Had the White Sox not managed to pad their lead en route to a
respectable 6-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers Tuesday night, this post would've had a different title.
After Mark Buehrle's sacrifice bunt attempt turned into a fielder's choice at third for the second out of the fourth inning, Vin Scully dropped the following line that pretty much summed up the offense's struggles away from U.S. Cellular Field (the audio's in the player):
So for the White Sox in some respects, even though they are winning, they are spinning their wheels. They're not going anywhere. They are running in place. They had the bases loaded and nobody out in the first inning and they were fortunate to get one. Now they had second and third and nobody out, and Ozzie Guillen is watching them run on the treadmill to nowhere.
Alas, Buehrle,
with the help of the ever-improving defense behind him, held the lead long enough for the Sox to add to it, snapping their nine-game road losing streak. We'll have to save that for later -- perhaps as soon as tomorrow.
The other strange thing about listening to Scully is that I've learned more about Dewayne Wise in one Dodgers broadcast than I have from the Sox crew over the two weeks or so Wise has been on the roster. Along with the stuff you can find on his Baseball-Reference.com page, he also mentioned Wise had received football scholarship offers from South Carolina and Clemson, and also dropped the following with wonderful timing:
He has a tattoo of the red and blue major league baseball logo on his left bicep -- shoulder, got that when he was 18 years old ... absolutely, madly in love with baseball...
(Wise strikes out at a pitch in the dirt)
...well, most of the time.
Oh, and while Scully was describing in detail the litany of Carlos Quentin's hit-by-pitch feats, Hawk Harrelson and Darrin Jackson were talking about golf swings.
That was three batters into the game.
*******************
Speaking of Wise, he's making a name for himself with six hits in his last three starts -- so much so that he poses a difficult decision for Ozzie Guillen and Kenny Williams when Paul Konerko comes off the DL.
As
I've written before, there isn't much reason to believe Wise can come close to sustaining this level of play, though there is the possibility that he could have it all figured out this year. Maybe the Sox have caught an old dog in a bottle, or lightning has learned new tricks. But even if he's merely a collection of tools without a lot of game, he still offers the Sox a few things they don't have on their bench:
- A left-handed outfielder.
- Speed, with basestealing ability.
- Some pop.
Like he did on Monday,
Guillen continued to praise Wise for his performance, and this is the best news in that Mark Gonzalez article:
"I really love Uribe," Guillen said. "We're going to try to do the best
we can to have better stuff for him—maybe here or somewhere else. I'm
not going to say somewhere else because I'm not making the move, but
I'm trying to find playing time here. That's why I might play him at
third base a little bit. He's taking it real professional and we
appreciate that as a coaching staff."
Uribe committed only two errors in 27 games at the hot corner in 2004, the only time he has played the position in the big leagues. For comparison's sake, Ozuna has committed five in 22 games there over the last two seasons, though there are sample size issues.
This would be a terrific time to try Uribe there, because
Joe Crede may need more time to rest his stiff back, and the Dodgers are throwing two lefties the next two games, whom Crede can't hit anyway.
If I don't get my wish for a six-man bullpen, the next-best option is to have a more efficient bench. With Wise on the roster, the only skill Ozuna offers better than anybody on the roster is bunting -- and Uribe isn't far behind in that category. The broken leg he suffered last year sapped his speed considerably, and he has just two extra-base hits and two walks in 58 at-bats this year.
Considering Uribe plays all three infield positions and Alexei Ramirez can take care of the middle two, Ozuna only serves a purpose when catastrophe strikes. And if the Sox happen to lose two infielders in one game, well,
Jermaine Dye can always play short.
*******************
Minor league roundup:- Charlotte 6, Norfolk 5
- Dave Cook went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI.
- Jason Bourgeois went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored; Chris Getz had four hits.
- Jack Egbert gave up three solo homers over five innings.
- Birmingham 8, Mississippi 5
- Cole Armstrong went 4-for-5 with a double and an RBI.
- Victor Mercedes had a homer and two RBI; Javier Colina also drove in two.
- Miguel Negron and Robert Valido each had two hits.
- Justin Cassell allowed four runs (two earned) over six innings.
- Kannapolis 12, Lexington 7
- Dale Mollenhauer went 4-for-5 with two doubles and five RBI out of the leadoff spot.
- Logan Johnson had three hits including a homer; Christian Marrero also went 3-for-4.
- Mark Fleisher doubled twice and drove in two.
- Levi Maxwell picked up the win despite allowing six runs over five innings.
- Leroy Hunt struck out three of the four batters he faced for the win.
- Bristol 3, Kingsport 1
- Onarkys Paniagua struck out seven over six innings, allowing one run on five hits, making him the most successful Paniagua ever to play for the White Sox.
- Juan Silverio recorded the only RBI for Bristol with a sac fly.
- Helena 5, Great Falls 3
- Nevin Griffith had control problems but allowed only one unearned run through five. He gave up three hits, walked four and struck out four.
- Lyndon Estill homered for the second straight game; Jordan Cheatham had two hits.
Related: Kanekoa Texeira picked up the win with
a scoreless innings in the California League-Carolina League All-Star Game.