I know what some of you are thinking.
After
a 16-run, 19-hit, seven-walk, four-homer outburst against the Pirates Tuesday night, you're probably wishing the Sox saved some runs for the rest of the series.
Don't worry about it. Whether the Sox score one run or 31 runs against former Sox fan Tom Gorzelanny later tonight, the Sox absolutely had to crush Ian Snell and Co. Tuesday for reasons that were evident
in Snell's scouting report and became ever more clear over the course of the evening.
Namely, the opposition hit .325 off his fastball coming in, and he shies away from establishing the inside corner to right-handed hitters. Once Sox hitters saw what his breaking stuff looked like, it should have been bombs away. Pittsburgh color guy John Wehner noted that after Nick Swisher fell behind to 0-2, he didn't even move his hands on three straight breaking pitches in the dirt.
If the Sox, a fastball-hitting team if there ever was one, were going to explode, tonight was the night -- especially when the Pirate relievers showed the same tendencies as Snell.
That's not saying they shouldn't have success against Gorzellany, who has a 6.65 ERA and 46 walks to 35 strikeouts in 65 innings. But he's a different case merely because he's left-handed. A non-changeup, meh-fastball throwing right-hander is the dream opponent for pretty much the entire White Sox lineup, and if they couldn't break out the lumber against him, then I would be officially drop into panic mode. As it is, I'm merely at "concerned."
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Adam Russell made about as good of a first impression as one can making his major-league debut in the ninth-inning of an 11-run ballgame, mainly because he didn't dick around. He went three up, three down, throwing eight of his 11 pitches for strikes and working faster than any Sox right-hander this year.
Of course, Nick Masset only needed 10 pitches to get through the eighth, so it's unlikely another inning of work would have taxed him. The only thing keeping me from complaining about the seven-man bullpen more is the fact that Josh Fields is on the DL with a strained right knee. Javier Colina was promoted to Charlotte and is starting at third.
I suppose Russell is already a step ahead of Dewon Day, so he's got that going for him, which is nice.
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Speaking of injuries at Charlotte, how much does Jerry Owens' year suck so far? Not only did the Sox pick Dewayne Wise over him yet again when they needed another outfielder, but then he went and hurt himself in the first inning of the aftermath. From
the Richmond Times-Dispatch's account:
Charlotte center fielder Jerry Owens bent his foot backward when he
banged into the wall chasing Jurich's double in the first inning of
Game 1 and had to leave the game. He will have X-rays today, Bombard
said.
I also thought
the rationale for picking Wise over Owens was interesting:
"He was playing good in the minor leagues, from what I hear," Guillen
said. "It was between him and Owens, and I think he was playing better
than Owens. That's the reason (general manager) Kenny (Williams) called
him up."
June stats:
- Wise: .255/.330/.400 in 40 ABs.
- Owens: .317/.364/.333 in 60 ABs.
Wise has the advantage OPS-wise, but there's probably a slight edge to Owens when considering OBP is more valuable than slugging, especially for a team like the Sox which has plenty of the latter and not enough of the former.
Pulling out the jump to conclusions mat, I'd wager to guess that Scott Podsednik's on-off relationship with his groin the past two years set the precedent for how Owens should be treated in Guillen's mind. If this doesn't seal the casket of Speed-For-Speed's-Sake Ozzie, I don't know what will convince people.
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A couple of quotes I found interesting, starting with
Charlotte manager Marc Bombard on Clayton Richard:
"He's the fastest worker I've seen. I thought Bob Gibson was a fast worker in his heyday. Clayton
works faster than Gibbie."
Richard had an outstanding night, which you will see below. Meanwhile, here's
Mark Buehrle responding to a question about Jerry Manuel, who is the interim coach of the Mets in the wake of Willie Randolph's firing:
"It's good for him," Buehrle said. "It's been so long
ago. (Manuel's) the type of manager who really didn't come out of the
clubhouse. He was totally different from Ozzie. Obviously, it's good
for him to get another chance."
Buehrle was asked who he preferred playing for.
"It doesn't really matter who the manager is to me,"
Buehrle said. "To be honest, I kind of like Ozzie because he's kind of
part of the team. On the plane rides, he comes back and says hi to
everybody. He doesn't sit up in his office or in the front of the
plane, so I kind of like Ozzie's style."
The jump to conclusions mat leads me to believe that
Aug. 28, 2003, still irks Buehrle a little bit.
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Minor league roundup:- Charlotte 6, Richmond 5 (Game 1, 7 innings)
- Dave Cook went 4-for-4 with a triple and two RBI.
- Jason Bourgeois had three hits including a double and two runs scored, along with an outfield assist.
- Four of the five runs Lance Broadway allowed came in the first inning. He allowed eight hits and two walks over five innings.
- Charlotte 5, Richmond 1 (Game 2, 7 innings)
- Clayton Richard threw a three-hitter, with seven strikeouts to zero walks.
- Danny Richar drew three walks and doubled in the other PA.
- Royce Huffman went 3-for-4 with two RBI; Dave Cook doubled and walked.
- Jacksonville 7, Birmingham 2
- Kyle McCulloch allowed four runs (three earned) over seven innings, allowing a whopping 11 hits, walking two and striking out two.
- Miguel Negron and Javier Colina each had two hits apiece; the rest of the lineup went 1-for-24.
- Potomac 5, Winston-Salem 3
- C.J. Retherford went 2-for-4, homered and drove in all three of the Warthogs' runs.
- Greg Paiml went 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles.
- Matt Long allowed two runs over five innings; Michael Dubee threw two scoreless innings.
- Kannapolis OFF
Rookie Ball Opening Night:- Johnson City 6, Bristol 3 (12 innings)
- Lucas Harrell allowed one run and struck out five over three innings in a rehab start.
- Gregory Infante, Garrett Johnson and Kevin Asselin combined to allow one earned run over eight innings of relief, striking out 11.
- Supposed 16-year-old phenom shortstop Juan Silverio drove in three runs on a 2-for-4 night.
- Orlando Santos, Misael Tavarez and Jordan Kendall had two hits apiece.
- Great Falls 9, Helena 0
- Kevin Skogley struck out eight over seven shutout innings, allowing four hits and no walks.
- Charlis Burdie struck out five over two innings of relief.
- Jordan Cheatham went 3-for-5 with three RBI; Jesus Avila and Johny Celis had two hits apiece.
- Eduardo Escobar hit a solo homer, and Doug Thennis also left the yard.