2007 State of the Sox

August 27: White Sox 5, Devil Rays 4

After the White Sox hit back-to-back-to-back homers and Danny Richar doubled to start the bottom of the seventh, it appeared that their momentum had stalled while still down a run.  Andy Gonzalez struck out, and Jerry Owens did the same, even though Richar advanced to third on a wild pitch.

Up came Josh Fields, who bailed out his two rookie colleagues by turning on a low, inside-half fastball and lining it into the bullpen in left for a 5-4 lead.  With that hit, a first-inning single and the fact that he wasn't tested defensively, Fields had a great day.

The Sox offense didn't have a great day so much as a great inning.  Outside of the seventh, they didn't get a runner past first base.  Jerry Owens was thrown out trying to steal after a single leading off the game, and Paul Konerko grounded into a double play to stifle another possibility.  That was as much as the Sox threatened.

Fortunately, Jose Contreras kept the game within reason.  His forkball looked outstanding, and it contributed to most of his eight strikeouts, including striking out the side in a 1-2-3 third inning.  He still has the propensity to see his mistakes get hammered, but he made far fewer of them.

Ground balls also helped his cause.  He induced nine groundouts to four flyouts, including one that turned into a 6-3 double play that ended the inning with B.J. Upton on third.  Juan Uribe, along with having the third of the consecutive home runs, also had a tremendous day defensively.

Mike MacDougal and Bobby Jenks tore through their innings -- MacDougal throwing a lot of low-and-away sliders to his advantage, and Bobby Jenks getting three weakly hit balls to extend his consecutive batters retired streak to nine, or 50 of 51.

Record: 57-74 | Box score | Play-by-play