May 2011
May
Wow! I got through May. I have posted a recap of every game so far this year, which is fifty-seven, and I’m still having a blast doing it. The posts might not always be immediately after the game but I guarantee there will be one before the next game starts. Unless there’s a Saturday game that goes until 1 or 2 am and then a Sunday game that starts at noon or one. In that case, I’ll be a little late. But there will be a post. Mark my words. Somehow. On your computer screen.
The season has been rough up to this point but the boys are showing signs of life. I think we’re turning in to a team to be afraid of. Now that I think of it, though, the last time I said that we went on a terrible streak. Dunn and Rios need to pitch in a little more because Konerko, Ramirez, Pierzynski, and Quentin can’t carry this team offensively. Humber and Peavy have definitely been amazing in the rotation and Crain out in the bullpen has been a fantastic addition so far. It’s looking good for the South Siders!
Thank you for a month of fun comments and enough page views to get me on the Latest Leaders! Keleigh, Catherine, and I have developed a nice little family of Sox bloggers. If there are any non-Sox fans that read my blog I encourage you to leave a comment – let me know who you are! I’d love to hear from you. New faces are always appreciated.
Bring on June. Go Sox.
- Anders
5/31 – Game 2 @ Red Sox
Well, I didn’t get to see all of this game. I left in the fifth inning when the score was 6-1 and I get home and the final is 10-7? I checked the box score and of course Brian Bruney, the new guy, would mess it up for us. I should stop complaining though, cuz we still won. As pre- and post-game show host Chris Rongey said on Facebook: “A win is a win right now.”
Phil Humber was brilliant once again. Four runs over seven and two thirds innings is right around where he normally is, and he even struck out five batters. I hate blogging about games I didn’t see because I feel like my opinions are like… not what they could be had I seen the game. You know? So I’m not entirely sure exactly how effective Humber was. I’m just going off of numbers here.
Could Alexei Ramirez stay hot? Please? We need him to keep producing like he has been. The kid has had an incredible month of May (.291/3/17/) and he’s had so many clutch hits over the last week. I’ll stop here because I’m pretty much copying word-for-word what I said in yesterdays post. Alexei Ramirez needs to stay hot. I’ll leave it at that. He went four-for-five and drove in another two runs to finish off his red-hot May.
Adam Dunn was back in the lineup tonight. It’s really odd to see him in the seven spot in the lineup but he looks really comfortable there. The other day in Toronto he had four walks in four plate appearances in the seven hole, and today he had a hit and walked twice. Maybe he needs to be down in the lineup? Who knows. The Adam Dunn Experience continues.
The bullpen was horrible except for Sale. Will Ohman and Brian Bruney get no points, Sale gets two points for one third of an inning of work and a save. I’d give out some points because we won but had it not been for our offense Ohman and Bruney would’ve blown the game. That’s not cool. I’ll go ahead and put Bruney’s name on the leaderboard, though, so we know he’s actually a part of the team now.
I’ll have to go back and watch this game so I can see how close it got. Two runs in two thirds of an inning of work, Bruney? Really? I’ll take David Aardsma over you any day. (Okay, maybe not, but I needed a good comparison.)
It’s a 12:35 start tomorrow as Gavin Floyd (5-5, 3.69) looks to improve to 5-0 in his career against the Red Sox. Tim Wakefield (2-1, 4.14) will stand in his way.
TWO PITCHERS, ONLY ONE WILL SURVIVE. WILL FLOYD BREAK OUT THE BROOM OR WILL WAKEFIELD *pun related to chimneys and/or house cleaning*!?
Go Sox!!
EDIT: Wow, I’m not doing this for comedic effect, I legitimately forgot this. I had to leave because I had tickets to the Weird Al concert. That is all.
5/30 – Game 1 @ Red Sox
Alright. This game made absolutely no sense. How on earth can we beat the Red Sox and not the Blue Jays? Get someone in the Higher-Ups on the phone. I’m upset.
Jake Peavy was solid today. Seven strong innings, giving up three runs and striking out two, walking none. Peavy and Humber have both been huge this season and they’re the only starting pitchers keeping us in the division race. I can’t even put into words how much those guys mean to this team right now. If you remember, I had serious reservations about Peavy coming into this season. I wanted the team to take their time and not rush it. The situation was high risk, higher reward and we’re getting rewarded. You can’t handle an unknown injury much better than Kenny and Ozzie did.
The offense tonight was supplied by The Usual Suspects. A.J. Pierzynski plated two runs with a double in the top of the first inning, then Paul Konerko went deep for his eleventh home run of the season in the third inning. After Boston tied it up in the bottom of the third the White Sox jumped back ahead in the top of the sixth, scoring two runs on an Alexei Ramirez double and another two on Carlos Quentin’s single immediately after.
Dan Bernstein of 670 The Score’s afternoon show Tweeted this after Ramirez’s double: “Alexei is having a helluva year, in all phases of the game. In a disappointing season so far, he’s a bright spot.” I couldn’t agree more. His twenty-seven RBI’s are more than I thought he’d have two months into the season and he’s the second best shortstop in the game as of right now (Elvis Andrus of the Rangers edging him by a fraction). He’s also had some clutch hits over the past few weeks with tonight’s double at the top of the list. So glad we got this guy.
Peavy pitched the seventh inning then the bullpen took over. Jesse Crain pitched two thirds of an inning before Matt Thornton came on to face David Ortiz and eventually finish the remainder of the game. Thornton has been slowly earning back my confidence. It used to be that whenever I heard he was warming up in the bullpen I’d know that we were in for a fun inning but he’s becoming the old Thornton once again. I like it. Because of this huge win after such a terrible series in Canada, Crain and Thornton get three points for keeping their cleats on the necks of the Red Sox.
I’m excited that we were able to get a win against such a good team. Feels nice to beat a really hot ballclub like this. Gavin Floyd (5-5, 3.69) probably won’t pitch tomorrow after his outing in Toronto. I remember Ed and DJ saying something about who was pitching for the Sox tomorrow but I can’t remember who. If it’s Floyd, forget I said any of this. Whoever it is will be facing Alfredo Aceves (2-0, 2.22) of the Red Sox.
Go Sox!!
…what?
Oh! The White ones.
5/29 – Game 4 @ Blue Jays
Ugh. Yuck.
5/28 – Game 3 @ Blue Jays
Well, I’ve had enough time to recuperate after this loss and I’m ready to blog about it now.
It was an excellent fight through all fourteen innings in Toronto. We battled as much as we could, our bullpen (for the most part) held us in there… it just came down to one pitch. Corey Patterson launched a Gavin Floyd fastball into the right field bullpen for a two-run walk-off home run. The Sox had several chances to score runs but, as Ozzie Guillen pointed out (quite blatantly, actually) the offense just couldn’t execute.
Brent Lillibridge started off the Sox scoring with a home run that drove in Alex Rios (who seems to be moving from second to third on wild pitches quite a lot in this series). Then Alexei Ramirez drove in Brent Morel on a single to tie the game and Adam Dunn struck out to end the inning. The Jays jumped ahead with two runs in the bottom of the third and it stayed that way until the top of the fifth. Juan Pierre led off the inning by reaching first base on an error and moving to second on an Alexei Ramirez ground out. Adam Dunn singled to center field to drive in Pierre as the Sox moved within a run of Toronto. Paul Konerko hit a rocket double that moved Dunn to third, then both Dunn and Konerko scored on an A.J. Pierzynski two-bagger.
The score stayed the same until the bottom of the seventh when, with the bases loaded and the reliable Jesse Crain on the mound, Juan Rivera hit a double off the wall in left field that cleared the bases. Some argue that Juan Pierre had a legitimate chance at catching this ball and upon looking at the replay I agree. Had Pierre not done that stupid little Alfonso Soriano hop and had he not turned his head away from the ball we would’ve gotten out of the inning and probably would have won the game. No biggie, though, cuz in the top of the eighth inning The Bridge scored on a passed ball to bring us within one. An inning later Konerko doubled to score Alexei Ramirez and that’s where the nailbiting began.
The game stayed tied for five innings and both teams had a few opportunities to score. Then yadda yadda Corey Patterson wins and Canada is happy. Hooray Corey.
I’m starting to feel really bad for Adam Dunn. No doubt he came into the season with a lot of pressure on himself to be the big bat in the lineup. Almost two months in he’s leading the Major League’s in strikeouts and is fighting to keep his batting average over .200. My mom, who isn’t that big of a baseball fan, says he has to be really embarrassed. I just don’t know what’s wrong with him. Is it the pressure? Is it the DH? Is it the American League pitching? The ballparks? The uniform? Ozzie? That one hot dog guy? He left his toothbrush in Washington? It has to be something. He’s even changed the color of his bat from plain wood to completely black – he’s doing anything to get out of this rut. The engine is revving but the wheels are stuck in the mud.
Edwin Jackson pitched… well, he pitched. Six and two thirds innings, six runs, one walk, seven strikeouts. Not the best outing for a starting pitcher that we’ve seen and it was completely avoidable. The Blue Jays aren’t even that good of a team so I don’t get why we’re struggling both offensively and on the pitching side.
For the bullpen, Chris Sale and Sergio Santos get two points; Matt Thornton, Jesse Crain, and Gavin Floyd don’t get any points.
Man, I had a lot to say about this game, didn’t I? Huh.
The fourth and final game of this series is tomorrow at 12:07. The still winless John Danks (0-7, 4.34) will go against Ricky Romero (4-4, 2.91).
Can someone – FOR THE LOVE OF MINNIE MINOSO – get Johnny a win!?
Go Sox.
5/27 – Game 2 @ Blue Jays
One positive to take from tonight: Adam Dunn was walked in all four of his plate appearances. While that doesn’t seem like much it is a HUUUUGE adjustment. Watching the Gameday tonight I saw that he wasn’t swinging as much as he usually does and that shows me that he’s trying really hard to turn his season around. Being dropped down to the seven spot in the lineup will probably take some pressure of as well. The look on his face over the past week has been that of a player who is absolutely lost at home plate. I’m proud of the Donkey for being more patient tonight.
There’s a song that the little kids at my church sing that goes like this: “Have patience, have patience, don’t be in such a hurry. When you get impatient, you only start to worry.” I think Adam needs to learn this song and keep singing it to himself.
Buehrle pitched very well tonight but, much like Gavin Floyd on Sunday, he just couldn’t get any run support. Seven innings, three earned runs, three strikeouts, and two walks. A typical Mark Buehrle outing.
Alexei Ramirez and Carlos Quentin had one RBI each, Ramirez brought home Juan Pierre on a sacrifice fly in the third inning and Quentin drove in Adam Dunn on a walk in the fifth inning.
What made all of our hearts skip, though, was what happened in the third inning. Alex Rios’ relay throw to second base hopped up and hit Gordon Beckham square in the eye and Beckham went down immediately. His eye was swelling up after he left the field and X-rays have been done to check for fractures. Apparently the brunt of the ball hit the bone just below the eye and no real damage was done to the eyeball itself. Hopefully Beck is alright and will be able to come back soon. I’ll be praying for a speedy recovery to this scary accident.
Tony Pena pitched an inning of relief and allowed one run so I’m not really sure what to do about it. The Sox were down anyway when he came in to the game… so should I give him one point? None? Let me know what you think.
Edwin Jackson (4-5, 4.26) will go for the Sox tomorrow and Carlos Villanueva (2-0, 1.53) will deal for the Blue Jays.
Stay patient, Donkey.
Go Sox!!
5/26 – Game 1 @ Blue Jays
How about that!?
Yet another spectacular outing from Mr. Philip Gregory Humber. I talked about consistency in yesterday’s post and I’ll bring it up again. Humber has been the most consistent starter on the staff this season and I had no idea we acquired him until he was on the mound out of the bullpen. Now he’s showing off a sparkling ERA of 2.85. How awesome has this guy been, huh? I’d give him some honorary bullpen points but that would be too cheesy. This blog draws the line at cheese.
The offense wasn’t much tonight but what we got was enough. Juan Pierre drove in A.J. Pierzynski in the fifth inning on a single that went through the gap between first and second. Pierre again reached base in the top of the tenth on a grounder to first baseman Juan Rivera. Pierre was chugging hard down the line and beat out Jays pitcher Mark Rzcpsuiueofhshfkhski… I think that’s how you spell that… anyway, two runs scored on that play. Adam Dunn struck out four times. *sigh*
Jesse Crain came through with another huge outing. He came on to pitch to Jose Bautista in the eighth inning, ending up walking him, then got Arencibia to ground out to Alexei Ramirez. The Mohawked Monstrosity gets three points for Situational Clutchness. Sergio Santos earns his eighth save of the year and collects two points in doing so. Crain takes over the top spot in the standings.
What a fantastic game. I jumped off my chair in the ninth inning when we scored the two runs. My dad looked at me and said, “Did they win?” and I said, “No, we’re in Toronto.” and he said, “…but did they win?” and I said, “No, but we scored two runs.” to which he said, “And you reacted like that?”
He just doesn’t understand.
Mark Buehrle (4-3, 3.92) will go against young up-and-comer Kyle Drabek (3-3, 4.34) tomorrow at 6:07.
Go Sox!!
5/25 – Game 3 @ Rangers
Adam Dunn is really starting to bug me. I’m still tolerating him because he’s adjusting to both being a full-time designated hitter and American League pitching… but really, Adam? He struck out with runners on first and third in a situation that could’ve given us a shot at winning this ballgame. Not only did he strike out but he struck out pinch hitting. Ozzie put him in there for one reason: to drive in a run. Last time I checked, unless the ball is dropped, you can’t drive in a run on a strikeout.
He’s up to sixty strikeouts in one hundred fifty-one at-bats. He’s batting .192. Not quite $56 million numbers thus far into his Sox career.
We got the good Pitcher of Mystery today but unfortunately our offense couldn’t muster up enough… well, offense to get him a win. Paul Konerko drove in the lone run for the Sox in the top of the seventh inning, scoring Alexei Ramirez on a RBI single. Floyd is remaining consistently inconsistent. Look at his numbers over his past six starts going back to his start against the Yankees
4/26 @ NYY | 8 IP | 4 H | 2 R | 2 ER | 1 BB | 10 SO | 3-1 win
5/1 vs. BAL | 6 IP | 7 H | 6 R | 6 ER | 2 BB | 5 SO | 6-4 loss
5/7 @ SEA | 8 IP | 3 H | 0 R | 0 ER | 2 BB | 6 SO | 6-0 win
5/14 @ OAK | 4.1 IP | 9 H | 5 R | 5 ER | 2 BB | 4 SO | 6-2 loss
5/19 vs. CLE | 7 IP | 5 H | 1 R | 1 ER | 1 BB | 3 SO | 8-2 win
5/25 @ TEX | 7 IP | 3 H | 2 R | 1 ER | 1 BB | 1 SO | 2-1 loss
5/24 – Game 2 @ Rangers
Man, I have to be honest, I fell asleep during this game. The rain/tornado delay was a couple minutes shy of three hours long and the game didn’t end until about 1:30 am. I was awake for most of the delay show but I finally gave up and just let myself fall asleep.
That being said, how about this Carlos Quentin kid!? First time this season (I think) in the third slot in the batting order and the guy hits three home runs. Adam Dunn even threw in a home run to offset his home runs-to-strikeouts ratio. And Dunn even bumped his batting average up near .200. Wayta go, bud.
The bullpen was pretty shaky and since my leaderboard is based on individual performance and not performance as a collective bullpen, not everyone gets points. Will Ohman pitched a good inning after the delay so he’ll get two points; Tony Pena allowed two runs so I’m afraid he won’t get any; Chris Sale allowed one run so no points for him; Jesse Crain was his usual self so he gets two points; Matt Thornton = same situation as Sale; finally, Santos struck out two batters en route to a save – two points for Sergio. Santos and Crain are fighting it out for the top spot in the standings.
Tomorrow’s game (well, actually, today’s game as I’m blogging this on Wednesday) will be a 1:05 start (which I didn’t know until I got in the car and found out they were in the eighth inning already… ugh…). It’ll be Gavin Floyd (5-3, 3.88) against C.J. Wilson (4-3, 3.42).
Go Sox!!
5/23 – Game 1 @ Rangers
Alexi Ogando only need two hours and thirteen minutes to shut out the White Sox tonight. It was a rather upsetting loss but Ogando has been really good this season so as upsetting as it was it was not surprising.
Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz both hit home runs in their first game of the 2011 season. Ed Farmer pointed out that this Rangers team is an entirely different ballclub with Cruz and Hamilton in the lineup and tonight’s game really proved him right. The Bash Brothers run this offense.
They’re the guys who hang out on the playground and all of the other kids follow them around and do whatever they do, but when they’re gone the kids are like “…what do we do?” Then they come back and everything is normal again. Every team has one of those guys but the Rangers are fortunate enough to have two of them. They just came off the DL three days early…
John Danks didn’t pitch terribly but it wasn’t his best effort either. I’d like to blame it on the offense for not scoring runs and supporting him, which they didn’t, but Danks just wasn’t his normal self tonight. He’s still winless but with seven losses now… *sigh*
No bullpen points to give out tonight because we had no need for the bullpen. Danks took the full brunt of this one.
What really bugs me is that we had five hits, all the leadoff hitter, and none of them scored. Only one runner made it to second base. How disappointing is that? Ogando pitched a great game so I take my hat off to him. Well, if I were wearing one. It would be off now… yeah…
Game two of this series is tomorrow night at 7:05. The Project (1-0, 2.40) will take the hill for the Sox and Derek Holland (3-1, 4.37) will toe the rubber for Texas.
Go Sox!!
Anders
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