The more things change, the more they stay the same. The standings look eerily familiar with the Twins a game and a half back of the Tigers and then the White Sox a game and a half back of the Twins. The Twins play today so that half game thing will be wiped clean but regardless, the White Sox goal is to keep winning.
Bobby Jenks held on to win on Monday. The White Sox scored three in the fifth inning but the Angels crept back into it with a single run in the sixth. Then in the ninth, Jenks got into trouble but got out of it with a big double play. Jose Contreras improved to 13-7 and he gave up one run on six hits and one walk with eight strikeouts over eight innings.
Tuesday’s game was tough and it stopped the White Sox from pulling out a sweep. Once again, the White Sox scored three in the fifth but this time it was to take a 3-2 lead. The Angels tied it up in the sixth and then neither team’s pen yielded a run until Jenks gave up an RBI single to Chone Figgins to end it. A solid start by Mark Buehrle went to waste and Jenks dropped to 3-4 on the season.
Yesterday was all Freddy Garcia. He took a perfect game into the eighth inning but a single broke that up so he had to settle for a one hit combined shutout with Neil Cotts. Paul Konerko went four for four with two RBIs and Tad Iguchi scored three times in the 9-0 loss.
If you’re an optimist, this weekend’s series with the A’s could be a preview of a first round playoff matchup. It’s huge though because there’s not a lot of games left in the season.
