Close games make for exciting games. Close games also account for elevated blood pressure levels. This series could have gone either way. One team could have swept the other with a couple of timely at bats. Fortunately the White Sox came out on top.
Tuesday had to be the funnest game. Down 5-4, Paul Konerko hit a lead off homerun in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game up and send it into extra frames. Then in the eleventh, Jermaine Dye came up huge with a walk off RBI single to end it. Bobby Jenks went two and two thirds innings in this one and he picked up his third win of the season. Joe Crede hit his 24th homerun earlier game.
The Yankees jumped out to a 7-0 lead on Wednesday and while the White Sox made a run at a win, they fell just short in a 7-6 loss. Randy Johnson had things firmly in hand with a no hitter into the sixth but he couldn’t pitch forever, and the Yankees middle relief is a weakness right now. Joe Crede hit homerun number 25 and Tad Iguchi went yard as well. Jon Garland, who had been the White Sox best starter of late, got shelled in the loss.
Javier Vazquez was given a four run lead last night and he needed each of those runs and then some. He improved to 11-6 and he gave up two runs on six hits and six walks with eight strikeouts over five innings. Brandon McCarthy made things interesting and gave up two runs in the seventh, but the rest of the pen held on for the win. Tad Iguchi had three hits and Scott Podsednik had two hits and two RBIs.
Next up is a huge three game series with the Tigers. We’re eight and a half back and even after this weekend, the Sox have two more series against the Tigers. The bottom line is, the Sox still have a shot at the AL Central, the Sox just have to take care of business this weekend.
