Sox Wave Goodbye to West Coast Woes with Win

Let me just start out by saying that I love watching Omar Vizquel play the game of baseball. The man is 44 years old and is more reliable than most guys on this team. He was 2-3 again today with a run scored and a huge sac bunt. Basically, he was doing it all. Anyways, the Sox went into the rubber match of this 3 game series in Oakland, looking to take their 3rd consecutive series (all on the West Coast). To be honest, I had low expectations for Sunday's game, as Cahill (A's starting pitcher) has been very tough this season and Buerhle has always struggled in Oakland. Ramirez drew first blood with a line drive homerun in the 4th, kicking off what proved to be a great day at the plate for him. Oakland answered back in the 5th, not to be out done, the Sox answered back in the 6th with a sacrifice missile to center field off the bat of Quentin.

Turning point in this game was the 7th. Rios leads it off with a double down the left field line. Here’s where momentum and a little bit of luck shifts towards the Sox. Omar lays down a nice sacrifice bunt, Cahill off the mound, fields it and throws it down the right field line, allowing Rios to score and Omar to go into second. Beckham then sacrifices Omar to third to set up a struggling Pierre (to fail once again). Pierre fails to lay down a squeeze bunt... TWICE... once to go with him being picked off of first base in the 1st inning and once to go with his Carl Winslow mustache... 

Anyway, Pierre grounds out after an awful showing at the plate, to set up Alexi to knock in Omar and what would prove to be the winning run. 

Offensive line highlights:

- Alexi, 3-4 with 2 runs scored and 2 RBIs (one being the game winner)

- Konerko, 2-4 (he's been doing it all, hitting to all fields, he’s hitting .327 folks)

- Vizquel, 2-4 one run scored and a sacrifice (proving, once again, age is just a number)

Lets talk about pitching and defense here real quick. The big story was Mark Buerhle. Usually terrible in Oakland, really stepped up for us today. He didn't have his great stuff, falling behind in counts early in the game, but he settled in as the game went on, shutting out the A's until the 6th inning. The line on Mark, 6.1 innings pitched, 3 earned runs, 6 K's and 3 walks. He battled out there.

The bullpen stepped up big for us once again. Crain came in for Buerhle in the 7th, had a little bit of a rocky start, but had good damage control as he inherited Buerhle's base runners. Thornton looked good again (which is a great sign for us) and Santo's, proving even further he is our closer, came in, walked the lead off man, but pitched over that walk, closing the door and setting a W in stone for the Sox. The bullpen looked solid, Sox fans, that is a great sign for us; the bullpen is going to be a HUGE factor in our success this season. They have been proving lately that their early season struggles were a fluke (just as this White Sox optimist has been saying all along).

Finally, a quick note on the defense. No errors again today, capped off by a great 4-3 unassisted double play turned by my man, Gordon Beckham. Took a rocket, in between hop up the middle on the backhand, ran and touched second and fired a bullet to Dunn at first. Beautiful. The defense has really been coming around as well, which is also a nice sign for us because we do have a solid defensive club.

Well to wrap up the West Coast trip, I would say it was a pleasant surprise (understatement of the month). Going out there, with the way we were playing combined with our West Coast history, I thought this road trip might burry this club. They proved me wrong. They won all 3 series, 2 of those wins were come from behind wins in the late innings and a lot of them were close. 

What does this tell us? Southsiders, it confirms what I have been saying this entire season: this team is coming around. The bullpen has been lights out, the defense has been solid, and the bats are waking up. The great news is, they still aren't quite playing to their potential, which means we still have a lot more in store for us. Now that the West Coast trip is over and we're approaching divisional/interleague play and our home stands are becoming more frequent, this team is really going to show you a lot. That is what I have been saying all year and I am anxious for them to break out. Its close friends, it really is. We have A LOT of baseball ahead of us, just keep an eye on the little things the Sox have been improving on, because those add up and become big things.

Now we come home for 2 with Texas and 2 with the division leading Indians and 3 with the Dodgers. We need to capitalize on this home stand. First, lets take care of the AL Champion Rangers tomorrow. We have Edwin Jackson on the bump and that game is going to be over on Comcast Sportsnet with the first pitch at 7:10. My beautiful girlfriend and I will be in attendance at this game and I will do all I can to bring home that W.

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Typical Oakland Outting for the Sox

Welp, we knew it had to happen at least once on this West Coast trip. The dreaded "typical" Oakland game. That’s exactly what we had today. Right out of the gate you could just tell it was not going to be a good one for the Sox. Tyson Ross, who has come on for Oakland and done a nice job in place of an injured Dallas Braden, took the mound today for the A's and completely shut the Sox down. There were a few innings we were able to put a few men on base, we just couldn't capitalize. Our hitters just looked bad from the start; their plate approach was off, their at-bats were horrendous, no one could really pick up Ross's short and quick release. It just looked like a lost cause from the get go. Meanwhile the A's caught all the breaks and hit the ball hard. Just like a said, a typical Sox game in Oakland...

The defining moment for me in this game came in the 4th inning. Alexi led off with a walk, followed by an Adam Dunn double, giving the Sox 2nd and 3rd, no outs. A HUGE opportunity to cash in and make Ross work on that mound. What happened next just confirmed even further my dislike for Alexi Ramirez. Paulie, in an attempt to bring one in and move one over, tried hitting the ball the other way, unfortunately his line drive was caught by the first basemen Barton....... who then threw the ball across the diamond, to double off Alexi Ramirez, who for whatever reason was off on contact. Now folks, what is it that you learn in little league about base running when someone hits a line drive with less than 2 outs? YOU FREEZE AND MAKE SURE IT GETS THROUGH!! Good Lord, I couldn’t even believe it, where in the hell does he think he's going on that play? Either way, thank you Alexi, for killing a rally, a potentially huge and game changing inning, and most importantly, minimizing Ross's pitch count! We needed to get him out of there as soon as possible! That inning could have required him to throw a lot more pitches, running up his pitch count (thus knocking him out earlier than the 8th inning...) 

I just don't understand where our heads are sometimes on this team. I have seen more errors and stupid mistakes already this year, than I think I ever have in all my years watching baseball. Its no wonder our record is so bad. 

Paulie provided the only offense, blasting a 2 run bomb in the 6th.

Here’s another thing... does anyone want to do me a favor and remind Juan Pierre that he’s a leadoff man? Because he needs to start acting like one. He has really been putting together some awful at bats lately. He's not taking as many pitches as he should be, he’s trying to bunt in situations that don't call for it, and most of all, he has been hitting so many fly balls to the outfield! He’s a lead off man for Christ's sake! Hit the ball on the ground! The offense is struggling because he doesn't get on base anymore, we need that jump-start, we need that threat on the base paths to get the offense going. Its been very frustrating watching him hit lately. 

Anyway, not to rag on the team too much, just some things I've noticed. But still, the road trip has been a pleasant surprise, you can't win them all (especially on the West Coast). Lets just hope things continue to turn around like they are, so when we come home this week we can really start playing some ball. 

Mark Buehrle has never had good luck in Oakland (at all), we have him on the bump tomorrow against a very tough Trevor Cahill. Lets just hope we pull this one out tomorrow, because it would be a HUGE win for this club, capping off a great road trip. 

That game is going to be a 3:05 start over on Comcast Sportsnet

We need you Mark, lets hope the offense can get to Cahill early and Buehrle finally finds some success in Oak town. 

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Angelic comeback for Peavy/The Sox and Athletic in Oakland

Again, I would like to start by apologizing for not posting after Wednesday night's game, I've just been really busy. I will get back to posting daily here shortly, so hang with me.

Lets start on Wednesday in the series finale in Anaheim. For the first 7 innings, I was deathly afraid that I had jinxed the offense with my  "West Coast Offense" post. The offense struggled with timely hitting again, stranding a small village on the base-paths.  Well, I'll be honest here Sox fans, I did not think they were going to pull that one off on Wednesday, especially after the blown call in the 7th on a stolen base at second which would have ended the inning, came around to score. BUT, the Palehosers proved me wrong. Putting up one run and a mild offensive threat in the 8th and a stellar display of heart to add 2 more in the 9th. Omar Visquel AGAIN, proving age is just a number at 44 drove in the tying run, capping off a 2 hit, 2 walk 9th inning where the Sox sent 7 men to the plate. It was truly awesome to see this team come out and battle back in the 9th. Not only that, but to come back and put 2 more on the board in the 10th, highlighted by a Dunn double and an intentional walk wild pitch.

Let me just say here people, that wild pitch on the intentional walk is HUGE for us. Not only did it give us the winning run, but Sox fans, we're starting to catch breaks. In baseball sometimes its better to be lucky than to be good. There is an invisible force in baseball, it controls momentum and flow. For the better of 3 weeks the White Sox could not catch a break to save their lives, these little corky things that are starting to go our way just goes to show that the baseball gods are shifting this force in our favor and with that comes wins. Call me crazy, but thats just how it goes.

Big story for this game as well, was the return of Jake Peavy. Jake looked pretty decent, scattering 7 hits and 4 runs over 6 innings, not great, but not horrible considering. In all fairness he didn't get much help from his left fielder on a ball that was ruled a hit but should have been caught (costed him a run) and a blown call at second base on what should have been an assist for AJ as he gunned him down, the runner was called safe, next pitch, came around to score (another run charged to Jake). Really could have been 5 hits and 2 runs over 6 innings. Again, not bad, but most importantly, he looked healthy. With this 6 man rotation, Peavy is going to need to step it up and pitch like he's capable, he does that, expect big things out of this team.

Offensively, the Sox hit the ball, they put guys on base, the only problem was, we stranded A LOT of men on base. But we racked up 15 hits (A great sign) Adam Dunn is starting to heat up (Another great sign) He hit a homerun that as Hawk Harrelson said "The Grand Canyon wouldn't have held." It was an absolute bomb. Quick line on the notable offensive performances: Dunn was 4 for 5 with 3 runs scored, a walk, a dinger and a double (just a monster day). AJ was 4 for 6 with a huge RBI in the 9th and a double. The rest of the guys scattered 7 hits, just needed some better timing on some of those hits and the game wouldn't have even have needed extra frames. But it shows that the offense is coming around, which is HUGE for this club right now. With the pitching we've been getting, the offense coming around is great news.

Anyway, after the wild pitch we tack on an insurance run and head to the bottom of the 10th with a 6-4 lead. Cue Matt Thornton. Thornton came out looking like his old self again (minus the beard).  He went 3 up 3 down to earn his first save of the year. BUT, in case you still haven't seen it, Paulie, the Captain, made 2 PHENOMENAL plays at first in the 10th. One on a line-drive over his head that he jumped and snow-coned, robbing Izturis of extra bases. And then one of the plays of the year (to end the game)

Tori Hunter is up and he shows bunt (for some reason).

                                          Bunts it towards first base.

                                           Paulie Runs in, Bare-Hands

                                   FLIPS IT BEHIND THE BACK to a sprinting Thornton who....

                                          BARE-HANDS it himself and...

                                          Beats Hunter to the bag by a step!!

Gordon Beckham Jumps in the air like a giddy school girl as Thornton Celebrates (Love it, I was just as giddy as Beckham after that play)

Just a nasty play and what I loved about it was the celebration/relief you could see coming from the Sox dugout. Finally, a come from behind win, the bullpen shuts it down, the defense shows up. You could just see this collective sigh as if to say "The losing streak from hell is over." Just a great win for the Sox, just what they needed going into Oakland.....

Ok, now onto Friday night in Oak town. The Sox had one big inning in the 2nd, sending 8 men to the plate an plating 4 runs. Again, we caught another big break, as Brandon McCarthy attempted to pick Pierre off of first and threw the ball down the right field line. Just another example of the baseball balance shifting back towards favoring the Sox. This inning was highlighted by a 2 run double by Omar Vizquel, again showing age isn't worth a damn. Humber has one bad inning (the 7th) giving up a parade of jam shot singles, he's pulled after 6 innings pitched to make way for Jesse Crain who nails it down and pitches out of it, minimizing the damage. The Sox give up 3 that inning. Making it a 4-3 game. The defining moment in this one, Thornton comes on in the 8th and walks Coco Crisp, who ends up at third base with 2 outs. What happened next boggled my mind. Crisp, apparently channeling his inner Jackie Robinson, tries to steal home outright. Fast ball comes in from Thornton, AJ catches it and dives forward, tagging Crisp as he slides into home trying to tie the game. The Home-plate ump rings him up, we'll go to the 9th, still leading by one. Santos comes on in the 9th, 1-2-3 nails it down. White Sox winner.

Big story again for me on Friday night was Phil Humber, he pitched a Whale of a ball game, only had trouble in one inning, which really was unlucky. He gave up 3 soft, jam shot singles. Nothing you can do about those. But what was big for me, was after we scored our runs in the 4th, he came out and just shut it down, that has been a problem for this pitching staff, preserving runs. Especially since the offense has struggled to put runs on the board, its totally detrimental to the offense for our pitcher to come out right after the bats put a couple tallies on the board and give the runs right back. Humber came out and shut the A's down completely. He preserved that lead, thus preserving the offense's confidence. He was huge in this win. He has earned his spot in the rotation.

This was a huge win for our Sox people, we never win in Oakland (or on the West Coast for that matter) But coming off of a huge comeback win on Wednesday and sitting through an off day, to come out and find a way to win again on Friday has got to be big for the psyche of this team. As I have been saying all along, when this offense starts hitting, this team is going to stack up the Wins.

I am making this proclamation/prediction right now. You mark my words, on the 4th of July your Chicago White Sox will be in first place in the AL Central. Bold? Maybe, but look at their schedule in June..... This team will explode. Just remember you heard it here first.

Alright, we got the 2nd game of the Oakland series tomorrow at 3:05 and thats over on Comcast Sportsnet.

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West Coast Offense

Hey all, I first would just like to apologize, I know it has been a while since I last posted. Between final exams and the frustrating way the White Sox had been playing, I didn't have much to say or much time to say it in.

Ok, so the Sox go out to the West Coast to get their usual West Coast woes out of the way..... or so we thought. Let me flashback to 3 games ago now, on Mother's Day, in Seattle. This was the game that I think is going to be looked back upon as the turning point in our season. Offense is struggling a little bit throughout the game, we're getting a great pitching performance out of our starter.... again. The bullpen comes in and nails it down. That was the first big key. Then in the top of the 10th, the White Sox string some hits together, they get production from guys who have really been struggling, guys like Rios, Dunn, Beckham. Big hits, they throw a 3 spot on the board and win the game. Next 2 games, the offense has been scoring runs, they look more confident. Thats huge, because the pitching has been SOLID as of late. We go into Anaheim last night and shut out the Angels while putting 8 runs on the board.  You can just see the confidence coming back to this offense. Which is absolutely huge, because I've been saying all along, when this offense comes around, this team is going to be fun to watch. Another big one tonight in Anaheim, we got Danks on the mound, lets get him a win huh? No better time than tonight to get him his first win, because we all know, he deserves a lot better run support than he's been getting.

This offense has really started to turn it around, and on the West Coast of all places. I didn't see that one coming, I honestly thought this road trip was just going to make things worse because of the way they always play out there. But hey, I'll take it, no better place to get things going!

Another quick point I'd like to touch base on, the White Sox have announced they will go to a 6 man rotation with the return of Jake Peavy. Interesting move, I've never seen this done, but you cannot argue with the job Phil Humber has done in the 5 spot. With Peavy coming back and an extra days rest for each starter, this combination has the chance to really shut down some opposing bats. I'm a little bit of a purist when it comes to baseball, so I wasn't sure what to think about a 6 man rotation, BUT, that extra day off could be huge for our guys. They have been pitching sooo well on 5 days rest, I can only think an extra day will help their outings.  I'm also interested to see how Peavy is going to hold up. Sox fans, if Peavy comes back and pitches like himself and stays healthy, with the way this offense is coming around, and how the other 5 starters have been lights out, couple that with the bullpen settling in, sit back relax and strap it down, this team is going to start charging in the standings.

I have been saying throughout this entire losing streak that this team WILL make a run. Mark my words Southsiders, they're about the break out. There is still a ton of time left and this team, in my opinion, is the best team that Ken Williams has every put on the field. Yes, better than the 05 team, give them time and watch them gel. I STILL think this is going to be a special year.

9:05 start tonight, thats over on comcast sportsnet. Big one tonight Sox fans. Lets get the W

Gavin Floyd and the Sox take another bite out of the big apple

Tuesday night was a big win for the White Sox. They're trying to bounce back from that terrible losing streak, looking to beat the Yankees for the second night in a row. Gavin Floyd was stupendous as he completely shut the Yankees down, allowing 2 runs and 4 hits over 8 innings. The Sox scored one run on a Gordon Beckham single in the 5th and didn't score again until Paul Konerko stepped to the plate in the 8th, turning a 97 mph fastball around and parking it in the left field bleachers with a man on. It still amazes me that pitchers continue to try to sneak fastballs past Paulie. He's one of the best fast ball hitters in the game. The bullpen (Santos) was a little shaky in the 9th, Brent Lillibridge picked up Santos with 2 amazing catches to end the game and give Santos the 4 out save (as he had come in with 2 outs in the 8th).

This was a big win for our Sox, the Yankees are a solid team and going into New York and playing in Yankee stadium is never easy to do, especially when you're struggling. The Sox came in, battled all game and got a huge home run out of their captain in the 8th. Gavin Floyd was absolutely stellar. He showed a lot of poise and maturity, keeping the team in the game for 8 innings like that. The Sox are showing signs of heart, they are scrapping so hard right now trying to put wins together and get into a groove.

Brent lillibridge got in for a pinch run in the 8th inning.... and thank God he did, because he took extra bases away from both A-Rod and Cano and no doubt saved the game in the 9th. With a running catch as he smashed against the wall in right on a long drive by A-Rod only to follow it with a game ending diving grab taking heroics away from Cano on the next at bat!

As the offense is starting to come around, this team continues to improve.  The pitching staff has really been stepping it up (they know the offense has been struggling). All it comes down to now is waiting for the offense to totally break out, because when they do, we will be rolling people.

We're in New York again tomorrow first pitch is at 6:05 and thats over on WCIU. GO SOX

Humber shuts down bombers

Well Sox fans, we did it. We scored enough runs to win, the starting pitching was flawless and the bullpen was lights out. Everything clicked arguably for the first time this season for the White Sox. Phil Humber was on fire in the house that Ruth built on Monday night. Holding the Yankees hitless until the 7th inning. The kid came out and performed like a veteran. Pitching in the 5th spot in a rotation for a team who has been STRUGGLING, in Yankee stadium, on ESPN, and Phil Humber looked like Cy Young. Talk about stepping up for your club, Humber knows his team has really been struggling and when a team is struggling as hard as we have been, it becomes mental. Humber went out and refused to let his team lose, he knew the offense has been struggling to score, so what does he do? Refuse to let the Yankees score a single run. He kept his team in the game and was tremendous for 7 innings.

Phil Humber? More like Phil "Humbler".... Cause.... Cause he "humbled" the Yankees offense....

The offense show signs of life for the first time in days, putting guys on base multiple times, and actually knocking in a couple of those guys. It was the first time they had scored since the 7th inning on Friday night, crazy. Konerko and Dunn each had an RBI as the middle of the lineup did what they're paid to do.... drive in runs.

The bullpen was stellar as Santos recorded the 4 out save. I'll be honest, I did not have the highest of expectations for tonight's game. We've been struggling, its Yankee stadium, Phil Humber was on the mound. But you know what, sometimes when you least expect it, the season hits a turning point. We can only hope Monday night was our turning point. It was an unexpected win for a team desperate to put a "W" on the schedule. Its hard fought wins like the one tonight that can pull a slumping time right out of said slump.

We can only wait and see what the Sox do tomorrow. Hopefully the offense will wake up and start putting up runs, because the pitching has been good enough to win almost every game this season. The bullpen IS settling in, which is great to see. Once this offense gets going, this team is going to be very dangerous.

On a side note, how about those ESPN announcers? My God are they horrendous. I kept the volume on for a half inning. ESPN does nothing but employ East Coast biased blowhards who don't know shit about baseball. Aaron Boone? What is he going to analyze? How not to be successful at the plate? Yea, hey Aaron, next time I'm wondering how to wiff at a batting practice fastball IN A HOME RUN DERBY (2003), I'll call you, until then, get off the roids so it doesn't sound like theres a 12 year old schoolgirl doing a crappy job at analyzing my baseball game on TV.

Tim Kurkjin? My God, talk about a blowhard..... why not just put Bobby Valentine and Skip Balis in the booth with Boone and Kurkjin? They can all talk about the most absurd and unrealistic topics during the game while only being able to truly agree that the MLB only consists of the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers and Phillies. I literally only had the volume on for less than half an inning and I couldn't stand it. All they talked about was how awful the Sox are (because you know theres ONLY 140 games left, so we can make that assumption, I mean the seasons practically over already)  And Derek Jeter/Aroid. What a joke....

My cousin Tim and I were talking the other day, Why doesn't ESPN make another Network? They'll have their regular ESPN like they have now, where all they'll focus on are East Coast teams, Tiger Woods, the Miami Heat/Lebron James and Jim Tressel. And then they can have another one called "ESPN Everyone Else" where they actually focus on the other 97% of the sports world and teams that just get neglected by the "World Wide Leader in Sports."

 I just can't stand the national sports media.

Anyway, big win, we NEED to build on this, its all mental at this point, guys are pressing hard, they just need to relax and stroke the ball. We'll be just fine, mark my words, June 1st we will be above .500 and in contention.

Offense Stalls in Motor City

Well Sox fans, Im going to make this one short and sweet. The White Sox offense struggled against a dangerous Verlander in Detroit on Friday night. It rained the entire game as the Tigers hit Mark Buehrle around the yard. The Sox got 3 runs on 3 solo home runs (2 from Quentin and a Prayer off the foul pole from Konerko). Final score was 9-3 Tigers......... Be right back.......

Ok, sorry, just had to run to the bathroom and vomit real quick...

 It just isn't bouncing our way right now folks. Every time we hit the ball hard, its right at someone or just foul. But, when it rains, it pours in baseball, and right now there's a hurricane cell over the South Side of Chicago.

There really isn't much more to say folks, its early, we're slumping, but at least we're getting the slumps and errors out of us early, because we have a very long way to go. Frustration is understandable, but there is no reason for anyone to give up hope. Its times like these in baseball when the best thing to do is weather the storm, 2 weeks from now, we won't even remember this skid. Thats the beauty of this game, a short memory, is the best memory.

I'll leave you with these words from the very wise Hawk Harrelson: Sox fans right now we "gotta sinch it up and hunker down."