Black Sox Blog

A lack of offensive production against the Orioles in the final game of the series led to the Sox getting routed by the club from Baltimore.  Giving up sixteen hits, the Sox only managed to hit safely five times in the game, only one more than their total of four strike outs.  The Sox offense can be unbeatable at times, but sometimes they decide to not even show up and it is almost a guaranteed loss for the South Side Sluggers.  Eleven runs given up against a very average Baltimore team is exactly what the Sox do not need right now with the season coming to a close.  John Danks only lasted four innings and gave up seven hits and four runs.  Not terrible but with no offense to back him up he got the loss on the day as the Orioles pounded the rest of the bullpen for the Sox ending in a 11-3 loss.  The Sox need to bring their A game against Boston as they travel to Fenway for a critical three game series that could have a huge impact on both the AL Central crown and the final wild card spot for the playoffs.  Chicago still holds a one game lead over Minnesota but a lack luster series in Boston could change things drastically.

Behind good production on offense and a solid pitching performance by Gavin Floyd, the Sox beat the Orioles 8-3 with one more game left in the series.  Floyd lasted for eight innings, and gave up only four hits, two earned runs, and struck out four as well.  With the win Floyd improved his record to 14-6 on the year.  As a team the Sox racked up sixteen hits, including a home run from Nick Swisher.  Several Sox had multi-hit games including four from Orlando Cabrera, three from Carlos Quentin, and two from Ken Griffey, Jermaine Dye, and Paul Konerko.  The at bat after Swisher hit a home run, he fouled a ball off of his leg and left the game in the fourth inning.  Swisher should not miss any games due to the injury.  With the win the Sox move to a season high 20 games over .500.  A great accomplishment by any team but they are still in a tough battle for the division title and the wild card.  John Danks takes the mound in the last game against the Orioles on Wednesday.

Trying to avoid a three game sweep by the Tampa Bay Rays, the Sox found a stroke of luck in the 10th inning behind Alexei Ramirez.  Down by one run in the bottom of the ninth, Paul Konerko hit a single that set up a play at the plate.  The throw was there in time but it wasn’t handled well by the catcher and allowed Brian Anderson to score the tying run.  In the bottom of the tenth, Alexei Ramirez drove in A.J. Pierzynski for the walk off run.  Carlos Quentin and Jim Thome both had home runs in the game to help the White Sox cause.  Mark Buehrle started the game and pitched a solid six and two-thirds innings giving up five runs of which only two were earned.  Bobby Jenks was pitching in the tenth and got the win.  Back on top in the division, the Sox take on Baltimore in a three game series at the Orioles’ stadium.

A consistent stream of runs from the fifth inning on was too much for the White Sox to handle against the Tampa Bay Rays.  The Rays routed the Sox 9-4 in the first game of a four game series.  John Danks started the game and lasted for six and one-third innings and gave up seven hits and three earned runs.  The bullpen then gave up six runs against the powerful Rays line up and the Sox just couldn’t make up the difference.  Home runs by Alexei Ramirez and Nick Swisher were not enough to help the Sox battle back.  With ten hits in the game, the Sox lowered their chances by striking out nine times as well.  The streaking Twins have taken the lead over the Sox by half a game in the AL Central.  It looks like there is not only going to be a battle for the divisional title, but a three way battle between Minnesota, Chicago, and Boston for the wild card spot in the playoffs.  Javier Vazquez will start the game for the Sox in game two of the series against the Rays.

Ken Griffey finally got his first home run in a Whitesox uniform in a beat down that the Sox served the Mariners by a score of 15-3.  Griffey had one of the four home runs by Chicago on the day, the home run moved Griffey into a tie for fifth place with Sammy Sosa on the all time list.  With fourteen hits and only four strike outs on the day, the Sox hammered the M’s pitching.  A.J. Pierzynski, Alexei Ramirez, and Nick Swisher all added a home run with KG for the Sox.  Gavin Floyd pitched a solid six inning, giving up three runs and striking out seven.  The Sox have moved into a one game lead over the Twins in the AL Central.  The streaking Sox have now won five in a row and will take on the Tampa Bay Rays this weekend in a three game series that will be a battle of the divisional leaders.

Tied for the lead in the AL Central, the Sox blew out the Oakland A’s 13-1 behind four home runs and a stellar pitching performance by Javier Vazquez.  With only nine hits in the game, Jermaine Dye, Alexei Ramirex, Juan Uribe, and the league leading Carlos Quentin.  Javier Vazquez lasted for eight innings and gave up four hits, one earned run, and struck out eight of the A’s batters.  In a dead heat with the Twins for the lead in the division, the Sox take on the Mariners in a three game series on the South Side of Chicago.  On a different note, the A’s fans gave Nick Swisher a warm welcome and even had an A’s jersey of Swisher’s hung up in the stands.

Trying to win the last game and take the series against the defending champs, the White Sox knew they had a chance with their ace John Danks on the mound.  Danks did not disappoint, however, he was out shined by the starter on the other side of the field…Josh Beckett.  Danks lasted seven innings and only gave up two hits and two earned runs along with striking out nine.  But Beckett lasted eight innings and gave up seven hits but only one earned run and struck out eight.  Once Danks left the game the Red Sox batters went off on the Chicago bullpen and scored three runs in the top of the ninth to seal the game and even up the series with two wins a piece.  Once again the Sox had more strikeouts in the game, 9, than they did hits, 7.  The Sox are now a half game back in the AL Central to the Minnesota Twins.  Javier Vazquez takes the mound tonight against AL Central rival the Kansas City Royals as the Sox have a few important games that could put them in a great position heading into the final stretch of the season.

With only seven hits and four strike outs in the game against the defending world champs, the Boston Red Sox, who would have thought that the Sox could squeak out a win?  Mark Buehrle is who.  Going against the Manny-less Red Sox line up, Buehrle pitched seven strong innings and gave up four hits, one earned run, and struck out eight.  Immediately after Buehrle left the game, the Sox put up three runs in the eighth to get back into the game, but the Sox bull pen pulled through and an insurance run in the bottom of the inning kept the Sox ahead for good.  The bottom two and the top three hitters had all of the production for the White Sox offense, including a solo shot for Carlos Quentin which was number thirty one on the year.  Ken Griffey went hitless in the game in four at bats.  Jose Contreras will make his first start since July 13th on Saturday against the Red Sox in game 2 of the series.

An exciting walk off home run in extra innings was not out shined in game 2 against Detroit, but the Sox still won the game behind excellent defense and pitching.  John Danks had a great game going for six and two-thirds innings and only gave up four hits, one earned run, and struck out six of Detroit’s batters.  Jim Thome started off the game for the Sox with a three run home run in the bottom of the first inning with Nick Swisher and Jermaine Dye on base.  The Sox line up had a tough battle with opposing pitcher Justin Verlander all night long but with not enough offense on Verlander’s side and a couple innings of production by the Sox, Chicago continued their dominance of the Tiger’s this season.  Ken Griffey Jr. got the day off after going one for six with three strike outs.  So far the Sox are racking up the wins since acquiring the future hall of famer, but is it any thanks to him?  We’ll see as the new saga of KG unfolds and if the Sox can reclaim supremacy at the top of the AL Central.

Maybe the new distraction of Ken Griffey’s addition to the team or the big series against Detroit coming up or the fact that Minnesota is rolling through their opponents with reckless abandon; whatever it is the Sox were not focused against the Royals on Sunday and were blown out 14-3.  Not to mention five people were ejected during the game after a bench clearing brawl in the fifth inning when D.J. Carrasco hit Miguel Olivo in the hand, Olivo then charged the mound and the benches cleared leading to the ejections including Ozzie Guillen.  Throughout the game, the Sox managed seven hits compared with nineteen for the Royals.  Furthermore, the Sox lineup struck out eleven times compared with only four times for the Royals.  The entire pitching staff for the Sox was lit up by the Royals, and any time you get more than doubled up on hits and strike outs against, it is going to be tough to win the game.  The Sox start a three game series against the Detroit Tigers at home, Gavin Floyd will get the start in game one on Tuesday.

Despite a home run from Jim Thome, Brian Anderson, Jermaine Dye, and Paul Konerko each, the Sox managed to put up seven runs on the day but gave up nine to the Kansas City Royals and went on to lose the second game of a three game series.  Luckily the Twins lost also so the Sox still remain a half game up in the AL Central.  Mark Buehrle had a terrible day, going four and one-third innings, giving up fourteen hits, eight earned runs and two homers.  The Sox offense produced ten hits on the day but that does not compare to the Royals nineteen.  Ken Griffey left the game in the sixth inning with a sore hamstring, he was also hitless on the day but had a spectacular diving catch in the outfield.  Since acquiring Griffey the Sox are 1-1.  Hopefully, the injury to Griffey’s nagging hamstring won’t last too long and he will be back against the Royals in the last game and then against the Tigers in a very important series between a divisional rival.  Clayton Richard gets the start in the last game of the series against the Royals on Sunday.

Losing three of four to the Minnesota Twins has lowered their lead in the AL Central to only half a game over the Twins and five and a half over the Tigers.  In the final game of the series in which the Sox were going for the split, home runs by Jim Thome and Jermain Dye were a help but not enough to get past the powerful Twins who scored at least six runs in three of the four games, each of which they won.  Only managing to get eight hits in the game compared with twelve strikeouts is not going to win too many game, especially against a division rival that is on their heels in the standings.  Despite a tough series, the Sox got a surprise by trading for Ken Griffey Jr. just before the deadline.  The Sox didn’t have to give up too much to get the slugger, Nick Masset and minor leaguer Danny Richar were both dealt in the trade.  Griffey put a huge question mark into the minds of many Sox fans, where is he going to fit in?  Perhaps as a DH, or first basemen, or outfielder?  Ozzie Guillen has his work cut out for him to see where the slugger will help the club the most.