Tying up the loose ends after the White Sox's first sweep since
the beginning of July...
With
5 1/3 surprising innings by Lance Broadway, Sox pitchers capped
off an excellent three days of work against the Royals, which wouldn't
be worth commending much had they not been smacked around the last time
the two teams met in Kauffman Stadium at the start of the month.
Comparing the two lines:
| |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
K |
HR |
ERA |
OPS |
| Aug. 1-3 |
25 |
44 |
25 |
22 |
9 |
11 |
5 |
7.92 |
1.039 |
| Aug. 12-14 |
27 |
16 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
24 |
0 |
0.67 |
.417 |
And while they're heading to the House of Horrors in Oakland, there's no excuse to let up considering they'll face an Athletics team in the midst of a tailspin. The A's have last 23 of their last 27 games, and
are hitting .218/.289/.318 over that stretch. It's basically a team full of Timos. Make fun of the Royals all you want, but
they're hitting .257/.312/.386 over that same period of time.
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Tip a 40 to Luis Terrero, because Carlos Quentin is crapping all over the only thing that made his half-season with the Sox worth remembering.
At one point last year,
Terrero was hit six times over the span of 34 plate appearances. But after Kyle Davies drilled Quentin in his first time at bat today to extend his record to
six straight games with an HBP, CQ has racked up a half-dozen of them over the span of
21 plate appearances.
If nothing else, the painful streak has been worth four points of OBP. I'm not sure if his refusal to wear armor is incredibly noble or bullheaded.
************************
Broadway's stay in Chicago didn't last long, as
he was optioned down to Charlotte following his start.
The Daily Herald's Scot Gregor says
Clayton Richard is taking his place, which is likely considering Aaron Poreda pitched today. If Matt Thornton needs a rest after
working strenuous outings on consecutive days, then another lefty wouldn't be a bad idea.
However, it does make the situation slightly more confusing following the Oakland series. The fifth starter's next turn is Tuesday against Seattle, with no off days in between, and Broadway isn't eligible to return for 10 days. Here are the possibilities I can foresee:
No. 1: D.J. Carrasco starts. Easy enough, and he deserves a shot, but he's also been one of the most reliable bullpen arms as of late. Ozzie Guillen probably can't count on this scenario if there's an extra-inning game between now and Tuesday.
No. 2: Richard starts. As Ozzie might say,
"jajajajajajajajajajajajajajajajajaja."No. 3: Another Charlotte spot starter is called up for Tuesday. Charlie Haeger is the announced starter for Friday (against Ryan Bukvich!), so it likely won't be him. Tomo Ohka would be on schedule for Saturday (not on 40-man roster), followed theoretically by Jack Egbert (Sunday), Wes Whisler (Monday) and then Broadway.
The Knights were off Thursday night, so all the aforementioned starters after Haeger could slide up one day while pitching on normal rest, so watch Sunday's starter closely. I wouldn't mind seeing Egbert get a shot, but Whisler doesn't do anything for me.
Richard could be successful out of the bullpen, because aside from a Michael Young homer, he was fine in the first inning, allowing just that one run and three hits in 11 at-bats. It was after the first that opponents pounded him into the ground, so perhaps he can succeed in small doses. Not that I won't be praying for low leverage.
************************
The Sox doubled their total of Dankses by
coming to terms with Jordan Danks for a bonus of $525,000. He'll join Gordon Beckham in Kannapolis next week.
************************
One note from Wednesday: Mark Buehrle picked up his 10th victory, which marks his eighth consecutive season with double-digits in the win column.
The only players who can match that right now: Javier Vazquez, C.C. Sabathia, Roy Oswalt, Mike Mussina, Greg Maddux, Tim Hudson and ... Livan Hernandez. That's mostly good company, anyway.
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Minor league roundup:- Birmingham 7, Tennessee 5
- Lee Cruz went 2-for-3 with a homer and three RBI.
- Victor Mercedes and Ricardo Nanita also left the yard.
- Aaron Poreda was alright, allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits over five innings, walking two and K'ing one.
- Kanekoa Teixeira allowed one run over 2 2/3 innings, striking out four for the win.
- Jon Link was scored upon but still earned the save.
- Winston-Salem 9, Lynchburg 3 (10 innings)
- John Shelby and Dale Mollenhauer each went 3-for-6 with a triple and an RBI.
- Greg Paiml and Freddie Thon also had three-hit games.
- Estee Harris went 2-for-5 with two RBI.
- Henry Mabee (2 1/3 IP), Michael Dubee (2 IP) and Matt Davis (1 IP) blanked Lynchburg in relief.
- Kannapolis 4, Asheville 1
- Brent Morel hit his first professional homer, a three-run shot.
- John Curtis went 3-for-3; Mark Fleisher doubled twice.
- Levi Maxwell improved to 13-4 with 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball, allowing four hits, two walks and striking out six.
- Santo Luis fanned five over 2 1/3 innings.
- Princeton 2, Bristol 1 (Game 1, 7 innings)
- Steven Upchurch allowed two runs on five hits over six innings, with one walk and two strikeouts.
- Juan Silverio had the lone hit for Bristol.
- Princeton 3, Bristol 0 (Game 2, 7 innings)
- Andrew Garcia and Kenneth Gilbert both doubled.
- Joucer Martinez met the bare minimum for a quality start in defeat.
- Idaho Falls 5, Great Falls 1
- Jesus Avila went 2-for-4 with a triple and an RBI.
- Kyle Shelton also had two hits.
- Dan Remenowsky threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief.