Boston Tea-Off party

The White Sox charged into Fenway Park on Tuesday looking for a much needed win. Thanks to the offense and a strong start by Phil Humber, the White Sox achieved that goal. The White Sox scored early and often. There was so much offense, I'm only going to list a few notable highlights and then I'll list the offensive stat lines. 

The White Sox scored 10 runs on 15 hits. Finally, the offense is starting to play like the team we had envisioned at the beginning of this season. The Sox scored 4 runs in the 2nd inning, highlighted by a 2 run single off the bat of Alexi Ramirez (who has been absolutely on fire as of late). The Sox scored 1 in the 3rd inning after back-to-back doubles off the bats of Konerko and AJ. Then they scored again in the 4th on another 1 run single by Alexi. The Sox then put 4 more runs on the board in the 6th highlighted by a RBI double by Carlos Quentin. 

Here are the offensive lines I promised you:

Juan Pierre: 1 for 4 with a run scored and 2 RBI

Alexi Ramirez: 4 for 5 with 3 RBI and a run scored (Have a day!)

Carlos Quentin: 1 for 4 with a double and an RBI

*Brent Lillibridge: 1 for 1 with a pinch-hit single

Paul Konerko: 1 for 3 with a double, 2 runs scored, 1 RBI and a walk

AJ Pierzynski: 2 for 4 with a run scored, a double, 1 RBI and a walk

Alex Rios: 0 for 5, the only White Sock without a hit

Adam Dun: 1 for 2 with a run scored, 2 walks 

Gordon "The Slayer" Beckham:  3 for 5with 2 runs scored and an RBI

Brent Morel: 1 for 5 with 2 Runs scored 

Phil Humber had another impressive start, giving up only 1 run through 7 innings. He pitched 7.2 innings, allowing 3 more earned runs in the 8th, when he was clearly out of gas. Despite his shaky finish, he still pitched a great ball game, shutting down a dangerous Red Sox offense for 7 strong innings. Once Humber ran out of gas towards the end the Sox called upon Will Ohman who looked a little off, giving up a 2 run homerun to David Ortiz (one run charged to Humber, One to Ohman) Ohman escaped the 8th. 9th inning cue Brian Bruney who was just brought up. He looked a little shaky in his first major league outing of the year, giving up 2 more earned runs. The Sox 10-1 lead quickly turned into a 10-7 score, but either way, held up in the end, as Chris Sale came in and got the final out, giving our White Sox another huge win against a tough team.

Thank you offense. 

Right now, I would like to take this time to give Alexi Ramirez his due. I know I ride him a lot and I criticize the way he does things at the plate, but he's really been showing me up lately (and I'm loving it). He was 4 for 5 tonight, with a lot of big hits, 3 RBI's and he didn't leave anyone on base. Alexi has had an unbelievable month this May (especially as of late) and a case can be made to give him the player of the month for the American League and all of the Major Leagues.  The four hit game today for Alexi raised his overall average to a respectable .290 and his average for May to .313. Alexi, this buds for you.

This game was just a HUGE win for this club. The White Sox have now won their last 7 games in a row at Fenway Park (Shout out to THE Tim Madden for bringing that stat to my attention). The way this road trip started, it did not look good for us going into Boston, but let me just say this, these last 2 wins will not mean nearly as much if we don't get the job done tomorrow. This is because of the position we're in.... constantly working up hill, and needing winning streaks to get back to .500. 

Let me tell you why tomorrow is so HUGE for this club:

-It would salvage the road trip (allowing us to split the tough road trip at 5-5)

-It would complete a sweep of the Red Sox

-The momentum would propel us into a 10 game home stand where we could really do some damage

-Most importantly it would bring us closer to .500 and a slipping Indians team 

Sweeping a dangerous Red Sox team would really do a lot for the mental state of this team. Lets get this done tomorrow boys, we need it! First pitch is going to be at 12:35 over on Comcast Sportsnet. 

Just a heads up to all you Sox fans out there. Look for a special post from me tomorrow; I will be doing a monthly wrap up for this past month of May. See you then!