2007 State of the Sox

September 30: Tigers 13, White Sox 3

Record: 72-90 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 28: White Sox 5, Tigers 2

Javier Vazquez didn't set the modern-day single-season franchise record for strikeouts in a season, but he gave it a good go.

Vazquez pitched  7 2/3 solid innings, striking out nine to give him 213 for the season, good for sixth all-time on the White Sox list, and second on the list of pitchers not named Ed Walsh.  He squarely retained the best strikeout rate in franchise history.

His 15th win began ominously, when he "hit" Curtis Granderson with the second pitch of the game.  The pitch could've actually been called a strike, but Granderson dipped his elbow down over the inside corner and let it glance off him.  Placido Polanco followed with a single, and Magglio Ordonez scored one with a double on an 0-2 pitch.

Darin Erstad nearly caught the ball, but crashed into the wall trying to make the sliding grab.  Scott Podsednik recovered fairly quickly for leaping over Erstad and threw to Juan Uribe, who fired the relay perfectly to Toby Hall to get Polanco at home.

After that, it was smooth sailing for Vazquez.  Of course, Magglio made him sweat a bit more when he came up to the plate in the eighth inning with two on and two outs, when Ozzie Guillen pulled Vazquez for Ehren Wassermann.  Wassermann jammed the crap out of Ordonez, but made a rookie mistake when he tried to catch the foul pop-up halfway down the first base line.  Paul Konerko had to pull up, Wassermann gave it a half-effort fearing a collision with Konerko, and the ball fell to the ground.

Wassermann recovered, however, and jammed Ordonez again.  This time, the result was a soft liner to Josh Fields.

Meanwhile, Vazquez got enough offensive support, with the main source once again a Konerko three-run homer that gave the Sox the lead for good.  Hall initially tied the game in the second with an RBI single (his third RBI of the year), but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a two-bagger.

Jim Thome, meanwhile, barely cleared the left-field wall with a liner for his 34th homer of the year.

Record: 71-89 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 27: White Sox 10, Royals 0

In a couple ways, Lance Broadway looked like a guy making his first major-league start.  He showed some jitters when he walked the leadoff batter in his first two innings, but he also showed the adrenaline with fist pumps and various indecipherable exclamations after many of his eight strikeouts.

When he had baserunners, though, he pitched like a veteran.  Broadway threw six shutout innings, as the Sox blanked the Royals for the second day in a row.

It seems like all a pitcher needs to keep Kansas City in check is movement on the fastball.  Jon Garland had it yesterday, and Broadway had it today.  At times, it was easy to see how he walked so many batters in Triple-A, because he struggled to locate it early in the game.  Eventually, he settled in and threw the ball well -- he didn't walk anybody after the second inning, and only allowed two hits on the evening.

He showed quite a bit of poise in the second inning when he faced two on and nobody out after a walk and a single, but he struck out the side.  He also pitched around Juan Uribe's throwing error in the second, although Uribe himself made up for it when he snagged a soft liner up the middle and beat David DeJesus back to the bag for the double play.

Sox pitchers received great defense all night, Uribe's high throw notwithstanding.  Danny Richar made a nice diving stop in the first for a forceout, then later started a beautiful 4-6-3 double play by ranging to his left and picking a hard DeJesus grounder cleanly.  Josh Fields made a leaping grab to steal a hit away from Ross Gload, and Paul Konerko showed uncanny athleticism by fielding a grounder down the line and flipping the ball to Matt Thornton while running away from the bag.  Thornton was a little late getting there, but placed the tag on in time.

Konerko also provided all the runs the Sox needed in the first inning with a three-run homer, his 30th of the year.  It's the fourth straight year he's topped that mark.

It was also nice to see some speed on the bases, mainly in the form of Scott Podsednik.  He scored twice, including from first on a Uribe double.  Richar's speed also forced a high throw on an infield single that allowed Uribe to score.

Record: 70-89 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 26: White Sox 3, Royals 0

Take last week's Jon Garland-Zack Greinke game and reverse the outcome, and tonight's ballgame is what you get.

Greinke was good -- the only real mistake he made was the pitch Jermaine Dye blasted into the left-field seats for a two-run homer.  Jim Thome's first-inning solo shot wasn't a bad pitch at all, but Thome was anticipating fastball and got down on it.

Instead, Garland was just better.  He only allowed three hits and two walks over nine innings, including retiring the last 11 batters after Toby Hall threw out John Buck at second base.  His sinker was working, but I was most impressed with his curveball.

Record: 69-89 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 25: Royals 9, White Sox 5

The White Sox knocked Brian Bannister out of the game in the first inning.  Then they called it a night.

The Royals, on the other hand, kept playing, and dragged the Sox back to the cellar with them by the night's end.

Jose Contreras actually threw pretty well (to home, at least -- his throwing error in the first inning was downright ugly), but his effort was undermined by a variety of weak singles and the White Sox bullpen.  Though after the first inning, nobody on the Sox can claim they played solid baseball.

Ehren Wassermann suffered one of the toughest losses a pitcher can take for his first career decision.  He came in to face Mark Grudzielanek with a runner on first and one out in a 5-4 game.  On his second pitched, Grudzielanek hit a weak bouncer down the third-base line.  Wassermann let it go, but Josh Fields picked it up before it rolled foul.  Two pitches, and Ozzie Guillen pulled him for Mike Myers.

You can guess what happened:  Myers was nearly decapitated by Mark Teahan's game-tying single, and then allowed a bloop single in front of Jermaine Dye which brought the go-ahead run to the plate.  Mike MacDougal threw some more gasoline on the fire, and Boone Logan allowed a run in his inning of work.  Just like old times.

Record: 68-89 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 22: White Sox 8, Twins 3

Jerry Owens started the game by lining a single through the box and stealing second.  Josh Fields bunted him to third, but Jim Thome struck out and Paul Konerko popped out to end the threat.

Fortunately, Owens didn't stop.  He went 5-for-6 with a run scored and three RBI, marking the finest day of his career.  He flew out to center in the ninth inning, spoiling his chance to have the first six-hit game for the White Sox since Lance Johnson did it almost 12 years ago to the date, also against the Twins.

He drove in two big runs in the second, once again going up the middle with the bases loaded to give Javier Vazquez a 3-0 lead, then stretched that lead to 5-0 two innings later with another single through the middle, driving in Danny Richar, who led the inning off with a triple.

The Sox pounded out 16 hits in total, and had six leadoff hitters reach in the first six innings..  Among the more notable performances:

• Darin Erstad had two singles and his fourth homer of the year, a no-doubt solo shot to right field.
• A.J. Pierzynski had two hits, although one of them was a gift double.  He would've been thrown out by plenty had Liu Rodriguez fielded the short hop.
• Jim Thome hit a moon shot just inside the right field line for his 32nd homer, and also beat the shift with a single through left.
• Josh Fields went 1-for-2 with two walks and racked up an outfield assist.  He misplayed a liner -- it ended up landing just in front of him -- but he snared the liner and made a nice throw to third for no damage done.
  

Javier Vazquez, meanwhile, pitched seven strong inning to win his 14th game, with the only blemish a two-run homer off the bat of Jason Kubel.  He struck out 11, giving him 204 on the season.

Record: 68-87 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 21: White Sox 6, Twins 4

It took long enough, but the White Sox finally got their one win off Johan Santana this year.

Josh Fields took a 1-2 slider well over the center field fence as the second hitter of the game, but Santana seemed to settle down as Twins hitters caught up to Mark Buehrle to take a 3-1 lead.  Basically, it looked like every other Santana start.

That third inning could've been worse for Buehrle, although maybe with an above-average left fielder Buehrle would've seen less damage.  They ran Fields ragged in the outfield, including one misplay of Torii Hunter's double that put runners on second and third with one out.  They both would score, on a sacrifice fly and a double by Mike Cuddyer.

That put Buehrle in a 3-1 hole, and with Santana on the mound, it seemed like his quest for win No. 10 would stall once again.

Jim Thome made sure that wouldn't happen.  He led off the fourth with a doubled, advanced to third on Paul Konerko's productive out and scored on Jermaine Dye's roped double down the left field line.

Thome then put the Sox ahead with a three-run shot, started with two outs by Jerry Owens, who flared a single to left.  Fields walked, and Thome took Santana the opposite way to give the Sox a lead.

Fields also added another homer, and only a leaping Lew Ford kept Thome from joining Fields in the two-homer club.

Buehrle, meanwhile, preserved the lead, though he survived a scare when Nick Punto tripled home a run.  Fortunately, the Twins tried a little too hard to piranha their way back into the ballgame -- with two outs, Alexi Casilla bunted, and Toby Hall had an easy play.

Record: 67-87 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 20: Royals 3, White Sox 0

Jon Garland still can't catch a break.

After watching Javier Vazquez and Jose Contreras receive plenty of run support this series, Garland took the mound, pitched a fine game and... the Sox got shut out.

And how!  Zack Greinke struck out 10, and the Sox only got one runner to scoring position.  That's when Jerry Owens led off the fourth inning with a double and made it to third on Juan Uribe's sacrifice bunt.

Unfortunately, the ump gave Greinke about six inches off the inside corner on a two-strike fastball to Jim Thome, ruining the chance for a sacrifice fly.  Paul Konerko followed up with a check-swing strikeout, and that would be the hardest Greinke would have to work all day.  Sox hitters struck out 10 times on the day.

Garland, meanwhile, made only a couple of mistakes.  He had two strikes on Tony Pena Jr. in the fifth, and Toby Hall stood up halfway to set the target high.  Garland didn't get the ball up enough, and Pena took it to right to provide the only run Kansas City would need.  He'd later score on a sacrifice fly.

On the other hand, Garland didn't walk anybody, allowed only six hits and added more support to his Gold Glove case.  He fielded two bunts down the first-base line well, stabbed a comebacker and picked off a runner.

Record: 66-87 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 19: White Sox 7, Royals 0

This is what Monday's game would have looked like if the Sox spread out their scoring.  They killed the ball and received an even better pitching performance, this time by Jose Contreras.

Contreras became the Sox's second 10-game winner by throwing a six-hit shutout.  It started inauspiciously, as he plunked David DeJesus with a forkball on a 1-2 count to start the game, but Contreras erased him with a double play, which would be a recurring theme.  The Count induced three twin killings on the evening, and generally stumped the Royals all night long.  He recorded the final out of the game on his 100th pitch.

Meanwhile, Sox hitters finally got to Brian Bannister after scoring only three earned runs off him over the previous two starts.  Jim Thome had a great game in particular, starting off with a first-inning double and hitting homers No. 501 and 502, all off Bannister.  Juan Uribe also launched his 20th homer, a majestic shot just inside the left field foul pole.

Moreover, they kept hitting when Bannister left the game.  Jorge De La Rosa was pounded in the seventh -- Josh Fields singled, Paul Konerko doubled and Jermaine Dye drove Fields in -- and they were all smoked.

It's just a shame they weren't doing this in the first five months of the season.

Record: 66-86 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 18: Royals 3, White Sox 2

If anybody had any doubt that two of the worst teams in baseball were locking horns tonight, the fourth inning would have provided all proof needed.

Josh Fields led off the inning with a double to left-center off Gil Meche, and Jim Thome followed with a walk.  Jermaine Dye then hit a flyball to semi-deep right field.  Mark Teahan parked under it, Fields bluffed, and Teahan threw to third.

Fields could've made it safely had he committed, because Teahan's throw missed the cutoff man and led Jason Smith to the outfield grass to retrieve it, especially since Smith didn't handle it cleanly.

The problem was that Thome only saw Fields fake the tag to third.  He didn't see Fields retrieve to the base, and thus Thome arrived at second as Fields made his way back to that very same bag.  Thome was tagged after a brief rundown, while Fields stayed put.

Of course, since these were the Royals, they didn't get out of the inning unscathed.  Meche got a groundball to third that should've ended the inning, but it instead went through Smith's legs and into left field.  Fields came around to score the Sox's first run of the game.

Fields actually scored both of the Sox's runs, doubling in the sixth, advancing to third this time on a deep fly to right by Dye, and scoring when Darin Erstad beat out a double play by half a step.

That would be all the action from the Sox offense.  Fields was the only one with a good idea of what Meche was throwing.  The Sox did little against him, and even less against the Kansas City bullpen.  Buddy Bell used four relievers to record six straight outs to end the game.

Gavin Floyd took the loss in what ended up being a fourth straight quality start, although he was a couple of inches away from watching that streak come to an end.

With runners on first and second a full count to Ross Gload, Floyd threw a get-me-over curveball.  Gload lined it the other way and barely missed the chalk.  A couple of inches to the right, and one run would've scored -- maybe two.  Of course, those runs would've been unearned since the inning began with a Juan Uribe error.  Instead, Floyd walked Gload to load the bases and got Billy Butler to ground out.

Take what you will out of Floyd's outing.  He settled down after the Royals scored their entire night's output in the first inning, starting the game off with four straight hits, three of them well-struck.  Floyd rebounded to strike out the side, but he had to work his way out of trouble often.  He stranded runners in scoring position in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings.

He did keep the ball down, but also gave up his fair share of hits.  Normally Floyd can't succeed when he doesn't have his best stuff, but the Royals do excel in giving teams plenty of chances to get themselves off the hook.

Record: 65-86 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 17: White Sox 11, Royals 3

The White Sox probably racked up more hard-hit balls in the fifth inning of tonight's game than they had in some entire series.  On the heels of some crazy run distribution yesterday, they went ahead and scored all 11 of their runs in that frame.

It started when Danny Richar cranked out his sixth homer of the year to cut the Royals' 2-0 lead in half.  Three batters later, Josh Fields ripped a double to right to give the Sox a 3-2 lead.  Jermaine Dye followed two batters later with a blast over the center field fence.

They weren't done -- A.J. Pierzynski lined a single to right, and after a wild pitch, Juan Uribe drove him home with a double to the left field corner.  He then advanced on a wild pitch, and then scored when Danny Richar roped one to the right-center gap.  Richar ran hard the entire way and beat the throw with a headfirst slide for a triple.  Alex Cintron just missed hitting one out, scoring Richar.

Jerry Owens kept it alive by stroking a single to center, and then Fields displayed his strength wby crushing one over the center field wall to cap off the 11-run blitz.  The only player not to contribute?  Darin Erstad, who went 0-for-2 in the inning and finished hitless in five at-bats on the night.

Javier Vazquez was just as powerful.  He struck out 13 over eight innings, and looked dominant aside from two batters in the second inning, when Ross Gload doubled and Alex Gordon drove Gload and himself home with his 15th homer.  He stranded David DeJesus on third with a triple in the bottom of the fifth and looked just about untouchable the rest of the way.  He finished the game retiring the last seven batters he faced, and was hitting 94 m.p.h. with his fastball in the eighth inning.

Record: 65-85 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 16: White Sox 9, Angels 7

Jim Thome finally smashed his 500th homer, and it came at a most dramatic time -- in the bottom of the ninth inning, sealing the deal on a six-run comeback.  He's the first member of the 500 Home Run Club to reach the milestone via the walkoff.

The game itself was as dramatic as its end.  After swapping eights and sixes earlier this season, the White Sox traded fours in the seventh inning with the Angels.

Mark Buehrle pitched better than his line indicated, but he received no luck from Lady Luck, his defense (Josh Fields could've played a warning-track flyball better, and Andy Gonzalez booted a ball to let a run score), or his bullpen (Ryan Bukvich walked in a run). 

Even his two gopher balls weren't awful pitches.  The first was the result of Vladimir Guerrero doing things only he can, taking an outside pitch over the wall in right.  Juan Rivera just plain beat him on the other one, anticipating a cutter that didn't get in enough.

Yet the Sox came right back with four of their own, thanks to help from some unlikely sources.

*Toby Hall earning his second RBI of the year with a line drive single over the outstretched glove of a leaping Maicier Izturis.

*Josh Fields hit a three-run homer, which wouldn't be so strange had it not happened on a 94-m.p.h. Chris Bootcheck fastball.  He's had his share of problems catching up on anything faster than 91, but he took this one the other way into the Bullpen Sports Bar.

Making matters better, Danny Richar tied it up with a no-doubter two-run shot to right center.  Richar had a great day, scoring three runs on two hits and a walk.

All of that set up Thome, who came to the plate in the ninth inning hitless in his last 11 at-bats.  Preceded by a Darin Erstad single, Thome took an outside-half fastball and took it over the wall in left-center to end the game, officially starting his Hall of Fame candidacy discussion in the process.

Record: 64-85 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 15: Angels 2, White Sox 1

I didn't get to see this game.  Turns out I didn't miss much.

The good news is that the Sox managed to score one more run off Jered Weaver than they did in their first outing against him this year.  The bad news is that, like in that previous outing, Jon Garland managed to be the hard-luck loser once again.

Garland allowed one run over seven innings, yet was tagged with the loss as the Sox offense managed twice as many strikeouts (12) as hits (8).

If there's anything more than needs to be said about this game aside from Jerry Owens' three-hit, two-stolen base, one-pickoff day, speak now or... speak later.

Record: 63-85 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 14: White Sox 5, Angels 3

While the White Sox rocked the green jerseys and took the series opener against the Angels behind 7 1/3 solid innings by Jose Contreras and a pair of RBI by Jermaine Dye, I was busy celebrating Halfway to St. Patrick's Day with Flogging Molly at Altamont Fair Grounds.

I've lost my voice, I can't hear very well, and my clothes are covered in dust kicked up by the mosh pit that was more like a jig pit.

Who really won?  This guy.

Record: 63-84 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 12: White Sox 7, Indians 4

Javier Vazquez toyed with trouble in the first two innings, allowing the first two baserunners on each time.  OK, Josh Fields dropping a flyball after calling off Juan Uribe contributed to that, but still.

Nevertheless, Vazquez battled back.  He caught Grady Sizemore sleeping off third when he caught a soft liner hit right back up the box and doubled him off.  A.J. Pierzynski caught Kenny Lofton halftway towards stealing second to help Vazquez get out of the second inning relatively unscathed (one unearned run).

Finally, the Sox had some errors to take advantage of after giving both the Twins and Indians plenty of extra outs. 

They took a commanding 5-1 lead in the fifth when Josh Fields appearned to hit a 4-6-3 double play ball.  But Josh Barfield had trouble getting the ball from mitt to shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, and by the time he did, Cabrera was in the air as Scott Podsednik slid underneath him.  Pods was safe at second, Fields was safe at first, the bases were loaded, and three runs would come in on back-to-back singles by Jim Thome and Paul Konerko.

Konerko and Thome each drove in three runs, and each hit a homer as well.

Record: 62-84 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 11: Indians 8, White Sox 3

After today's game, the question shouldn't be why the Sox felt it was necessary to extend Ozzie Guillen another four years.  Rather, people should be asking themselves why Ozzie would want to stick around.

Juan Uribe was the only one who had Paul Byrd figured out, going profundo! twice and driving in all three runs.  Otherwise, it was another quiet night offensively, although nobody could blame the weather this time.

The kids tested his patience.  John Danks couldn't find the strike zone and couldn't finish the fourth inning.  Andy Gonzalez failed in their best chance to get back in the game, striking out with runners on second and third and nobody out.  Gonzalez, Donny Lucy and Jerry Owens went 8-9-1, and each committed a defensive gaffe.

Continuing the miserable stretch of defense from the third base position, Gonzalez fielded a hard-hit grounder cleanly with Jason Michaels on third.  Michaels was running on contact, and clearly expected to be out at home to the point that he stopped and looked back 10 feet from home plate -- and Gonzalez hadn't even thrown the ball.  He had Michaels out by plenty, but opted double-clutched and then ultimately decided against going home.  He went to first instead, and a run came in.

Michaels' play was preceded by an errant throw by Lucy.  He blocked a ball in the dirt well, but Michaels ran anyway.  A good throw would've had Michaels out by plenty, but he skipped it instead.  Owens, meanwhile, overran a high, deep flyball to the left-center gap and turned it into a two-run ground rule double.

The only bright spots were the performances by Lance Broadway and Heath Phillips.  Matt Thornton, who was awful and walked in a run, allowed Broadway's only run to score over 2 2/3 innings, and he got some swings and misses, striking out four.

Phillips, meanwhile, cleaned up for a wild Mike MacDougal (who also walked in a run), closing it out with 2 1/3 scoreless innings.  Nothing impressive, and he allowed a few solidly hit balls, but he didn't waste anybody's time.

Phillips and Broadway threw 82 pitches over five innings.  That might seem like a lot, until you consider that Danks, MacDougal and Thornton threw 127 over the other four.

Record: 61-84 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 10: Indians 6, White Sox 2

Gavin Floyd's start could've turned disastrous over the course of three pitches in the fourth inning.

No. 1:  With one out and Asdrubal Cabrera on first after a leadoff walk, Floyd threw a beautiful 2-1 fastball to Victor Martinez that tailed back to clip the inside corner, but didn't get the call.

No. 2:  To make sure he didn't walk the batter, he gave Martinez a get-me-over fastball that he shot into right field to put runners on the corners.

No. 3:  He then drilled Ryan Garko with the first pitch.

So there he had the bases loaded with one out and Jhonny Peralta, a lifetime .324 hitter with the sacks packed, at the bat.  Normally this is where Floyd falls apart, but instead, he came back with two perfect pitches on the outside corner.  The second, a fastball, Peralta grounded right to Danny Richar, who started an inning-ending 4-6-3 that got Floyd out of the inning unscathed.

Unfortunately, Floyd took a loss he didn't deserve, as he pitched well.  Only one earned run scored on his watch -- Kenny Lofton led off the seventh with a bunt, advanced to second on a sac bunt, then scored on a single to left.  Josh Fields got the ball before Lofton had even rounded third, but the soaked field made a perfect throw nearly impossible.  Lofton scored without a play at the plate, as Andy Gonzalez cut it off.

Mike Myers came in and allowed a two-out, three-run homer to Cabrera to put this game out of reach.  Then came the rain delay, one that lasted nearly 2 1/2 hours.

Gonzalez was the source of the other run while Floyd was in the game.  Picking up where Alex Cintron left off, Gonzalez had a grounder bounce off his chest.  He chased it, picked it up, and fired the ball into the Indians dugout.  A single later, the Indians cut the lead to 2-1.

Meanwhile, the Sox had no answer for Fausto Carmona, who, to his credit, was dealing.

When play resumed after the delay, the Sox managed to look worse.  Ryan Bukvich couldn't find the strike zone for about seven pitches, and walked Ryan Garko to put runners on the corners.  Up came Lofton, who rocketed a grounder to first, snagged by Darin Erstad.  Erstad looked Martinez back to third ... then looked ... then pumped.  By the time he actually got rid of the ball, Martinez got back to the bag and everybody was safe.

Hawk Harrelson was forced into the uncomfortable position of having to criticize Erstad, which he did fairly.  That ended up being the non-Floyd highlight of the night.

Record: 61-83 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 9: Twins 5, White Sox 2

It kinda sucks when you pitch deeper into the game than Johan Santana, allow the same amount of earned runs and still come nowhere close to sniffing victory.

Such is the life of Jon Garland, who pitched eight strong innings with only a loss to show for it, thanks to four unearned runs.  Alex Cintron, who drove in the only run with an RBI single before Jim Thome hit his 498th homer in the eighth inning, was the culprit, committing two errors on choppers hit by the same guy.

I'd actually blame Garland more for Cintron's first error, because he could've been out of the inning had he not walked Nick Punto before Jason Bartlett came up.  Punto, if you didn't know, owns the lowest OPS of any everyday player in Major League Baseball, by far.  When he came to the plate against Garland in the third inning, he was hitting exactly .200.  When Punto got a fastball on a 3-1 count, he tried to bunt.  This is how bad Punto is right now.

But... Garland walked him.  And then Cintron couldn't handle a difficult high hop on Bartlett's groundball.  And then Jason Kubel singled to right to tie the game at 1.

The second Cintron error was inexcusable -- there were two outs, and Garland had retired Punto on a grounder that was too weak to turn into a double play.  Bartlett's chopper was far easier this time, too.  Cintron just didn't look it into his mitt.  It caromed off his palm, and then Kubel followed with a three-run homer to pretty much decide the ballgame.

It was only the fifth inning, but since Johan Santana was on the mound, the Sox weren't going to come back.  They touched him up for a run in the second when Jermaine Dye doubled, then scored on Cintron's single.  Cintron even stole second, but he must have thought the throw got past Rodriguez, because he got up and started running -- only to realize about seven feet in that Rodriguez had the ball.  It wasn't a good day for Cintron.

The Sox only threatened one other time, loading the bases with two outs and Paul Konerko at the plate in the fourth inning.  Konerko took the first pitch he saw and ... flew out to left.

Garland nearly got out of the game unscathed in terms of earned runs, but Justin Morneau hit a line drive to left field with a runner on first.  Josh Fields was shaded towards center, and made a great effort to get back there.  Unfortuantely, he and the ball reached the fence at the same time.  Fields went smashy smashy, the ball got away from him and Morneau ended up on third.

Record: 61-82 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 8: White Sox 8, Twins 7

Any chance Ron Gardenhire will come up with a catchy and extremely marketable nickname for the White Sox after a second straight come-from-behind victory?

Probably not, but it's a shame we're only seeing Ozzie Guillen and Kenny Williams' vision coming to life well after they played themselves far out of contention. They wanted their team to be able to scratch together victories like the Twins, and now they're getting it.

Jim Thome had another big day at the plate, hitting his 497th homer in the first and adding a go-ahead single through the shift in the seventh.  When they pitched around him in the fifth, Paul Konerko, who went back-to-back with Thome, made them pay with a two-run single.  That was the middle-of-the-order combo that should've at least kept the Sox around .500, if not near the top of the AL Central.

A pinch-hitting A.J. Pierzynski took the first pitch he saw from Carmen Cali and swatted it into the Bullpen Sports Bar for a game-tying two-run homer.  That was fitting, since his big St. Stanislaus Day homer happened exactly one year to this date.

And while Jose Contreras didn't live up to preseason expectations, the bullpen picked him up big time.  Mike Myers threw two scoreless inning for a second day in a row, Mike MacDougal retired the only two batters he faced, and Matt Thornton went four up, four down (including strikeouts of the first three) for his second save of the year.

Only Contreras was missing from the equation, and it was mainly because he caught way too much of the plate throughout the day.  It was pretty much of the opposite of his last start, in which he walked five but didn't give the Indians anything to turn on.  Today, he only walked one, but the Twins picked him apart.

Alex Cintron aided and abetted Minnesota's cause once again, as he started off the third inning by throwing high and wide to first after fielding a routine grounder.  That snowballed into a four-run inning, the day after his throwing error led to a six-run inning.

Record: 61-81 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 7: White Sox 11, Twins 10 (13 innings)

It's fitting that an unlikely event capped off a chain of improbable occurrences -- starting with the fact that the Twins scored six runs in the top of the ninth, and the White Sox scored six in the bottom of the ninth.

A.J. Pierzynski looked awful in his previous two at-bats leading up to his game-winning hit.  In the ninth inning, he struck out against Joe Nathan because he swung at two 58-60 footers.  In the 11th, he grounded out weakly to second.

But in the 13th, after swinging at another ankle-high sinker, Pierzynski found a pitch that stayed up enough and drilled it through the left side, past a diving Jason Bartlett, to drive in the winning run and cap off a six-run comeback.  Heath Phillips, after taking the loss in his first major-league appearance a couple days ago, managed to take home his first win to even his record.

Of course, Pierzynski's single may have merely been a 6-3 groundout had Joe West given Bartlett the neighborhood play on an apparent fielder's choice the play before.  Scott Podsednik chopped a grounder to second, and Nick Punto looked at first before throwing to second.  Bartlett came off the bag to avoid a sliding Jim Thome, and West didn't give him the force at second.

Thome played a big part in the Sox's comeback, blasting a three-run homer over the center field fence to cut the game to 10-9, following a two-run double by Josh Fields.  Paul Konerko walked, and a pinch-running Scott Podsednik stole second before coming home on Darin Erstad's game-tying double.

The Sox needed six runs to tie because of another bullpen meltdown triggered by an awful throw by Alex Cintron.  Two singles put runners on first and third with one out when Torii Hunter hit a chopper to third.  It may have been hit too slowly for the Sox to get two, but they didn't even get one because Cintron pretty much spiked the throw.

Boone Logan replaced Mike MacDougal, and the wheels came off.  After a pair of RBI singles by Justin Morneau and Mike Cuddyer, he gave up a three-run homer to .141-hitting Rondell White.  Fortunately, Lance Broadway stopped the bleeding in his big-league debut, retiring the only two batters he faced.

But that's not even where the weirdness starts.  It actually can be traced back to the seventh, when Alex Cintron tied the game with a pinch-hit home run.  After zero homers through August, he's hit two in September.

Javier Vazquez was nearly nibbled to death by the piranhas, but rebounded to pitch 6 1/3 solid innings, striking out eight.  Juan Uribe hit a two-run homer off personal whipping boy Carlos Silva.  With two hits in three at-bats, he's now 19-for-37 lifetime off the Minnesota righty.

Record: 60-81 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 6: Tigers 3, White Sox 2

The White Sox against Chad Durbin:

.173/.250/.348 in 69 ABs.

The rest of baseball against Chad Durbin:

.278/.350/.441 in 409 ABs.

Yup, Durbin shut down the Sox again for five more innings, as the offense nearly spoiled another terrific outing by Mark Buehrle.  But Paul Konerko's two-run double gave the Sox the lead and put Buehrle in position to win the ballgame, so Bobby Jenks blew it instead.

That's actually unfair to Jenks, because Detroit hitters couldn't make solid contact off him.  They just happened to hit in the exact right spots.  Timo Perez started it all with a soft grounder up the middle that made Danny Richar rush his throw.  It got past Konerko and put a runner in scoring position with nobody out.

Timo would score after a sac bunt and a seeing-eye single by Sean Casey, and after a two-foot groundout by Brandon Inge advanced pinch-running Omar Infante to second, he came around to score on a perfectly placed grounder through the left side by Placido Polanco.

Record: 59-81 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 5: Tigers 2, White Sox 1 (11 innings)

Almost two full years after he played his last game on the South Side, Timo Perez continues to torment White Sox fans.

Over a two-year span in Chicago, he became famous for thwarting rallies by making outs on the very first pitch.  He ended tonight's 11th-inning rally for the Tigers tonight on a first-pitch fastball, but only because he lined a double off the right-field wall to drive in the winning run.

Of course, it happened as Heath Phillips made his major-league debut tonight.  As you can guess, Phillips lost his major-league debut tonight.

As we've seen with nearly every other pitcher who's made the trip from Charlotte, that's the Chicago way!  He should fit right in.

Phillips had set himself up for an easy 1-2-3 when Curtis Granderson couldn't drag a bunt past the hefty lefty to lead off the inning.  Placido Polanco lined out firmly to left field, which brought the struggling Brandon Inge to the plate.  But then Brandon Inge doubled to the left-center gap, and then he pitched around Carlos Guillen to bring up Perez.

It was an unfortunate end to a pretty good effort by Sox pitching overall.  The only damage Gavin Floyd allowed over six innings was a solo homer to Mike Hessman.  He worked out of a couple other jams, stranding two runners in scoring position with a strikeout of Mike Raburn in the third inning.  Timo also stranded runners on second and third in the fifth inning on -- you guessed it -- a first pitch flyout.

Even the bullpen withstood itself.  Mike Myers, for the first time all year, did the job he was supposed to do, retiring Curtis Granderson.  Ryan Bukvich embarrassed himself, throwing eight of 10 pitches for balls to walk the only two batters he faced.  Boone Logan cleaned up his mess, though, and Ozzie Guillen's military method of bullpen management (left-right-left-right...) ultimately worked out.

What didn't work out?  The offense.  Outside of Danny Richar's solo homer off Kenny Rogers, the Sox didn't put another run.  Richar had half the Sox's hits, actually, and the solo homer was the last time the Sox had a hit before two outs.

Of course, Richar also failed on a bunt attempt when Todd Jones walked Juan Uribe to start the 10th inning.  He grounded one bunt fouled, popped up another one, then struck out on a low, inside breaking ball.  A.J. Pierzynski followed with a walk, perhaps getting Richar off the hook.  But Jerry Owens flew out to left, and Josh Fields chopped out to end the inning.

Record: 59-80 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 4: White Sox 3, Tigers 1

Tonight, it was a pleasure to watch Jon Garland pitch.  And he did it almost entirely with his sinker.

Seven innings, seven hits, no walks, no home runs.  The fastball was popping 91-93 m.p.h. on the Detroit feed's gun.  He induced a couple of key double plays.  He held what baserunners he allowed in check.

Perhaps what was most impressive is that he tossed a couple of innings so quick that he might have made Mark Buehrle jealous.  He used only 16 pitches in the fourth and fifth innings combined.

And when the only damage comes on a couple of singles by Detroit's best hitters -- Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Guillen -- it's hard to expect Garland to throw any better.  In fact, outside of a Guillen double down the right field line (on which Jermaine Dye pulled a quad muscle), the Tigers really didn't hit one ball hard.

Considering Garland's recent track record (6.91 ERA over his last 10 starts), such a quality outing might normally register as the strangest occurrence of the night.

Not this game, however.  Not when the Sox score two runs thanks to a Paul Konerko infield single and Alex Cintron's first homer of the year.  Konerko hit a weak grounder to second, but Guillen, a relative newcomer to first base, couldn't find the bag when retreating to cover first.  Then Cintron turned on a Jeremy Bonderman fastball just hard enough for it to bounce off the top of the fence, caroming off the protective railing in front of the seats before bouncing back onto the field.

Perhaps the evening of weirdness explains Bobby Jenks' rockiest outing in a month and a half.  He lost Brandon Inge on a borderline 3-2 fastball for his first walk since July 7, and then pinch-hitting Sean Casey took a 1-2 fastball back up the middle to put two runners on.  Pinch-running Cameron Maybin stole second, but Jenks struck out Curtis Granderson with a low, inside slider to end the game.

What wasn't unusual was the way the Sox scored their first run, when Josh Fields took a first-pitch slider over the left-center wall for his 18th homer of the season.

Record: 59-79 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 2: White Sox 8, Indians 0

One look at Jose Contreras' line, and it might seem like he was lucky to get out of the game with a quality start, much less unscored upon.  Six walks and four hits in 6 2/3 innings is more baserunners than the Count can usually handle.

Today, however, he didn't care about the basepaths.  He instead devoted his focus on throwing pitches that the Indians couldn't hit.  He nibbled at times, and while he lost a few batters via the base on balls (including three in one inning), they didn't make him pay because they couldn't make solid contact most of the game.  They only had once chance for an extra-base hit when Asdrubal Cabreras smoked one down the right field line.  Darin Erstad played the short hop off the wall perfectly, though, set his feet and made a gorgeous throw to nail Cabrera at second.

Cleveland only truly threatened once -- in the fourth inning, when a Kenny Lofton infield single off Contreras' glove loaded the bases.  He got a first-pitch double play from Trot Nixon to quickly kill the rally.

To cap off his charmed day, the offense gave him plenty of run support -- a 5-0 lead before he left the game, and three after.  And what's remarkable is that they should've scored more:

*They had three base hits in the first inning, but didn't score.  Jerry Owens was caught stealing after a questionable call on a pitchout.

*Juan Uribe struck out twice with the bases loaded -- and looked godawful doing so.

*Andy Gonzalez was thrown out stealing quite easily by Victor Martinez on a strike-him-out-throw-him-out.

Still, the Sox maintained an approach far superior to the last time they faced Jake Westbrook, taking their singles from the sinkerballer instead of trying to jerk everything into the stands.  They chased him with 11 hits over five innings, and didn't even stop when relievers came into the game.

Everybody got into the act.  Owens reached base five times out of the leadoff spot, walking twice without taking the bat off his shoulder.  One of those free passes forced in a run.  A.J. Pierzynski snapped an 0-for-18 skid with a four-hit day.  Jim Thome had a key two-out flare single that scored two runs.  Danny Richar climbed over the Mendoza Line with a two hits.  Erstad hit his third homer of the year.

Even Uribe came through a couple times -- he struck out thrice, but also had two singles up the middle and scored when he reached base.

The bullpen didn't blow this 5-0 lead.  Boone Logan got into a little trouble in the eighth when he gave up a single and a walk with only one out, but Ehren Wassermann entered the game and got a double play.  Bobby Jenks' streak of 11 consecutive batters was broken when Paul Konerko failed to snag Trot Nixon's hard grounder for an error.

Record: 58-79 | Box score | Play-by-play

September 1: Indians 7, White Sox 0

It could be worse.  They could be Michigan.

Record: 57-79 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 31: Indians 8, White Sox 5

If you're as numb to the losses as I am, the eighth inning was pretty damn funny.

First, you had Mike Myers entering the game for the sole purpose of facing Travis Hafner.  He walked Pronk on four pitches.  But wait -- Myers has had far more success against right-handed batters anyway, so let's see how he handles Victor Martinez.  Oops, Victor singled.

Then Mike MacDougal came in and got the ground ball he needed from Ryan Garko -- except it took an insane hop off the lip of the infield, kicking both high and to the right past Juan Uribe.  And that's when the meltdown truly began.

MacDougal couldn't find the strike zone -- he threw four straight balls to the slumping Jhonny Peralta, and followed that up with four more to walk Kenny Lofton and bring home the tying run.  On the 2-0 pitch to Lofton that home plate umpire John Hirschbeck thought was high, MacDougal showed his disgust with the umpire.  It's hard to blame Hirschbeck though, since the previous six pitches probably warped the idea of what the actual strike zone was.

He finally got ahead of Casey Blake 1-2, but Blake laid off the next two pitches before doubling to right.  He finished his night by walking Asdrubal Cabrera on four pitches, for a grand total of 18 balls out of the 25 pitches he threw.

Boone Logan, who Ozzie should have gone to instead of Myers, got Grady Sizemore to fly out weakly to Darin Erstad to end the inning.

At this point, losses aren't a bad thing -- if they're going to be this pathetic, they may as well get the No. 1 draft pick for their troubles.  However, it would've been nice for Mark Buehrle to get credit for his 10th win, since he deserved it. 

It was a classic Buehrle outing -- fast-paced, efficient and under control.  He only allowed four hits -- three of them came in the sixth inning, when he allowed two runs.  Even then, none of those singles were hit all that authoritatively.

Peralta owned the two hardest-hit balls of the night off Buehrle.  One ended up caught by Jerry Owens on the warning track, and a hard grounder down the third-base line was picked cleanly by Andy Gonzalez, who rose and fired in time to get Peralta by half a step.  After a three-error night Thursday, Gonzalez played a perfect game in this one.

The Sox offense actually managed to score all five runs without a home run, and they should've had more.  They loaded the bases off Fausto Carmona in the first inning, but Jermaine Dye, A.J. Pierzynski and Gonzalez each struck out swinging.

They finally broke through in the fourth, when Danny Richar singled Jerry Owens doubled just inside the left-field line.  Josh Fields drove home one run with an RBI groundout, and Dye singled through the left side.  The Sox added three more an inning later, when Erstad scored all the way from first on a hit-and-run single by Juan Uribe because Franklin Gutierrez had no idea where the ball was.  Fields hit a sac fly, and Jim Thome landed a broken-bat single in short left to give the Sox a 5-0 lead.

Record: 57-77 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 30: Rangers 5, White Sox 1

Tonight, Andy Gonzalez played the defining game of his career.

That's not a good thing, as Gonzalez committed three errors in the third inning that led to three unearned runs.  He started the inning with a throwing error that allowed Jarrod Saltalamacchia to reach base.  John Danks mishandled a sacrifice bunt for two straight errors.  After a flyout to left, Gonzalez then threw wide on Gerald Laird's bunt, considered a single and an error. 

Then when he had the chance to end the inning, he short-armed the ball on a routine grounder and the ball sailed over Paul Konerko's head.

The four-error inning made Danks' night shorter than it could've been.  He pitched well, almost using a fastball and changeup exclusively.  One fastball was sent over the center field fence by Sammy Sosa, but otherwise he looked sharper than he did his last time around.

As far as the offense is concerned, there wasn't much to speak of.  Jim Thome continued to terrorize Texas pitching with his 23rd homer, but the Sox on the whole failed to put up much of a fight.

Record: 57-76 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 29: Rangers 5, White Sox 4 (11 innings)

With a 4-3 lead, one out and a runner on second, Matt Thornton came into the game and ended up facing Sammy Sosa.  He quickly got him down 0-2 with a couple fastballs.  Then he two fastballs that missed the strike zone to even the count.

Then he threw another one, and Sosa went with it and lined it into right field for a game-tying double.

It would be the first of two times Sosa thrived on a mistake.  The second decided the game, when he hit a liner to shallow center that Jerry Owens initially misread, and then stumbled in making up the ground.  He fell, Ian Kinsler scored without a play at the plate, and the Sox lost their second straight one-run game.

However, Thornton's mistake bothered me more.  He'd made the mistake previously a couple months ago to Bobby Abreu, throwing him enough fastballs to where Abreu finally gauged one.  It wouldn't have been as bad had Mike MacDougal not made the same mistake to Sosa earlier in the year.  In Sammy's return to Chicago, MacDougal got ahead 0-2 on two fastballs, then left a third one out over the plate.  Sosa crushed it out to right.

Almost as frustrating was the Sox's inability to score the go-ahead run from third in the eighth inning with less than two outs.  After Juan Uribe bunted runners over to second and third, Danny Richar came to the plate and was completely overmatched by Joaquin Benoit.  So was Jerry Owens, and the Sox swouldn't threaten again.

You could tally that up to rookie mistakes -- except that Jermaine Dye was on the bench, and presumably able to pinch hit.  If he batted for Richar, Andy Gonzalez could've slid over to second, Josh Fields to third and Darin Erstad to left.  Batting for Owens, Erstad could've played center.

Either way, Ozzie Guillen could've sent a far superior hitter to the plate in the situation in two different opportunities, but chose not to.

He also left his best bullpen arm to rot while Boone Logan pitched out of his element.  Then again, perhaps it's not smart to tack on mileage to Bobby Jenks' arm in a lost season.

No matter how you slice it, it was a waste of a decent outing by Jon Garland, who threw a quality start after sporting an 8.65 ERA over his last 10 starts.  One of the three runs he allowed should've been unearned, as Jarrod Saltalamacchia received a gift double when Fields broke in when he should've broken back, then scored on a groundout and a single.

Jim Thome also had a nice night in defeat.  With hits in his first three at-bats (including a pair of RBI singles), he managed the amazing feat of reaching base 19 times in his first 20 appearances against the Rangers this year.

Record: 57-76 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 28: Rangers 4, White Sox 3

If the White Sox were actually in contention, this would be the kind of game that would drive me insane.  Alas, it's just another example of why this team needs some big-time changes.

The Sox had a few reasons why they should've won this game:

No. 1: Gavin Floyd gave them a quality start.  He didn't look dominating, but that's kind of a good thing, since the story up to this point is that he can't get anybody out without his Grade A stuff.  At any rate, these aren't results he's going to post often, so they should be taken advantage of.

No. 2:  They chased Kason Gabbard in the fifth inning.  The Sox entered the game having scored one run on Gabbard over two starts.  They put two on him in the first inning when Jim Thome drew a two-out walk and Paul Konerko went the opposite way for his 27th homer, and then Jim Thome added a solo shot.

No. 3:  They had the bases loaded with nobody out in the eighth inning.  John Rheinecker came in and gave up a single to Thome (who had a great game) and walked Konerko when Paulie held up on a 3-2 check swing.  Wes Littleton came in and drilled Jermaine Dye in the back pocket to load the bases.

Alas, Juan Uribe hit a weak grounder to short, which Michael Young turned into a 6-2 putout to get pinch-running Jerry Owens at home.  Then Danny Richar grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, and that was all the Sox offense had to offer.

Mike MacDougal took the loss thanks to a single, a wild pitch and another single.

Record: 57-75 | Box score | Play-by-play

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

August 26: Red Sox 11, White Sox 1

You know it's a terrible season when Josh Fields' first start in left field is the main reason to tune in.  And sure enough, in the ninth inning, he struggled to follow a high, medium-range David Ortiz fly ball, and fell down in an unsuccessful attempt to snare it.

Making matters worse, it came on the heels of another unfortunate play by a Sox rookie, when Danny Richar caught a liner but slipped when turning to second to double up Coco Crisp.

This is what we have to look forward to, folks.

Javier Vazquez looked great until the fifth inning, when he gave up four runs -- all of them crossing the plate with two outs.  The game was over then, since the offense could only muster three hits against Julian Tavarez and Co.  Vazquez ended up surrendering three homers on the day, effectively negating a 10-strikeout performance.

Record: 56-74 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 25: Red Sox 14, White Sox 2

Record: 56-73 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 24: Red Sox 10, White Sox 1

John Danks stunk.

Gavin Floyd stunk.

The offense stunk.

Juan Uribe was alright.

Record: 56-72 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 24: Red Sox 11, White Sox 3

Honestly, I'd take this start from Jon Garland anytime.  He didn't walk anybody, kept the ball in the yard and wasn't hit all that hard.

(Yes, I know technically he walked David Ortiz to start the eighth, the last batter he faced.  However, considering he'd thrown 102 pitches through seven and the Sox have roughly 1,727 guys in their bullpen, there was no reason for Ozzie Guillen to send him back out there.)

The problem for Garland was that more than half the hits he allowed came in one inning -- a four-run fifth that ultimately decided this game.  The one that gave the Red Sox the lead was a single that split Garland's wickets.  If he gets a glove on that like he usually does, he might've been able to start a 1-6-3 double play.  Danny Richar's first error on a nubber to second didn't help matters either.

Otherwise, Garland looked OK.  The bullpen, on the other hand, didn't.

Ozzie probably ran Garland out in the seventh because Ortiz is left-handed, and he didn't want to burn a lefty only to face two right-handers afterwards.

Of course, that approach only pays off with good relievers.  Ryan Bukvich isn't one, and surely enough, he allowed both righties he faced to reach base to load the bases.  Boone Logan allowed a sacrifice fly, which forced an intentional walk, and then Ehren Wassermann gave up a single to score another.

Wassermann actually got the job done -- he needed to get ground balls, and induced three of them.  Unfortunately, Kevin Youkilis' bounced through the left side.  Another led to a forceout at home, and the other was an inning-ending 4-3.

That's more than you can say about Mike Myers, who, after today's appearance, has allowed seven hits, two walks and six runs in his first two innings with the White Sox.

Meanwhile, the Sox offense made Josh Beckett work a little, but not nearly enough.  Their best chance came in the first inning, when Beckett loaded the bases on a double and two walks, and walked in Jermaine Dye to give Chicago a 1-0 lead.  Juan Uribe, however, struck out looking on an iffy 3-2 fastball to end the thread.  It was only the 10th time Uribe has earned a backwards K this season.

Josh Fields hit home run No. 16 to cut the lead to 5-3, but the Boston bullpen held the Sox down the rest of the way.

Record: 56-71 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 22: Royals 7, White Sox 6

Yup, Jose Conteras has reverted back to his 2004 form.

He has his velocity back, but any time a baserunner gets on, he's a different pitcher.  During his dominant stretch, he managed to ignore the runners that did get on, and as a result, he allowed fewer of them.

This time, the Royals ran him ragged.  Aggressive baserunning led to three of the Royals' four runs in the first inning.  Mark Grudzielanek went from first to third on David DeJesus' hit-and-run single, and scored on a sacrifice fly.  DeJesus stole second after that and scored on Ross Gload's base hit.

A two-out walk led to two more runs for the Royals in the second.  Jerry Owens may have been able to prevent the third run from scoring, but somehow Jason LaRue, after that free pass, went from first to third on a single up the middle.  Owens had a shot, but didn't seem to give a throw the thought.  A couple of singles later, a couple more runs crossed the plate.

They didn't stop running after Contreras departed, either.  DeJesus bunted successfully on Mike Myers with two outs, but didn't have to run very hard the rest of the way, scoring on Billy Butler's two-run homer.

In the eighth, Toby Hall threw high trying to gun down Alex Gordon on second with a runner on third.  Emil Brown crossed the plate easily, and thus the Royals scored six out of their seven runs thanks to their legs.

At least the Sox offense made this interesting, thanks to Josh Fields' three-run homer in the ninth, an absolute blast.  Unfortunately, Paul Konerko struck out with a runner on first to end the game.

Konerko homered for the second straight game, but the bad outweighed the good today.  Along with the strikeout, he lost track of Gordon on second base in the eighth inning, allowing him to tag up on a routine foul out to first.  Then again, Fields lost track of the number of outs in the sixth, nearly throwing home with two outs on a grounder to third before changing his mind and getting the out at first by a step.

Record: 56-70 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 21: White Sox 5, Royals 2

A wise man once said:

"Did you enjoy tonight's seven-pitcher effort? Then you're in luck, because Mike Myers is only going to prolong the process."

But that guy didn't expect it to be this re-dad-gum-diculous.

Sure, the Sox won their second straight and took a solo hold of fourth place once again.  Yes, Jim Thome killed the ball, driving in three runs with a first-inning double and a two-run homer, the 493rd of his career.  Danny Richar continues to raise that average, homering for the second straight night.

Oh, and let's not forget an old favorite -- Scott Podsednik hurting himself again.

But the story of this game is Ozzie Guillen's frenetic bullpen usage, an effort that would've made Tony La Russa feel like he's been on autopilot for the last three decades.  It can be boiled down to one sentence:

During this game, five different relievers threw five consecutive pitches.

Yep, the Sox used seven relievers for the second straight night, but unlike yesterday, two Sox relievers actually threw complete innings.  Boone Logan threw a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh, coming in after Javier Vazquez threw six laborious yet ultimately effective innings.  Bobby Jenks finished the game with a 1-2-3 ninth (he's now retired 47 of his last 48!).  Don't blame Ehren Wassermann, who started the reliever sinkhole known as the eighth inning by retiring the only batter he faced, Billy Butler, on a flyout to left.

No, the OOGY a-go-go started with Myers, who came in after Wassermann got his guy.  Ozzie eschewed this year's stats, which showed that Myers struggled against lefties, and brought him in to face old favorite Ross Gload.  Gload promptly sent a single to center.  That ended Myers' night.

Enter Ryan Bukvich, to face right-handed Emil Brown.  Brown shot a single up the middle.  That ended Bukvich's night.

Matt Thornton then jogged in to face lefty Alex Gordon, and thankfully Gordon took the first pitch he saw and turned it into a 4-6-3 double play, because John Buck was on deck.  Had that grounder gotten past Richar, it's quite likely a fifth pitcher would have seen action in one inning.

This can't continue.  Considering it took an hour and 10 minutes to get through three innings, this game had already been moving at a snail's pace before the bullpen got involved.

Record: 56-69 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 20: White Sox 4, Royals 3

It's a sign of the season that a skid-snapping win still feels like a letdown.

Bobby Jenks came into the game in the ninth inning having retired 41 consecutive hitters, tying the major-league record.  Unfortunately, he had to face Joey Gathright leading off the inning.  Gathright is the worst kind of guy to face in the situation -- fastest guy in the league, on a tear (he entered the game batting .363) and left-handed.

Jenks went up 0-2 on Gathright, although he slashed the second pitch just a couple feet fair of the left-field foul line for strike two.  Then Jenks tried to put the hammer down, but left all three curves he threw up in the zone.  Gathright smacked one through the hole on the left side, denying Jenks No. 42 and foiling the Sox for a second time on the evening.

At least he shook it off, settled down and retired the next three hitters for the save, giving the Sox a share of fourth place and capping off a comeback sparked by the rookies.

Down 3-2 in the seventh inning, former Sox reliever David Riske entered the game.  Danny Richar must have been glad to see him after striking out twice against Gil Meche, because he led off the inning by turning on a fastball and drilling it into the bullpen for his second career homer.

Jerry Owens followed with a single and stole second.  Josh Fields then drove him in with an opposite-field single over the head of Mark Grudzielanek.  It was the kind of compact swing Fields should use more often, especially with two strikes.

Before the kids turned the game around, it had all the makings of a Sox loss.  Scott Podsednik gave Mark Buehrle a lead in the fifth inning when he hit a two-run homer off Meche, his second of the season, but Buehrle gave it right back.  He labored through 5 1/3 innings, and Ozzie Guillen was right to pull him when he did.

Grudzielanek led the inning off with a double, a drive which Owens nearly caught until he slid into the wall.  Billy Butler just missed hitting one out to center, but Emil Brown turned around and crushed one to left to tie the ballgame.  Alex Gordon turned on an inside-fastball for a bloop double down the right-field line, and that was Buehrle's night.

Ehren Wassermann came in and got a grounder to short, but it was too weak -- and Tony Pena Jr. too fast -- to turn two.  Matt Thornton came in to face Gathright, but he placed a grounder in nearly the same spot that ended Jenks' streak to give the Royals the lead.

Thornton rebounded, and although Ozzie went matchup crazy with Ryan Bukvich, Boone Logan and Mike MacDougal before Jenks closed it out, they got the job done.  These nights will only get longer when Mike Myers arrives in Chicago.

Record: 55-69 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 19: Mariners 11, White Sox 5

You only had to watch four outs of this game to understand where these two teams stand in terms of talent.  After Jerry Owens hit a two-run, stand-up triple, the Sox stranded him at third after Jermaine Dye grounded into his second double play of the afternoon.

Jon Garland, who gave up two homers in the first inning and a couple more runs in the second, appeared to finally settle down when Jamie Burke hit a hard but routine grounder to short that would apparently end the inning.

But Juan Uribe couldn't handle a hop, and by the time he corralled it and fired to first, Burke's foot was on the bag.  Then the following happened:

1. Yuniesky Betancourt doubled off Josh Fields' glove.
2. Ichiro Suzuki shot a single between the hole on the right side.
3. Jose Vidro singled.
4. Ryan Bukvich threw a wild pitch to bring home a run.
   
5. Ryan Bukvich walked a guy.
6. Ryan Bukvich walked a guy.
7. Ryan Bukvich walked a guy, bringing home a run.

Record: 54-69 | Box score | Play-by-play

August 18: Mariners 7, White Sox 5

This game unfolded like a good chunk of first-round NCAA tournament games do.

Underdog jumps out to lead while favorite struggles to click:

Jim Thome and A.J. Pierzynski homered off Jeff Weaver, and the Sox played for one run successfully when Pierzynski and Erstad singled, Scott Podsednik bunted them over and Juan Uribe hit a deep flyball for the sacrifice fly.

Meanwhile, the Mariners shot themselves in the foot twice by grounding into double plays, including one nicely turned by Juan Uribe and Danny Richar to get Kenji Johjima.

Favorite climbs back into the game:

John Danks looked strong the first couple of innings, but then started leaving pitches up.  Base hits started falling, and when Jose Vidro singled to left with two outs, it was a brand new ballgame.

Underdog becomes undone:

Ehren Wassermann experienced his toughest inning as a major-league reliever.  He came in after Danks allowed a single to start the sixth, and began by hanging a sinker to Richie Sexson, who roped it into the left-field corner to put runners on second and third.  He then threw another hittable fastball to Johjima, who shot it right back up the middle.  Sexson was held at third, but Jerry Owens airmailed the throw, and it bounced into the camera well behind home plate.

The Seattle feed's camera work sucked, and I couldn't see whether Wassermann could've caught Owens' throw.  It went over Pierzynski's head, but bounced short of the wall.

He battled back by inducing a couple choppers to third, which kept Johjima stranded at third after the two-base error.  But then Wassermann walked Ichiro intentionally, and then Vidro shot a single to right.  Josh Fields couldn't handle a chopper, loading the bases, and then another run scored when Wassermann bounced one and Pierzynski couldn't block it.

It was the equivalent of a 29-5 run that turns a possible upset into a laugher in the other direction.  The favorite ends up covering the spread and reminds everybody watching that there is a tremendous talent imbalance on the court.

A couple of bright notes: Thome hit two homers, and Pods made arguably the finest defensive play of his White Sox career when he ran down a shallow flyball, then in one motion fired to first in time to get Yunieski Betancourt by a step.

Record: 54-68 | Box score | Play-by-play

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