Well, there’s a first time for everything. Oakland seems to be one of the major thorns in our side as they swept the Sox this weekend. We’re now 2-7 against them on the season, which is by far the worst record of any team the Sox have faced. It’s the first time we’ve been swept in a three game series this season.
I don’t know what was tougher to take because we had a little of everything. In the first game, Jon Garland was solid, but the bats weren’t there. In the second game, Mark Buehrle was roughed up in what was one of his worst starts of the season. And then today, the Sox came from behind with two runs in the ninth to tie the game, only to see the A’s eventually win it in the eleventh. And to make matters worse, they scored almost three times as many runs in this one game as they did in the first two.
Frank Thomas had two hits this afternoon and neither was a homerun. So his season hit total is up to 20, while his homer total is stuck at 11. It’s not out of the realm of possibility for the Big Hurt to walk away with 30 homers this season. Paul Konerko had a nice game, going five for six.
Fortunately, the rest of the division has been equally apathetic. The Twins have only picked up a single game in the last ten, and we’ve actually picked up a game on the Indians.
I don’t think it’s official, but it looks like Mark Buehrle will be the AL starter in the All Star game. Hopefully he doesn’t throw too many innings, because the Sox have a huge four game season in Cleveland after the break.
