While the first and second games were somewhat close (10-8 and 6-4), the White Sox handled the Devil Rays pretty easily. In total, they outscored them 23-14.
Jermaine Dye was the hero of the first game. His grand slam in the first inning set the tone, and while the Devil Rays made it close, the Sox never gave up the lead. In total, he had six RBIs and the homerun was his eighteenth of the season. Brandon McCarthy only pitched three innings of record in which he gave up eight hits and five runs. For his troubles, he was sent back to AAA. Hopefully McCarthy can pitch through whatever troubles he’s been having of late. He hasn’t really pitched well, be it AAA or the big league team, since his Sox debut against the Cubs back in May.
In the second game, the Sox never had a lead until Frank Thomas hit a huge three run homerun in the bottom of the eighth to give the Sox the win. He then homered again in last night’s game to bring his total up to eleven on the season. What’s most impressive about this is he has only eighteen hits and while he’s hitting a modest .250, his OPS is 1.100.
Jose Contreras threw well in the final game of the set. While he gave up two homers, they were both solo shots and were the only runs of the game. Through six innings he only gave up six hits and two walks, while he struck out three.
The Twins lost two of three against the Angels and the Indians split their four game series with the Tigers. The Twins stretched their lead to 10 1/2 games over the Twins and 11 1/2 over the Indians. They get a day off before the A’s come in to town. Hopefully the Sox can take care of business at home, since they’ve had trouble with the A’s when they head out west.
