Results tagged ‘ Matt Thornton ’
6/3 – Game 1 vs. Tigers
It seems like forever since we’ve been at home. It’s good to be back, I gotta tell you. It’s also good to have The Duke of Buehrl on the mound.
Buehrle pitched seven innings and really only had one mistake – that three-run home run off the bat of Casper Wells in the top of the fifth inning. Other than that, this outing was arguably his best of the year.
Carlos Quentin, Brent Lillibridge, and Juan Pierre all hit home runs. (It’s 2:26 am as I’m writing this so I apologize for it not being as thorough as usual. I’ve been at the Home School Conference the past two days and I have to go again in four hours so my mind is in other places 
That and yesterday’s off-day threw me off a little bit.)
Two points for Bruney and Thornton, three points for Santos for reaching double-digits in saves.
Good way to start off a series! We were a little more dependent on the home run than I wanted us to be but, with a team like this, that will happen some times. As long as we win it doesn’t matter.
I like sharing funny things that Ed and DJ say and I got one from tonight. Miguel Cabrera reached first base on a single and started removing his equipment
DJ: He has a lot of equipment to take off. Shin guard, elbow guard…
Ed: Right Guard.
DJ: Right Guard? You’ve been getting a little closer to him than I have…
Hilarious. I love it.
Oh! And remember that thing that I teased a few weeks ago? That I said was coming and is insanely awesome? Well, it’ll be here on Monday. I’ll be sure to take some pictures for you to see. I’m so excited about it!
Game two of this series is tomorrow – Justin Verlander (5-3, 3.12) will take on Edwin Jackson (4-5, 4.63).
I’m so tired.
Go Sox!!
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.
5/24 – 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!!
5/22 – Game 3 vs. Dodgers
Unfortunately I missed the game today because some people from church invited my family over for lunch. I had a good time and forgot about the game until I was in the car on the way home.
From the looks of the box score it seems that Edwin Jackson pitched pretty well. He threw one hundred seven pitches, though, in his short outing. Edwin allowed one run in five and two thirds innings of work, striking out seven and walking two. It’s frustrating when I miss good games like this one (but like I said I had a good time).
Alexei Ramirez had a breakout game, collecting five RBI on four hits including a two-run home run in the first inning. A.J. Pierzynski also went deep in the first – only his second home run of the year – as the Sox bats continue to heat up. Adam Dunn and Paul Konerko also drove in one run each.
Can we give Paulie a standing ovation really quick? *stands up and applauds* He has thirty-six RBI so far and he’s been the most consistent batter on the team this year. He’s definitely earning the money we paid to bring him back. Unlike another first baseman on the roster. Who’s name isn’t Dallas McPherson. Twenty-one runs batted in is nice… four home runs is alright… fifty-seven strikeouts though? He’s leading the Major Leagues. Not the American League… he’s leading everybody. He’s even leading Mark Reynolds.
The bullpen had a decent game. Chris Sale gave up two runs so he’ll only get one point (I’m excited about the win so I’m being a little forgiving today), Jesse Crain picked up his seventh hold of the season after one inning of work, and Matt Thornton somehow picked up a save with a five run lead. The save rule has always confused me. Two points for both Crain and Thornton.
I’m excited all over again for this team. I know the entire Sox fanbase has gotten that way a couple of times this year but I think this is for real now. Two out of three from the Dodgers is excellent. Let’s keep it going.
The winless John Danks (0-6, 4.32) will take on Alexi Ogando (4-0, 2.13) as the Sox head out to Texas to play the Rangers. Get Johnny in the win column, boys!
Go Sox!!
5/11 – Game 3 @ Angels
Adam Dunn started the scoring (for the Sox) in the top of the third inning with a MAMMOTH blast to right field, his fourth home run of the year. Dunn has gotten extremely hot on this West Coast trip and hopefully that will continue into Oakland and when we come back home. I don’t remember exactly when Omar Vizquel replaced Mark Teabag but I know that Vizquel’s first at bat was in the eighth inning and it was a double that scored Alex Rios. This brought the Sox within two runs with some work to do. A.J. Pierzynski hit a double in the ninth inning that scored Adam Dunn and moved The Bridge to second base. Vizquel hit a sacrifice fly that scored Lillibridge who moved to third base on a wild pitch.
5/3 – Game 1 vs. Twins
Well, congratulations to my arch nemesis on a game well played. Edwin Jackson pitched a heck of a ballgame, allowing a homer to Jason Kubel for the Twins’ only run, but Francisco Liriano managed to throw a no-hitter. Good job, I guess?
4/22 Game 3 vs. Rays
I don’t…
I don’t even know….
Trade everyone but Danks, Buehrle, Beckham, and Thornton… even Peavy…. 105 pitches through four innings, Jake? Come on, man….
I don’t even know what to say about this… it’s getting ridiculous…
Go Sox??
4/12 Game 1 @ Blue Jays
Yet another nail-biter to add to the April pile.
The first game of this series went eleven exciting innings, fronted by Andruw Jones’ breakout day at the plate. Andruw went 3-4 with 2 home runs and 4 RBI, giving him 5 RBI in the past five plate appearances. Jake Peavy once again struggled during his time on the mound but we came away with the win so I guess its excusable.
We wouldn’t have gotten to eleven innings if it weren’t for Mark Teahen (Uh-oh… here’s where I start accepting him…) and his game-tying homer to lead off the top of the ninth inning.
J.J. Putz came on in the eighth inning and struck out two batters, followed by Matt Thornton’s two innings of work, which included four strike outs (giving him ten on the season). Bobby Jenks came on in the eleventh inning and nailed down the save, meaning he’ll earn his “Bad” status in 19 more trips to the mound if he keeps this up.
The Sox send Gavin Floyd (0-0, 3.40) to the mound tonight to face Rickey Romero (0-0, 1.34). Let’s hope Andruw Jones stays hot and Floyd can pitch a decent enough game to even our record at 4 wins and 4 losses.
Go Sox!!
4/8 Game 3 vs. Indians
I don’t even feel like writing a full review on this game so I’m just gonna say that Quentin homered and that’s pretty much the only good thing that came from tonight’s action.
Jenks was decent; Putz gave it a try but let the Indians blow the game open; Thornton (for the third game in a row) was lights-out; Teahen can’t do anything… nobody on the team can come through in the clutch except for Beckham if you need him to make a sacrifice bunt or Pierre to take a walk.
We welcome the Twins into town tomorrow for game one of a three-game set. Minnesota sends left-hander Francisco Liriano to the mound while the Sox counter with fellow southpaw John Danks.
7:05 for the first pitch and as always you can catch it on 670 The Score beginning at 6:30.
Go Sox!! (Please get a win tomorrow… doing this is much more fun when you win…)
4/5 Opening Day
Opening Day of 2006 was one I’ll never forget. It was a Saturday night and the Sox were playing the Indians at 7:05; Mark Buehrle vs. C.C. Sabathia. They got to about the fourth inning when it started to pour with rain and the result was a near two-and-a-half hour rain delay, which meant I was up until close to 2 in the morning because I was keeping score.
Thankfully Opening Day of 2010 was a day game and we had seventy-degree weather here in Chicago for the Sox and Indians to enjoy, and boy did they enjoy it!
Mark Buehrle was absolutely dominant over his seven innings of work. Followed by free agent acquisition J.J. Putz, who also dominated, and then Matt Thornton, whose performance goes way beyond domination. From just the 2 innings of work our bullpen logged I think it’ll be a pretty good year as far as that aspect of the team is concerned.
From the offensive side of the ball there were a couple things that could change. First off, Mark Teahen needs to be off this team and we need Chris Getz and Josh Fields back. I didn’t like that guy when he was in Kansas City, I liked him less when he came to Chicago, and I liked him even less than that when he inked a 3-year contract with us. We either need to sign Joe Crede, call up Dayan Viciedo, or put Vizquel at third permanently, but of course none of that will ever happen and I’ll most likely be singing Teahen’s praises in a week or two.
I was more than excited when Quentin doubled in his first at bat. I was happy to see that his leg is strong enough for him to leg out a 2-base hit, and then make it all the way home on Konerko’s mammoth 2-run home run. I was also happy to see Alex Rios do something productive for maybe the sixth time while being a member of the White Sox. He homered and made a spectacular diving catch to end the game.
Of course I’d be put to shame if I didn’t mention the insane play Mark Buehrle made, so I saved the best for last. Basically, what he did was… well… gah, I can’t even explain it. He kicked a leg out in the direction of a line drive up the middle and managed to deflect it into foul territory near first base. He ran after it, gloved it and, without looking at Konerko at first, flicked the ball through his legs and directly at Paulie’s outstretched bare hand to get the out (okay, so I can explain it). That didn’t do it any justice whatsoever so, please, go here and watch the video.
The Sox don’t play again until tomorrow when they’ll send Jake Peavy to the mound to face 2007 rookie sensation Fausto Carmona. That game is at 7:05 pm and, as always, will be on AM 670 The Score as well as on TV on WGN.
Go Sox!!
Anders
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