2007 State of the Sox

August 17: Mariners 5, White Sox 4

I had a pretty good feeling when Danny Richar stepped into the box against George Sherill with the bases loaded and the Sox trailing 5-0, and saw that Sherill was attacking him inside with fastballs.  Richar can pull the ball with authority, but it's the offspeed stuff -- namely sweeping breaking balls from left-handers -- that render him unable to hit the ball with power.

It really was a back-asswards way of pitching him.  Here's the progression:

1. Fastball high and tight (Johjima set up away).
2. Fastball outside half, knee-high.
   
3. Fastball inner half, thigh-high
   
4. Fastball inner half, belt-high (Johjima set up away).
5. Fastball low and away.
6. Fastball inner half, thigh-high. (Johjima set up away)

Johjima had the right idea, but Sherill couldn't commit, and he paid the price.

Strangely enough, that only lasted one batter.  Jerry Owens came to the plate next:

1. Curve, low and away (Owens couldn't check his swing).
2. Fastball, at the knees, outside corner.
3. Fastball, outside corner.

Three strikes and he was out.

That was the only highlight of this game.  Jose Contreras didn't embarrass himself, but he had issues with damage control.  He put the Sox in an early hole giving up a cheap double to Jose Guillen and a homer to Raul Ibanez in the first inning, both with two outs.  He had more two-out issues in the fifth, when he gave up three straight singles after a sacrifice fly gave him a clean slate on the basepaths.

He also committed his fifth error of the season, when he barehanded an Ichiro Suzuki bunt but threw high to first, allowing Ichiro to move to third.

Nevertheless, his velocity was in the right range (topping out at 94) and he didn't walk anybody.  Contreras only threw 97 pitches over seven innings, a pretty low amount for the amount of hits he gave up.  It's a little bit of a confidence booster, at least.

But you know what didn't inspire confidence?  Seeing Alex Cintron come to the plate with two outs and two on against J.J. Putz in place of Thome.  Cintron had entered earlier in the game for Jim Thome as a pinch-runner, but ended up not being a factor.

But after Juan Uribe walked and advanced to third on the next two outs, and then Josh Fields walked, Cintron came to the plate as the Sox's last shot.

He struck out on three pitches.  He looked at the first fastball, and then swung through the next two, looking like he was swinging a railroad tie instead of a bat.

Record: 54-67 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 16: Athletics 8, White Sox 5

The A's swept the Sox in Oakland.  Go figure.

This game reminded me a lot of the one that pretty much sealed the Sox's fate last year -- the Sox built an early lead that could've been bigger with one more hit they couldn't find, then watched the starter give it away thanks to a big home run.

Javier Vazquez had a 3-0 lead enter the fourth inning, and plenty of momentum after stranding Mike Piazza at third in the second, and recording a 1-2-3 inning and the third.  But he gave up the cushion over the next two innings, capped off by a Piazza homer to right-center.

Unlike last year's dog, though, the Sox did get the lead back.  Danny Richar drew a walk off Dan Haren, barely stole second (his first career steal), advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Jim Thome's RBI single, barely beating out a chopper up the middle when Marco Scutaro's jump-throw went wide of the bag.

Enter the bullpen, which had protected leads like the 2005 squad as of late.  Boone Logan gave up a homer to Shannon Stewart off the foul pole, the first run he allowed in nine outings.   Ryan Bukvich retired the four guys he faced, but Wild Mike MacDougal returned to walk two and force Matt Thornton into cleaning up his mess.  Thornton did just that, but then gave up the game-ending shot to Kurt Suzuki -- the first run he allowed in nine outings.

This is what happens in Oakland for some reason, and everybody's to blame.  Vazquez for barfing up the lead, Thornton for serving up a gopher ball to Suzuki, who entered the game with four hits in 26 at-bats off southpaws.

The offense deserves a finger pointed in its direction as well.  Jerry Owens and Josh Fields -- both of whom went 0-for-6 today -- failed to score Juan Uribe when he stood on third with no outs in the second.  The other failures are far less severe, but in five different innings, the Sox had a runner in scoring position with less than two outs and couldn't cash him in.  One more hit, and it could've very well been a different game.

Record: 54-66 | Box score | Play-by-play