanger to Hanley Ramirez that capped off a three-run first, his changeup was his best pitch.  He struck out seven and only walked one, and kept the ball down, but he just gave up too many hits -- and thus, too many pitches.

Record: 29-38 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 18: White Sox 10, Marlins 6

I missed the efficient Contreras -- the Contreras threw seven pitches in the first or eight pitches in the second.  I did see the Contreras who threw 20 pitches in the sixth and 22 in two-thirds of the seventh, turning what should've been an easy night into another laborious outing.

I also saw the return of the crazy-assed floater, which Hawk Harrelson labeled a forkball, yet looked less eephus-like than its previous incarnation.  It had a flatter plane, resembling a changeup, and I think it was actually more effective that way, though I'd prefer it if Contreras never threw it again.  He still can't make the throw to second base, either.

Contreras wasn't alone.  After a shaky but ultimately scoreless inning and a third from Ryan Bukvich, Nick Masset turned a five-run game into a save situation thanks to two hits and a walk.  Bobby Jenks closed it down though by striking out Miguel Olivo without throwing a strike -- the perfect strategy against the free-swinging Olivo.  At least somebody knows how to pitch.

I also happened to miss the best of the offense, which featured a three-run homer by Jim Thome and a three-hit night by A.J. Pierzynski.  And the best of the defense, during which Jermaine Dye  turned in his finest performance with the glove yet.  He made two fantastic diving catches, turning a shoulda-been single into a double play with the latter.  Of course, he left the game with a strained quadricep.

At least I got to see the Sox further chip away at the Marlins bullpen -- those two runs off Byung-Hung Kim helped, thanks to two-out RBI singles by Paul Konerko and Juan Uribe.  The Sox could've piled on some more runs during that seventh inning, but both Josh Fields and Jerry Owens were picked off on perfect snap throws by Olivo.

All of this is to say that although the Sox scored 10 runs for only the third time this year, it's still a victory that felt a whole lot scarier than it needed to be.

Record: 29-37 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 17: Pirates 8, White Sox 7

This game had its share of questionable decisions, and none of them had anything to do with the bullpen.  Sure, Nick Masset, Boone Logan and Mike MacDougal let the Pirates reclaim a healthy lead in the blink of an eye, but if it's not Bobby Jenks out there, chances are the results will be unsavory.  Ozzie Guillen can't win as far as that's concerned.

However, Guillen did make a very questionable decision in the seventh inning, when the Sox had runners on first and second and were down 7-5.  Luis Terrero came up to the plate with Shawn Chacon on the mound and Damaso Marte in the pen.  Ozzie pulled Terrero for Rob Mackowiak, prompting Jim Lett to pull Chacon for Marte.  As could be expected, Mack flew out harmlessly against the lefty to end the inning.

There was only one reason why Guillen made that move, and he was lucky that he actually got a chance to execute the second half of it.  My guess is that he wanted to lure Pittsburgh's only lefty so that Jim Thome would have a better shot to make something happen in the ninth, and Thome almost did just that.  Jason Bay pulled back what looked to be a homer for the second out of the inning -- had Bay's pesky mitt not interfered, the ball would've barely cleared the wall and given the Sox a 9-8 lead.

Instead, Thome's deep drive was just a sac fly, narrowing the gap to 8-7, and Tadahito Iguchi flew out just short of the right-field corner to end the game.

The move did work out, I guess, but had Jose Castillo not botched an easy double play ball, Thome would've never came to the plate.  And if Bay didn't bring the homer back, I'm guessing the defensive alignment would've had Alex Cintron at third, Josh Fields in left, Rob Mackowiak in center and A.J. Pierzynski catching after numerous pinch hitting appearances.

Ozzie's odd strategy paled in comparison to some disastrous defensive decisions, beginning with Jermaine Dye's what-the-hell throw behind Jack Wilson at first base.  Dye evidently thought Wilson rounded the bag too much, and thought he had a chance to get him going back.  Replays showed it was a run-of-the-mill turn, and Wilson made it back just before the ball skipped by Paul Konerko, allowing Wilson to advance to second.  He'd eventually score.

Three innings later, with Ronny Paulino on second and nobody out, Uribe tried to throw out Paulino at third on a grounder to short.  He didn't have a chance, and instead of taking the out, Javier Vazquez had runners on the corners and nobody out.  That extra out ended up mattering, because Nate McLouth hit a two-run double with two outs to tie the game.

Of course, the offense failed to execute as well, outside of a beautiful five-run fifth in which the Sox sent nine to the plate and received key run-scoring hits by Jermaine Dye, Josh Fields and Juan Uribe.  The Sox strung together hit and hit, line drives all over the field.  It was amazing.

What was more Sox-like was the bunting -- they went 0-for-3 on the day.  Luis Terrero bunted into a fielder's choice at third, and Javier Vazquez and Toby Hall shot bunts right back to the pitcher for 1-6-4 double plays.

Record: 28-37 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 16: White Sox 6, Pirates 1

From Mark Buehrle's command of the inside half of the plate to Josh Fields' first high-quality game at the major-league level, tonight was the first fully enjoyable Sox game I've seen in weeks.  Ryan Bukvich even retired the Pirates 1-2-3 in the ninth, the first time a sizable lead didn't descend into save situation territory in quite some time.

Of course, for a while it looked similar to yesterday's game -- the Sox scored two early runs on Rob Mackowiak's groundout (that could've been an inning-ending double play with a better throw from Adam LaRoche) and a Fields double, and were silenced for the next four innings by John Van Benschoten.  It even looked like Buehrle wouldn't be holding onto the lead for long after allowing a run in the bottom of the second and had Ryan Doumit standing on third.

But Buehrle would strand Doumit in the second, Laroche on third two innings later, and Rajai Davis at third base in the fifth, and cruised after that.  He threw 113 pitches, but it felt like a relatively light workload.  After going a month and a half without a win, Buehrle has now won two in a row.

He received plenty of insurance runs off the Pirates bullpen, which is now the worst in the National League after tonight's output.  Fields crushed a two-run homer off John Grabow into the seats behind the left field bleachers at PNC Park, A.J. Pierzynski hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly, and Tadahito Iguchi's second double of the game drove in Andy Gonzalez.

Record: 28-36 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 15: Pirates 4, White Sox 2

I fell asleep with the White Sox down 4-1 in the fourth inning with the Sox having only collected three hits.  I woke up in the bottom of the eighth with the Sox down 4-1 and having only collected three hits.

Good thing I didn't miss anything -- aside from watching the Sox do Paul Maholm a favor by lowering his ERA to 5.33 to 5.00 with seven strong innings.

The last inning was fairly interesting, at least.  It featured:

• Dewon Day throwing a fastball to the backstop and stutter-stepping awkwardly, following by drilling Jose Castillo square on an unguarded elbow two pitches later.
• Bobby Jenks making a rare eighth-inning appearance -- he allowed a single before getting a double play, and the bullpen pitched two scoreless innings.
• Luis Terrero getting hit for the second time in the game, making it the seventh time in 60 plate appearances.
• Jim Thome (who tied up a game last year in Pittsburgh with a pinch-hit homer) and Josh Fields both representing the tying run, and both striking out.
• Alex Cintron drawing his fourth walk of the season with two outs, and Rob Mackowiak following up with an RBI walk.
• Andy Gonzalez ending the game by popping up the first pitch he saw after those back-to-back walks.

Other than that, pretty boring.  Jon Garland limited the damage pretty well -- four runs on 11 hits, thanks to no walks -- but since he allowed three of the four runs with two outs, it was ultimately a disappointing outing.

Record: 27-36 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 13: Phillies 8, White Sox 4

Matt Thornton needs to rediscover or redevelop his slider or another breaking pitch of his choosing, because hitters are all too happy to see his fastball.

Aaron Rowand turned this ballgame into another rout with a grand slam on an 0-2 count.  It was similar to the last crushing blow suffered under Thornton's watch, when Bobby Abreu hit a two-run triple to give the Yankees a lead they wouldn't reliniquish on June 7.

That time, Thornton fed Abreu five straight fastballs, and Abreu finally got the timing down and turned on one.  This time, Rowand needed only to see three, and with this offense, the game was over right then and there.

Thornton struggled with his control, but one of the three walks he issued over his fateful 1 1/3 innings was a very questionable intentional walk.  Ozzie Guillen decided to walk Burrell, batting only .167 against lefties this year, to face Abraham Nunez, who has hit lefties at a .286 clip this year.

You can guess what happened.

The Sox bullpen entered this game with two straight games' worth of scoreless outings, but a rough John Danks outing -- 103 pitches over 4 2/3 innings -- left the middle relief corps exposed for too long.  Ryan Bukvich managed to strand two runners by recording the third out of the fifth inning, but would allow the tying run to cross the plate the next inning after two singles and a Rowand RBI groundout.

It seemed like the Sox were geared up to avoid the split when they touched Kyle Kendrick for a run in each of the first three innings.  None of them came via the solo homer, which had provided the last six runs spread over the previous three games.  Jermaine Dye hit an RBI double (raise that trade value!), Josh Fields drove in Luis Terrero with a single, and Alex Cintron scored on a Dye double play.

Of course, as the Sox offense has done throughout the year, it basically shut down from the fourth inning on.  They had one more opportunity to get back into the game in the eighth when they had runners on second and third and nobody out, but A.J. Pierzynski's RBI groundout would be all they could muster.  Terrero fouled out and Fields struck out to end the threat.

Record: 27-35  | Box score | Play-by-play

June 12: Phillies 7, White Sox 3

Three runs, all via solo homers by Paul Konerko, Jermaine Dye and Luis Terrero.

Jose Contreras lasted only 3 1/3 innings, and didn't look sharp.

Tadahito Iguchi's 13-game hitting streak came to an end, and he committed an error that led to two runs.

Nick Masset and Bret Prinz combined for 4 2/3 scoreless innings, making it 6 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings by the bullpen.

Record: 27-34 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 11: Phillies 3, White Sox 0

I just put this up in case anybody had anything to say about this game.  I just got back from Philly, so I don't have the energy to put what I saw into words.  Let's just say it was the flattest performance I'd ever seen in person.

On the plus side, I was pretty much on screen the entire game.  So that's kind of cool.

Record: 27-33 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 10: White Sox 6, Astros 3

Mark Buehrle finally earned victory No. 100, but the bullpen once again put the milestone into peril.  After eight fantastic innings, Buehrle left with a five-run lead, and yet the tying run still came to the plate in the ninth.  Add this one to the list of games that should've never been that close.

Dewon Day retired the first batter he faced by jamming the heck out of Carlos Lee, but then proceeded to throw eight straight balls to put two on.  Boone Logan relieved him and walked the only batter he faced on five pitches.

So in came Bobby Jenks for the third straight game, and he promptly threw a 55-footer that skipped by Toby Hall to bring in a run.  But Jenks would settle down and retired the next two batters via a groundout and a backwards K to end the game.

The bullpen's "effort" nearly wasted a fine start by Buehrle and, relatively speaking, an offensive explosion.  Buehrle used his fastball exceptionally well, and the only mistake he made was Mike Lamb's seventh-inning homer, the only run Buehrle allowed.  He only got into trouble once when he had runners on the corners and nobody out.  But Carlos Lee misread a soft pop-up to a backpedaling Juan Uribe, and Uribe fired to first for the 6-3 double play.

Along with the poor baserunning, El Caballo also brought back some memories when he committed an error the inning before.  With Paul Konerko on second, Luis Terrero hit a soft single to left.  Lee was ready to come up firing towards home, but took his eye off the ball.  It skipped past him, and when he tried to stop, he lost his footing and spilled.  Terrero was running hard all the way and made it into third.

Konerko and Terrero would also add homers later in the game, and Juan Uribe also went deep to give the Sox three homers in a game for the first time since April 27.  Konerko ended up falling a triple short of the cycle (imagine that), and Andy Gonzalez also went 2-for-4 for the first major-league hits of his career.

Record: 27-32 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 9: Astros 3, White Sox 2

Such is life for Ozzie Guillen -- even when he brings in his best reliever at the right time, and even when his best reliever makes great pitches, the Sox still find a way to lose.

The Astros dinked and dunked Bobby Jenks to death -- an infield single off the mitt of a diving Josh Fields, a seeing-eye single through the right side, and a jam-shot single over short decided this game, due in large part to another awful effort by the White Sox offense.

Had it not been for a key two-run double by Jim Thome, the Sox would've hung another loss on a starting pitcher who didn't deserve one.  Jon Garland pitched seven strong inning, allowing only one run.  He didn't have his best stuff, but he made pitches when they counted -- such as the bases-loaded, 3-2 backwards K of Lance Berkman.

Garland left down 1-0, with the Sox having no answer for Jason Jennings over the first seven innings.  That deficit increased to 2-0 when Bret Prinz came in and threw one of his 11 pitches for strikes -- that strike went for a double.  Boone Logan did his job, getting a fielder's choice and a sac fly, and Ryan Bukvich loaded the bases with a walk before striking out Eric Munson to limit the damage.

Aside from the Thome double, the only bright spot on offense was Josh Fields, who went 2-for-3 with a walk.

Record: 26-32 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 8: Astros 5, White Sox 2

John Danks struggled with his control for the second straight game, the Sox offense struggled for the 1,294th game in a row, and the result is another Sox loss.

Danks' night could've been worse, considering he gave up seven hits and four walks in under six innings -- not to mention he gave up a homer to Craig Biggio on the second pitch of the game.  That he only gave up four runs -- three earned, thanks to some atrocious defense in the sixth -- is a testament to his natural ability.  Out-wise, he actually pitched into the seventh -- unfortunately two outs didn't count because Luis Terrero dropped a flyball on the warning track and Paul Konerko threw wide to second after Danks picked Adam Everett off.

Nick Masset sucked once again, but we actually got to see outstanding relief outings for once thanks to Dewon Day and Bobby Jenks.  Day finally had his A+ slider that allowed him to strike out 48 batters over 25 innings in Double-A -- Houston hitters expected it and still couldn't find it.  Jenks was Jenks, and unfortunately he was Jenks with a three-run deficit.

As for the offnese?  Outside of a first-inning Tadahito Iguchi homer and an RBI single by Rob Mackowiak, it didn't exist.

Record: 26-31 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 7: Yankees 10, White Sox 3

Negative developments in this game, from most disappointing to least disappointing:

1) Matt Thornton enters the game with one out, runners at the corners and Bobby Abreu at the plate.  He throws him four straight fastballs, and then adds a fifth one for good measure.  Abreu finally has it timed and rips a double to right-center, driving in two.

2) Boone Logan faces Abreu with two on and two outs and doesn't make Abreu swing the bat, loading the bases for Alex Rodriguez.

3) Bobby Jenks sits on the bench as Ryan Bukvich hangs a slider to Rodriguez and watches it sail into the left field seats for a grand slam.

4) Josh Fields has two on and no outs, fails to get the bunt down once and swings through two hittable fastballs for one of his three strikeouts on the day.

5) Contreras walked Derek Jeter to lead off the inning where Thornton would eventually blow it.

6) Jose Contreras leads the league in errors experienced -- Alex Cintron threw a ball in the dirt and Tadahito Iguchi watched one shoot through his legs.

7) Cintron needs to get a running start to make the throw from short.

8) Mike Mussina came into the game with a 6.25 ERA, and left with a 5.82 ERA after six innings of one-run ball.

The positives?  Aside from Jose Contreras throwing a great forkball again, not much.  Paul Konerko, Jim Thome and A.J. Pierzynski had two hits apiece.  Wheeeeeee.

Record: 26-30 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 6: Yankees 5, White Sox 1

If the Yankees didn't make so many mistakes on the basepaths, this one could've been a lot uglier.

After cruising through the first two innings (including striking out the side after a leadoff ground-rule double in the first), Javier Vazquez crashed in the third -- but Alex Rodriguez inadvertently helped him out of it, with an assist from the umpire. 

With the bases loaded, Rodriguez crushed a liner he thought was a grand slam, but hit the wall instead.  Rodriguez started off jogging, then turned on the boosters to try to get to second.  Juan Uribe cut off Rob Mackowiak's throw and rerouted it to second, and the umpire called a sliding Rodriguez out.  The replay showed he was safe, but had he been running all the way, there would've been no need to slide.

Jorge Posada would end the inning at second base, when he was fooled by Paul Konerko cutting off a throw home after an RBI single stretched the lead to 4-0.  That was the first of two Posada baserunning errors on the night -- A.J. Pierzynski blocked a ball in the dirt well enough to catch Posada between second and third.  A rundown ensued, and eventually Josh Fields would apply the tag.

Boone Logan picked off Melky Cabrera as well.  All in all, the Yanks helped Sox pitchers make four outs by themselves.  That was awfully generous of them, but they could afford it considering the White Sox offense is absolutely impotent right now.

Chien-Ming Wang threw a complete game and only needed 104 pitches to complete it.  Only three runners reached scoring position all day:

1) Rob Mackowiak singled, advanced to second on a ball in the dirt, got to third on Josh Fields' 4-3, and scored on Juan Uribe's groundout.

2) Jerry Owens reached on an infield single, stole second, and was gunned down by Melky Cabrera, and by a large margin.  Definitely Razor Shines' error there.

3) Jim Thome made it to second with two outs, but A.J. Pierzynski grounded out.

Record: 26-29 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 5: Yankees 7, White Sox 3

...and Mark Buehrle's quest for win No. 100 continues...

Buehrle actually didn't pitch as poorly as his line indicated, though perhaps it was luck righting itself after Buehrle managed to get three double plays in the first four innings. 

When the Yankees started racking up the hits in the decisive sixth inning, there was only one that was hit hard -- Alex Rodriguez's RBI double over Jerry Owens' head.  I have the feeling Darin Erstad or Brian Anderson makes that play.  And I have the feeling Joe Crede makes the play on Derek Jeter's bunt single that preceded it two batters before.

And then when Jermaine Dye actually makes a great throw on a sacrifice fly, A.J. Pierzynski is standing two feet in front of home plate on the first-base side and can't reach back to make the tag in time.

It was just that kind of night for Buehrle, who didn't receive any help from his offense or bullpen, either. Ryan Bukvich picked up where Mike MacDougal left off and failed to complete an inning of work, and Dewon Day experienced a major-league homer for the first time.

The Sox had 10 hits, but none of them went for extra bases.  They faced a rookie who had trouble with the strike zone (three walks, 89 pitches in five innings), but they couldn't string together an attack.

You know it's a weak night when the offensive highlight is Dye going from first to third on a Pierzynski groundout.  Rob Mackowiak picked him up with a two-out single after Paul Konerko struck out, and it was all downhill from there.

Record: 26-28 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 4: White Sox 6, Yankees 4

Chalk this one up as another win that should've been more comfortable than it actually was.  Other dates in this category include April 23 against the Royals, May 21 against the Athletics, and May 9 against the Twins.  The link between them -- entering the late innings with a sizable margin, the bullpen reduced the cushion and ended up bringing the tying run to the plate.

This time, Matt Thornton was the main culprit.  He entered the game with the Sox leading 6-1 in the ninth, a runner on second and one out.  Jon Garland had erased the need for middle relief with 8 1/3 sterling innings.  So what does Thornton do?  Walks the leadoff batter of course.  A solid single by Josh Phelps later and, it's now a 6-2 game with runners on the corners, forcing Ozzie Guillen to go to Bobby Jenks.

Jenks made his pitches, but Johnny Damon extended the inning with an infield single, bringing up Derek Jeter as the tying run.  Jeter ended the game with a routine grounder to short, but it should've never come to that point.  Thornton has now allowed 11 out of 23 inherited runners to score, after allowing only 13 of 48 last year.

The Sox were able to take the lead not due to their own crafty batsmanship, but because the Yankees out-sucked the Sox. 

Shoddy defense limited Matt DeSalvo to only 1 1/3 innings in his start.  Chicago loaded the bases on two singles and a hit-by-pitch, bringing up Joe Crede.  Crede surprised everybody by not popping out, but chopping one to third instead.  Alex Rodriguez fielded it, stepped on the bag, and maybe not realizing Crede was running, rushed the throw and chucked it wide of first, forcing Josh Phelps off the bag.  Instead of two outs and only one run across the plate, the Sox had two on and one out.

Jerry Owens followed up with another possible double play to ball to Phelps, but he crossed up Jeter with his throw, and the ball rolled into left field as Crede took out Jeter with the slide.  Tadahito Iguchi followed up with a legitimate single to give the Sox a 3-1 lead, and DeSalvo was done.

Oddly enough, the Sox scored all their runs against relievers the hard way -- by doing it themselves.  Ron Villone got the best of Jim Thome the first time around, ending that second inning with a double play.  Thome got revenge by taking him deep over the center field fence.  Paul Konerko added another run with a solo homer.

All in all, the Sox had six hits off Yankee relievers today, impressive considering they'd been 1-for-64 against other teams' bullpens entering tonight.

Garland, meanwhile, cruised through the game with a minimal amount of trouble.  The run he allowed in the first inning was unearned, as an Iguchi error allowed Derek Jeter to reach before Bobby Abreu drove him in with a double.  Otherwise, the Yankees didn't get a guy past second base on Garland, thanks in large part to three double plays.

Record: 26-27 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 3: Blue Jays 4, White Sox 3

I'm convinced the White Sox are no longer an actual functioning baseball team whose goal is to win games.  I'm now thinking they're a comedy troupe that specializes in edgy self-parody.

The bullpen gave up a two-run lead in its first inning of work, and the Blue Jays bullpen went five innings without giving up a hit.  The Sox had the tying run on third with less than two outs in the ninth inning, and they stranded him.

This isn't bad luck -- it's a farce.  And a rather good one at that.

OK, now the facts:

John Danks would've been considered "effectively wild" had he been able to go longer than five innings.  Exposing the middle relief corps is not exactly effective.  He pitched into a lot of full counts, walked three guys in five innings, hit a guy and needed some dumb luck to get out of his biggest jam.

The Blue Jays loaded the bases with three straight singles in the fifth and nobody out, with professional hitter Matt Stairs at the plate.  Danks struck out stairs, but gave up a long fly ball to Vernon Wells, good for at least a sacrifice fly.  Royce Clayton scored, but Adam Lind left early from second base, and the Sox turned the rare 7-4 double play to get out of the inning.

Danks left with a 3-1 lead, provided by Rob Mackowiak and Jim Thome homers.  Mackowiak's homer snapped a steak of nearly four straight ballgames without a homer, but it managed to disappoint nevertheless because A.J. Pierzynski was thrown out trying to take second on a pitch in the dirt right before it.

Nick Masset got the first two outs in the sixth inning, but then gave up four straight hits, the big blow a bases-clearing double by Lind.  All of a sudden, the Sox were trailing by one.  Dewon Day actually followed up with two scoreless innings -- maybe he didn't get the memo.

Pierzynski finally snapped the hitless streak against relievers in the ninth inning off Toronto closer Jeremy Accardo, and Joe Crede got him over to third with a groundout to second.  Mackowiak popped out to short and pinch-hitting Alex Cintron struck out.  There went the ballgame.

Record: 25-27 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 2: Blue Jays 9, White Sox 3

Obviously the story of this game is the bullpen -- the Blue Jays scored eight of their runs on the Sox relievers' watch (two were inherited by Jose Contreras), including another poor outing by both Mike MacDougal and David Aardsma.  Matt Thornton couldn't even escape the vortex -- and he made a great pitch.

With Vernon Wells coming off the bench to pinch-hit with the bases loaded, Thornton shattered his bat -- and all he had to show for it was a two-run single that tied the game.

The bullpen deserves a more in-depth discussion, but what this game did illustrate is how the Sox must execute in every opportunity they create if they have any hope of getting on a winning streak.  The margin for error is paper-thin.

Two gaffes cost the Sox dearly before the bullpen even came into play.  The first was Juan Uribe's error, in which a tailor-made double play ball skipped right between the wickets.  It should've ended the inning, and instead, Contreras was forced to get two more outs.  That cost Contreras 11 pitches, and considering Contreras was pulled after 103 pitches, that pretty much exposed the bullpen an inning longer.

The other was watching the 3-4-5 combo fail to get Tadahito Iguchi in from third with no outs after Iguchi singled, stole second and advanced to third on a Sal Fasano throwing error.  Jim Thome and Jermaine Dye struck out, and after Paul Konerko walked, Rob Mackowiak struck out.  That would've given the Sox a 4-1 lead, and instead it gave the Blue Jays some momentum heading into the late innings.

Iguchi had another solid game.  Along with the single and steal, he got Jerry Owens to third after a leadoff double, giving Jim Thome an opportunity for a sacrifice fly.  He also drew a walk.

Record: 25-26 | Box score | Play-by-play

June 1: White Sox 3, Blue Jays 0

This is more like it.

Javier Vazquez pitched eight scoreless innings, Bobby Jenks pitched for the only the second time in 11 days and the Sox came up with a few timely hits, cutting the losing streak at five games.  When Jenks recorded the final out of the inning, the Sox coaches embraced and did a four-way boogie similar to the Dance of Joy.

Vazquez picked up his first win in his last eight starts, and only his third over his last 20.  There were only a few hard-hit balls, and Jermaine Dye made a couple nice plays to turn them into outs -- a running grab of a Frank Thomas liner in the second, and he threw out Jason Phillips trying to stretch a single into a double.  Sure, Phillips may be the one guy who's slower than Paul Konerko, but Dye still tracked it down by the wall, picked it up with his bare hand, spun and fired with one motion just in time to get Phillips at second.

Tadahito Iguchi and Juan Uribe also turned a nice double play to erase a walk.

For the second straight game, the Sox didn't have to see any of their struggling middle relievers, and that was due to Vazquez excelling not only beyond 75 pitches, but beyond 110.  He even pitched out of a late jam when the Blue Jays put runners on the corners with two outs after a double and an infield single (on a good pitch).  Ozzie visited the mound, left without taking action, and Lyle Overbay flew out to right-center to end the inning.

Vazquez's final line:  8 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 5 K.  Maybe he likes pitching at the Rogers Centre -- he struck out 13 there last year, in a game I was lucky enough to see.

Speaking of 13 strikeouts, that's exactly how many A.J. Burnett racked up against the Sox tonight.  He threw his fair share of pitches to the backstop, but when he hit the strike zone, the Sox struggled to put the bat on the ball.  At one point, it seemed like they would settle for whatever contact they could find -- in the sixth inning, the Sox may have set a new season low by only seeing five pitches.

Fortunately, their hits clumped together a couple times.  Three consecutive hits broke the Sox's 17-inning scoreless streak when Juan Uribe singled, Jerry Owens (making his first start) doubled, and after a run-scoring wild pitch, Tadahito Iguchi singled to give the Sox a 2-0 lead. 

Owens would come up big later when he hit a one-out infield single, stole second and scored on Iguchi's second RBI single, a half-swinging, opposite-field one to provide a key extra insurance run. 

Fortunately, Jenks wouldn't need it, setting down the Blue Jays 1-2-3.  I'm not sure if the Rogers SportsNet gun was fast, but it clocked Jenks' fastball at 98 m.p.h., the first time I've seen that all year.

Record: 25-25 | Box score | Play-by-play