Timely hitting and excellent pitching have been what’s carried the White Sox this year. And things didn’t change Saturday as they beat the Royals by a run in extra innings. Aaron Rowand came up with the big hitting, driving in A.J. Pierzynski with a single in the tenth inning. Joe Crede continues to hit the ball well as went two for five. His batting average is up to .333 and he extended his hitting streak to fourteen games. What’ surprising is his ability to hit right handed pitching (.937 OPS) vs. left handers (.692 OPS). That’s very encouraging because you’d hope the average against left handers would be more likely to come up.
Of some concern was Jose Contreras leaving the game in the fourth inning. Reports say it’s strained lower hamstring. When he was in there, he was impressive, giving up only one hit (a solo shot to David DeJesus) and one walk, while striking out six batters. The pen was equally impressive as Damasco Marte closed the door in the ninth and tenth to allow the White Sox to win. He improved to 2-0, and has a microscopic 1.17 ERA.
Hopefully the Sox can finish the sweep this afternoon. They’ve already pushed themselves out to 3 1/2 game lead, so it would be nice if the can widen that further.
