The wound is still too fresh to figure out where
the White Sox's 6-4 loss to the Oakland Athletics Friday night fits in compared to the multitude of failures at McAfee Coliseum this decade. Friday's loss leaves the Sox with a 6-28 record in Oakland since 2001.
What we do know is that it's definitely in the top 10, and likely in the top five. So hell, let's dive right in for
more self-abuse:
(Gotta love
Gil Thorp, whose characters think it's a great idea to bludgeon themselves, in a family newspaper no less.)
No. 1: Sept. 16, 2006: Athletics 7, White Sox 4.
The Sox led 4-1 after the top of the sixth, but Javier Vazquez -- who
appeared to have shed his five-and-dive woes, gave up a two-run homer
to Frank Thomas in the bottom of the inning to make it a one-run
ballgame.
Things got worse. Matt Thornton started the seventh,
and was pulled after putting two on and retiring two. Mike MacDougal,
Boone Logan and Dustin Hermanson would allow the next five batters to
reach, all with two outs, and that was the ballgame.
No. 2: April 26, 2005: Athletics 9, White Sox 7.
Mark Buehrle had a 7-4 lead entering the seventh, but was pulled after
giving up two singles and a double starting the inning, cutting the
lead to 7-5. Damaso Marte got a groundout, which brought another run
in, and then he balked home the tying run.
But that wasn't
all. Jermaine Dye then dropped a routine flyball that should've been
the second out of the eighth; instead, that error would come around to
score the go-ahead run. While this one doesn't have the implications of the two games sandwiching it, the balk and the error opened up a world of possibilities when trying to figure out how the Sox could possibly blow a game on the Bay.
No. 3: Sept. 17, 2006: Athletics 5, White Sox 4.
Jose Contreras served up a meatball to Frank Thomas in the fourth
inning to turn a 2-0 lead into a 3-2 deficit. The Sox would claw back
to 5-4, but Joe Crede would ground into a double play, part of an
0-for-4, seven-stranded day, and that effectively killed the Sox's
playoff chances.
No. 4: June 2, 2004: Athletics 3, White Sox 2 (10 innings).
Two former A's who joined the Sox after two terrible trades twist the
knife even further. Staked to a 2-1 lead in the ninth, Billy Koch
blows his second save, and Jon Adkins gives up the game-winning homer
to Mark Kotsay with one out in the 10th.
No. 5: May 20, 2001: Athletics 6, White Sox 2.
This kick in the crotch was softened only by the fact that the Sox were
14-26 at the time and 13 1/2 games back. Otherwise, this would have
the makings of a great one.
The Sox held a 2-0 lead going into
the eighth before the bullpen imploded. Buehrle had thrown seven
shutout innings and was on the verge of getting a much needed win in
the worst half of his career (at least until 2006) until Terrance Long
struck.
Long started it with a single, and he'd finish it with a
bases-loaded, two-run single that capped a six-run eighth. It featured
some clutch relief work by Kelly Wunsch (one batter, one walk) and
Keith Foulke, who intentionally walked Jason Giambi only to hit Olmedo
Saenz. Great work all around.
No. 6: April 27-28, 2002: Athletics 26, White Sox 1.
There's not much of a stomach-punch effect to this one -- this is more
of your typical sheer humiliation. The A's swept the Sox in the
Mausoleum by outhitting the Sox 30-7 over the final two games, with the
Sox out-erroring the A's 4-0.
No. 7: April 10, 2007: Athletics 2, White Sox 1.
Bobby Jenks came into the ballgame hoping to hold a 1-0 lead for the save. He gave up two singles, but then retired the next two batters and appeared to have it under control.
Nope. Todd Walker singled to tie the game, and after an intentional walk to Travis Buck, Mark Ellis hit one that bounced off Scott Podsednik's head -- although it did hit the wall first, well above Podsednik's mitt. The bonk was just injury added to injury. The rest of the 2007 season would serve as the insult.
No. 8: April 27, 2005: Athletics 2, White Sox 1. Another ninth-inning loss courtesy of Marte, but this game had been tied at 1 since the fourth.
No. 9: August 18, 2002: Athletics 1, White Sox 0.
Buehrle goes the distance and loses to Cory Lidle, as Dye's second-inning homer was all Oakland needed. There is consolation
in that this was the third of 20 consecutive wins for the A's during an incredible second-half run.
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Eeyore quote! Granted,
I'm cutting it short a little:
So how special is [four consecutive homers]?
"I don't know if it's special," Konerko said.
But all jokes aside, Paulie said all the right things
in Chris DeLuca's piece.
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Minor league roundup:- Norfolk 4, Charlotte 3
- Jason Bourgeois went 2-for-5 with two RBI.
- Charlie Haeger allowed four runs (three earned) over six innings.
- Ryan Bukvich allowed one hit and six walks over six shutout innings against his former team.
- Mike MacDougal threw two shutout innings in relief.
- Birmingham 4, Tennessee 2
- Miguel Negron went 3-for-4 with two RBI.
- Lee Cruz homered, doubled and drove in the other two runs.
- Justin Cassell allowed just two runs despite allowing seven hits and five walks in 6 2/3 innings.
- Jon Link struck out the side in a perfect ninth.
- Winston-Salem 4, Lynchburg 1
- Anthony Carter pitched seven shutout innings, scattering four hits and a walk while fanning four.
- Estee Harris went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles.
- John Shelby went 2-for-4 with a triple; Brett Bonvecho drove in two.
- Kannapolis 11, Hickory 3
- Gordon Beckham went 3-for-4 with a double and a walk in his pro debut. He did commit a throwing error, but took part in two double plays.
- Matt Inouye homered twice and drove in five.
- Justin Greene doubled and tripled.
- Miguel Socolovich allowed two runs on seven hits over six innings.
- Bristol 6, Princeton 1 (Game 1, 7 innings)
- Onarkys Paniagua went the distance, allowing four hits and striking out four.
- Andrew Garcia hit a two-run homer; Hancer Vargas went 2-for-2.
- Bristol 15, Princeton 2 (Game 2, 7 innings)
- Kenneth Gilbert drove in six runs during a 3-for-4 day in which he doubled and homered.
- Jose Vargas went 3-for-4 with four RBI himself.
- Andrew Garcia had three hits and two RBI; Jordan Kendall and John Kateon each had two.
- Brett Graffy allowed an unearned run over five innings.
- Idaho Falls 4, Great Falls 3
- Joshua Billeaud struck out six over six shutout innings.
- Kyle Shelton and Doug Thennis each went 2-for-4.