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 |
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