2007 State of the Sox

July 25: Tigers 13, White Sox 9

Even though the Sox lost, it was nice to see the Sox pound Kenny Rogers for once.  Jermaine Dye pounded a three-run homer to left-center in the first inning, and the Roaster never recovered.  He allowed more than twice as many earned runs to the Sox today than he did all last year.

Sox hitters also took advantage of a pretty nice wind-tunnel effect to right field.  Juan Uribe and Andy Gonzalez went opposite-field, and Tadahito Iguchi nearly did the same with a double that carried to the wall.

Of course, the Sox didn't have another comeback in them.  Iguchi was caught off base when Jason Grilli snared Paul Konerko's chopper, and he was tagged out during the ensuing rundown.  The Sox never threatened again.

Still, nine runs should be enough to win, but not with Jose Contreras on the mound.  There's not much to say about his start -- he just doesn't look like he has much of anything anymore.

I found the bullpen usage to be more interesting.  Boone Logan, Ryan Bukvich and Charlie Haeger entered the game.  I was surprised that Boone Logan was the first man out of the bullpen and allowed both inherited runners to score, while Haeger came in during a high-leverage situation.  I'm not a fan of a knuckleballer coming in when another team is playing for one run.

Bukvich had his best game of the year, at least.  He retired all six guys he faced.

Record: 45-56 | Box score | Play-by-play