It was only one year ago that the White Sox jumped out to a nice lead in the AL Central after a great start and never looked back. This year, they’re trying to do it again. The Sox have now won eight straight and they did it against one of their fiercest rivals over the past five or six years. Most importantly, they did it with both solid hitting and great pitching.
On Friday, Mark Buehrle went head to head with Johan Santana and he came out on top. Buehlre gave up a single run on four hits in eight innings. He struck out six and improved to 3-0 on the season. Santana kept the White Sox in check for seven innings, but the Sox jumped all over Juan Rincon in the eighth inning. By the time the inning was over, the White Sox had turned a one run lead into a six run lead. Jim Thome homered for the eighth time and he drove in two runs. All seven runs were scored by seven different White Sox.
Yesterday, the White Sox didn’t waste much time. By the end of the first, the White Sox had a three run lead on Jermaine Dye’s three run homerun. By the end of the fifth, the score was 6-1. In all, the White Sox had sixteen hits. Paul Konerko, Dye and A.J. Pierzynski all had three hits and Tad Iguchi, Thome, Konerko and Dye all scored twice. Jim Thome hit his ninth homerun in the game. Lost in the offensive onslaught was a nice start by Freddy Garcia. He gave up two runs on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings.
The Sox finished up the sweep this afternoon. Juan Uribe had a monster game and provided the bulk of the White Sox offense. He homered twice and drove in four runs. Joe Crede and Brian Anderson also went yard in the 7-3 win. Jose Contreras improved to 3-0 on the season. He gave up two runs on six hits with three walks and two strikeouts in eight innings of work.
The White Sox head to the west coast this week. They play Seattle starting tomorrow, then they get a day off before playing the Angels. Despite the eight straight wins, they’re only a game and a half up because the surprise team so far in the Central, the Detroit Tigers, have won five straight and they’re a game and a half back.
