There was kind of an
Anthony Young thing going on with the Sox's inability to hit relievers. Ultimately I wanted to see them succeed, but not until they broke some kind of new ground in spectacular failure. Otherwise, it's all for naught.
Over at
the game chatter at South Side Sox, we were counting the outs until opposing bullpens combined to throw two straight no-hitters. Sure enough, the Blue Jays relievers accomplished that and then some
in today's game. Brian Tallet, Brian Wolfe, Scott Downs and Casey Janssen didn't allow a hit in their first five innings of relief, surpassing the 0-for-54 on the way to 61 straight at-bats without a hit.
Fortunately for the Sox, they had Paul Konerko to fire up the club. With two outs in the eighth, Konerko broke his bat for the second straight pitch, but this one stayed fair and rolled weakly to second. Konerko showed why he's the captain -- while jogging down the first base line, he tripped over his own feet and flat-out fell on all fours.
We laughed, but we shouldn't have doubted Paulie's uncanny leadership abilities. A.J. Pierzynski ripped a double to right to lead off the ninth, and the streak was over.
Of course, Joe Crede grounded out, Rob Mackowiak popped out and Alex Cintron struck out to leave the tying run on third. Reset the counter: Sox hitters are 0-for-3.
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If you happened to take a vacation this weekend and missed the weekend series, here's a very simple explanation for why the Sox only averaged 2.25 runs over the four-game series:
3. Jim Thome: 1-for-14, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 6 K
4. Paul Konerko: 1-for-12, 3 BB, 3 K
5. Jermaine Dye: 1-for-13, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K
Since his
3-for-3, five-RBI game against the A's May 22, Thome is 5-for-34 with 14 strikeouts.
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As you probably know by now, Roger Clemens won't be starting today's game for the Yankees against the Sox. Instead, Joe Torre
will be giving the ball to Matt DeSalvo, a rare pitcher who the Sox actually hit hard this year. He
lasted 3 1/3 innings in his start May 17, but that may have played into the Yanks' hands, as the New York bullpen allowed only one hit over the last 4 2/3 innings.
There was some mystery surrounding the starting situation -- Kei Igawa was considered the other possible candidate, but he started
today's game for Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre, which means the Sox lucked out. Sure, Igawa gave up 26 runs in 30 2/3 innings before being demoted, but...
he throws with his left hand. That would've meant six solid innings at least.
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Minor league round-up:- Indianapolis 5, Charlotte 2
- Andy Sisco continues to underwhelm -- 2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K in his outing today. Vladimir Nunez gave up the other four runs on three homers.
- Wiki Gonzalez provided the scoring with a two-run homer. Ryan Sweeney went 1-for-4.
- Craig Wilson went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts; Josh Fields and Brian Anderson did not play.
- Tennessee 10, Birmingham 3
- Adam Russell ran into a wall in his start. After throwing two scoreless starting out, he gave up six runs in the third, and didn't make it out of a three-run fourth. He gave up 11 hits and one walk, and also committed an error to aid the Smokies' big third inning.
- Ryan Wing threw 3 1/3 perfect innings of relief, striking out five.
- Cory Aldridge went 3-for-4 with two doubles; Chris Kelly and Ricardo Nanita had two hits apiece.
- Greenville 15, Kannapolis 5
- Carlos Perez, Noe Rodriguez and Ryan Rote all were shelled.
- Anderson Gomes went 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBI; Brandon Allen also hit a solo homer; Chris Carter had the day off.
- Winston-Salem PPD