2007 State of the Sox

September 30: Tigers 13, White Sox 3

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

September 29: White Sox 3, Tigers 2

Three pitchers, three stories:

1. Gavin Floyd.

Gavin Floyd threw another strong outing -- once again versus the Detroit Tigers.  He kept his fastball down most of the night, and his curveball was dynamite.  One good hitter beat him (Carlos Guillen with a solo homer), but because he didn't walk anybody, he didn't put himself into too many uncomfortable situations. 

When he had to deal with baserunners, he toughened up.  He worked around a Curtis Granderson double leading off the game, and pitched out of a two on, one-out situation in the second.  After that, it was pretty much smooth sailing.

When he left the game, he was in line for the win with a 2-1 lead, with both runs coming on a Jim Thome two-run moonshot.

2.  Boone Logan.

It took all of one pitch for Logan to relegate Floyd to No Decision Land.  Marcus Thames took a low, outside-half fastball the opposite way over the right-center fence to tie the game.

But it set up...

3.  Ehren Wassermann.

...The Wassermann Redemption.

The sidewinding righty earned his first decision in the form of a loss against the Royals Tuesday, and it wasn't his fault.  So it was good to see the rookie get a chance to even up his record when he came in the ninth and got the final two outs in relief of Logan.

It came with a little bit of controversy.  Darin Erstad led off the ninth by drawing a tough walk off Fernando Rodney, then advanced to second on a controversial call by old friend Doug Eddings.

Eddings had helped the Sox earlier in the game when he got in the way of Jermaine Dye scrambling back to second after overrunning the bag.  He would've been tagged out easily, but Dye collided with Eddings, making Dye safe at second no matter what.

This time, Eddings ruled that Ivan Rodriguez's throw to second on Scott Podsednik's sacrifice bunt attempt pulled Omar Infante off the bag.  Replays showed that Infante's toe was still touching when he caught the ball, but Erstad remained safe at second while Jim Leyland got the thumb from Eddings.

Juan Uribe put himself in a hole by fouling off two sacrifice bunt attempts, but it all worked out in his favor.  On a 2-2 pitch, Uribe shot a single past Sean Casey into right field.  Razor Shines sent Erstad, but there was no play at the plate, as Mike Raburn couldn't pick the ball to make a throw.

Record: 72-89 | 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 23: Twins 7, White Sox 1

Gavin Floyd made a run at a fifth straight quality start, but the Twins singled him to death an out short of the finish line.

Floyd allowed four singles in the fifth inning -- two of them were of the soft, perfectly placed variety, but as Floyd threw more pitches, the Twins hit the other two harder.  Mike Cuddyer drove in two with a sharp single to left, and Brian Buscher lined one to right, which would push Floyd out of the game.

Otherwise, aside from Garrett Jones' first career homer, Floyd looked OK.  He left his fastball over the plate a little too much, but he threw some really nice curveballs.

It didn't really matter what Floyd did, though, because unless he had his A-plus game, the Sox weren't going to win this one.

Kevin Slowey, making his first career start against the White Sox, did what guys making their first start against the Sox usually do -- shut them down.  Juan Uribe's single to center provided the Sox's only run, and they rarely threatened afterwards.

At one point, Slowey struck out five of six White Sox, and retired 12 in a row.

Record: 68-88 | 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