posted on Monday, August 11, 2008 11:06 PM by Jim

August 11: Red Sox 5, White Sox 1

Once again, John Danks pitched masterfully until the seventh inning.

Once again, John Danks did not receive enough run support to allow him such a slip-up.

Kevin Youkilis' broken-bat single with one out in the seventh ruined Danks' bid for a no-hitter, and after a walk and a strikeout, J.D. Drew's double to left center gave Danks the loss.

Of course, one wonders what might've been if Ken Griffey Jr. wasn't in center field.  He wouldn't have caught Drew's double, but if somebody got to the gap faster and made a stronger throw in, only one run may have crossed the plate.

Also, if somebody besides Griffey weren't in center, there would've been one out and a runner on first, instead of two on and nobody out when a single fell in front of Griffey in the ninth, leading to three runs scoring and the Red Sox pushing the game out of reach.

But then again, when only Josh Beckett and Jonathan Papelbon have to pitch, it doesn't spell good things for the pitching staff either way.  Nick Swisher scored the only run of the game when he singled, moved to second on Juan Uribe's single and scored on two flies to center.  Scratching across runs proved to be that arduous, and they didn't threaten again.

Record: 65-52 | Box score | Play-by-play

Comments

# re: August 11: Red Sox 5, White Sox 1

Tuesday, August 12, 2008 1:26 PM by Canis Obesus
Although it didn't get much mention, I thought the game turned on the catch made by Coco Crisp in the bottom of the sixth. With runners on 1rst & 2nd and two outs, Thome scorched a line drive to deep center that Crisp backpeddled on and caught followed by a backwards somersault. There was no replay and maybe the play was not as difficult as it looked, but if that ball gets by, one or two runs score giving Danks some extra cushion.

# re: August 11: Red Sox 5, White Sox 1

Tuesday, August 12, 2008 2:50 PM by Jim Margalus
Crisp overran it a bit -- it sliced back toward center as he was running toward right. But there really isn't an easy play on a ball hit that hard, and it was bad luck that it came back to Crisp.