Interleague play continues this week with the White Sox vs the Cubs at Wrigley Field.  It's always a battle royal when these two teams meet, and I am sure it will be a colorful series as it usually is.  Last year both teams split the series winning their respective games at home.

Both teams offense have been struggling, but this series will come down to clutch hitting and how well their bullpens fair.  It's going to be a fun series, and I am sure we will get some juicy soundbites from Ozzie and Sweet Lou.

This year the White Sox look for their fourth consecutive road series win, and they send John Danks to the mound.  Danks came off an eight inning outing in which he was out dueled by Justin Verlander, but it was one of Danks best outings in a while, and the young southpaw looks to expand on his success and continue to put his team in a position to win.

The Sox played an overall solid series against the Brewers, and the Sox will need to play just as well against the Cubs.  It will be a playoff atmosphere and emotions will be hot.

Thome will still be coming off the bench for pitch hitting duties, so the White Sox will need to rely on Dye and Konerko to kick start the offense while Podsednik sets the table.  For some players, this will be their first trip to Wrigley and versus the Cubs, so it will be interesting how Beckham, Getz, and Nix perform in a playoff-type series.

I think Beckham is the player to watch in the series.  His bat is starting to heat up, and he earned his first four RBIs Saturday and Sunday.  The ball is finding gaps.

Contreras will pitch Thursday, so that will be a fun game to watch.  Contreras won the AL player of the week when he pitched sixteen scoreless innings in his last two starts.  Contreras is a feel good story in which he requested to be sent down to triple a to regain his control.  The demotion paid off, and Contreras is back to his former self - dominating hitters.

 

Contreras, coming off his first win of the season Monday, saught for win number two against the Brewers, and the White Sox offense came out in support.  Contreras continued with his nintendo stuff pitching a masterful game.  In a season of ups and downs for the White Sox, Contreras and Podsednik are two stories that are inspirational. 

Struggling, Contreras asked to be optioned to triple A so he could work on his control, and that decision worked with Contreras notching his first win of the season versus the Tigers.  Jose pitched wonderfully as he logged eight innings of no-run baseball.  He managed to give himself in trouble in the eighth inning, but he told Ozzie to leave him in when there was bases loaded with two outs.  I think that spoke volumes about the confidence Contreras has in his stuff.

While Contreras has been hot since coming back to the team, so has leadoff hitter Scott Podsednik.  Cut by the Rockies, Podsednik called Kenny Williams in search of a job and signed a minor league deal.  With the injuries to Wise, BA, and CQ, Pods was called up and has been fantastic for his old club.  Without Podsednik, I would be sacred to see where the Sox would be in the standings.  He is clearly one of the MVPs of the White Sox the first half of the season.

Speaking of firsts, Beckham managed to net his first pair of RBIs Saturday when he smacked a double to right plating two runners.  He reproduced the feat Sunday when he hit a flair to left center where he legged out a double which plated another two RBIs for the young phenom.

Thank the maker for Paul Konerko.  He was in the lineup Saturday and Sunday, and he made his presence known Saturday in which he had some big clutch hits for the Pale Hose.

While the White Sox were in total command Saturday, it was a wild one Sunday as Buehrle searched for his seventh win of the season.  Trailing 1-0 in the third, Buehrle helped himself as he hit his first career home run to right field.  Buehrle struggled throughtout his outing giving up three home runs, but he battled to keep the Sox in the game.  After he exited, the game was tied 4-4, and it came down to the bullpen.  Instantly, thoughts of Friday night's disaster crept into your mind, but the Sox bullpen got it done.  The bridge to Jenks completed with Gobbles, Dotel, and Thornton.  Linebrink was up if the Sox couldn't score in the ninth, but some veteran heroics managed a key walk, single, and a game-winning single that plated a pitch runner who was a pitcher.

With one out in the ninth, Thome coaxed a walk from Hoffman who hasn't given up a run all season.  Pods, who has been stellar in his second stint as a Pale Hose, found a hole on the left side, and the Sox had runners at first and second for Alexei.  With a fly out to center, AJ stepped up to the plate.  Working the count to 3-0, AJ smacked a grounder to center scoring Clayton Richard who pitch ran for Thome at first.  Yes, a pitcher scored the the first and last runs for the Sox.  It was a nail biter of a game, but the Sox found a way to win, and Jenks netted his 14th save of the season.

Eventhough the White Sox won Sunday, some red flags flared up: Wise's missed bunt situation, Fields' strikeout in the ninth, and Buehrle's continued struggles with giving up the long ball.  Wise hasn't been the same since he came back off the DL.  While his defense looks okay, his offense hasn't been as good as we saw before he got hurt.  The Sox haven't been very good laying down the bunt this year, and that can really fustrate a team and their fans.  Fields has been a disappointment.  When you thought he made a meaningful turn for the better, just hasn't shown the fans what he can really do.  He is still prone to errors, and he still strikes out a lot.  I felt that  Ozzie should have had JD bat for him in the ninth, but I know he wanted to save JD just in case.  BUT, when AJ managed the RBI single, I would have replaced Fields to try for an insurance run.  Granted, Bobby nailed down the save, but in that situation, I just didn't think Fields could do it, and he proved me right when he struck out.

The Sox walked away with a series win, and it was an important series expecially against a team that is first in their division.  With loses to the Tigers and Twins, the White Sox managed to gain some ground on the teams above them.  They currently sit four and a half games behind the Tigers, and three games behind the Twins.  The Sox have a long awaited day off on Monday, and they will need it going into their next series with the Cubs at Wrigley Field Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

The Cubs haven't been playing stellar ball, but the same thing could be said about the Sox.  It's going to be a tough series, and it's a must win series for the Pale Hose.  The scheduled pitchers for the Sox are: Danks, Floyd, and Contreras.  Ozzie confirmed that he will push Contreras' start to Thursday - that is how important the series is.   

Jose Contreras goes to the bump tonight versus the Brew Crew, and he looks to extend his win streak to two games.  He was simply spectacular in his last outing versus the Tigers, and the White Sox need the veteran righthander to reproduce his success.  The Pale Hose need to give Contreras the run support they did Monday night, and they need to play a solid game defensively.

Konerko has been sidelined for the last two days with a thumb injury.  The slugger has been one of the most productive of our veterans this season, and his presence in the lineup was missed last night where AJ batted cleanup.

Heading into the bottom of the sixth, the White Sox had a 2-0 lead, but that was soon erased when Richard mishandled a grounder and overthrew first base.  A call of the bullpen was made, Richard was well over a hundred pitches, and Dotel was asked to get out of the inning.  I haven't been impressed with Dotel as of late and after his outing tonight, my stock in him has dropped even further.  He has constantly been behind in counts, and because of that, he has been hit hard in his last few appearances.  He gave up three huge runs, and the Sox weren't able to recover.  The Sox lack the offensive power to come back from a huge deficit.  Being down a run these days is a monumental hill to climb, and tonight was no different.   After Dotel's exit, Carrasco came to the mound, and his outing wasn't any better giving up four runs which really put the game out of reach.  The Sox didn't have Konerko or Thome in the lineup, and we do not expect to have CQ back until after the All-Star break.

In this case, I cannot blame Ozzie for bring Richard back out since he was on a short leash.  BUT, having Dotel in that situation where he has been struggling with his control is puzzling.  I rather have Thornton out or even Carrasco.  Granted, I would most likely be bitching about Ozzie bringing out Carrasco with the way he pitched tonight. 

The offense went on cruise control after they scored their two runs.  They had some opportunities for more, but there was some nice defensive players and baserunning blunders that cost the Sox.  Pods was on base three times, and two of those times he was either picked off at first or caught stealing when he overslid the bag.  It's the little things that is killing this team, and the players really need to have a long look at themselves and work at fixing what is wrong.

This isn't the way to start a series in which you have a bullpen meltdown.  The only positive I saw was Poreda.  Contreras heads to the bump tomorrow, so I hope we see a better all-around game.  It's unfortunate that Richard didn't win because he worked his behind off tonight and SHOULD have won if the bullpen didn't forget how to pitch.

I've been at a loss of words for the past week thanks to the performance of the Chicago White Sox.  They started their homestand in grand fashion, but they proceeded to lose the next three games to the Oakland A's.  While it was a head scratcher, we still had to focus for the Indians were coming into town.  With division games, you simply have to win as much as you can, and the White Sox failed to do that.  There are three phases to baseball: pitching, offense, and defense.  The White Sox lacked most of those phases in their series with the A's, Indians, and Tigers.  While the pitching was better in the Tigers series, it wasn't good enough to overcome the errors of the defense or the lack of offense.

While the Sox walked away from the Tigers series losing three out of the five games.  They had opportunities to win every game.  I always believed that good teams overcome errors or bad calls from the umpire, and the Sox aren't a good time currently.  They cannot align all three phases into a game, and they are suffering because of it.

Offensively, situational hitting is killing the Sox.  The last team the Sox had in which they could execute effectively was 2006.  Alexei isn't a batter that should be in the second spot.  He started out well because he was seeing a lot of fastballs, but when pitchers started going offspeed and outside the strikezone, Alexei was doing all the work to get him out.  Last year, Alexei was one of the best, or the best clutch, hitter the Sox have seen since Crede, but Alexei has only shone lukewarm highlights of his breakout rookie year last year.  Ozzie benched him for a few games at the beginning of the season for Jayson Nix, and it helped awhile with him sitting back on the breaking ball, but it hasn't improved his clutch hitting or situational hitting in key moments.  His sacrifice bunting skills are pretty terrible, and he is prone to popping out instead of moving the runner.

I knew that Gordon Beckham would be making his debut in a Sox uniform, but I expected that to happen after the All-Star break.  With the departure of Wilson Betemit, I thought that would give more playing time for Jayson Nix.  Ozzie and Kenny thought that Beckham was ready, and they called him up leaving Fields' status with the team in jeporady.  They weren't going to call up Beckham to sit on the bench, so I assume that Kenny would be using Fields as trade bait.  Unfortunately, Fields doesn't have a lot of value because he is prone to striking out a lot and he doesn't have a strong glove and gives up big errors in key situations of a game.  The callup of Beckham hasn't been as hopeful as some might have thought.  Beckham might be an answer to part of the problem, but he isn't the answer to all of their problems.  Looking at Beckham's approach to the plate, it seems that he just hacks at the first pitch.  There was one game in which he saw a total of three pitches in the game.  Beckham needs to calm down at the plate and work the count a little.  While there were some pitches that he drived well, start with the little things like singles before swinging for the fences.  The Sox have enough thumpers in the lineup.

There are many more issues with the offense, but I want to get to pitching.  Starting pitching has been blah.  Either we have great starting pitching or it's been medicore at best.  In games in which you think you have a shot at winning, you watch the starters begin to fade and the bullpen is rushed onto the field to make matters worse.  I do not think Ozzie has been managing his starting pitching every well this last homestand.  He left Buehrle too long in the Tiger series, and it cost him a win.  I understand the desire to save your bullpen, but being down in the standings as you are, you have to treat each game as if it is the final game of the World Series.  I hate to see what would have happened if the Sox lost the last game of the Tiger's series after Bobby gave up the two run homer to Granderson in the top of the ninth.  The team looked flat as it was, and losing that game would most likely have been a death sentence. 

Linebrink and Dotel have struggled during the homestand.  Giving up big runs when they are called upon to hold games.  Carrasco has been one of the bright shining lights in the bullpen this year, but you are going to get to a point in which you go to the well a little too much.  I think the woes of the offense and the defense has effected the pitching.  Pitchers aren't confident in overcoming errors or lack of offense.  Danks pitched a whale of a ballgame, but he walked away the empty in his effort.  Gavin Floyd was spectacular in his outing only to see a no decision because Jenks gave up a big two run homer.  The only starting pitcher that notched a win in the Tiger's series was Contreras - who looked amazing in his first start since being sent down to the minors.  If Contreras can duplicate his outing, we would be in decent shape because we can bench Colon - he is on DL currently.  Colon has been a huge disappointment.  One outing he is amazing, and the second outing he looks terrible.  While you can have a little patience with Floyd and Danks, you expect more from your veterans.  What has been killing the bullpen has been walks.  Starters and Relief alike have been prone to walking alot of batters in a game - especially the leadoff hitter.  Holding runners at first has been a challenge, and it has plagued the pitching staff for the last few years.

Last phase is defense, and the Sox haven't been a strong defensive team this year.  Those big errors have cost a lot of games for the White Sox this season.  Because of his lack of defense and production at the plate, Wilson Betemit was DFA, and you have a feeling that Fields isn't that far behind.  Because of the injury to Konerko with his thumb, Fields has been playing a few games at first base.  Still, Fields defense hasn't been spectacular even though he worked with Joey Cora in the offseason.  Along with his subpar defense, his hitting hasn't been any better.  He has a high strikeout ratio, and isn't prone to hitting in clutch.  Then again, you could say that about a lot of the Sox players.  Another player with error issues has been Alexei.  You would think with his talent, he would be more sure handed, but it hasn't been the case for the young shortstop this season.  Giving extra outs to any team is a recipe for disaster.  Pitching hasn't been strong enough to simply overcome those errors this year.

I do not see the Sox going far this season unless they can turn around their pitching, hitting, and defense.  With the way that the Tigers are playing, we are going to be hard pressed to make any ground whatsoever.  We had a good opportunity to make a dent in the standings, but we let three games slip through our fingers.  I see the Sox as sellers soon if they have a bad road trip with interleague play.  Most likely you will see JD, Fields, possibly Contreras if he pitches well, Buehrle - his contract value goes up if he is traded I recall, Thome is another possibility - some teams are looking for bats.  While it might be a little early to sound negative, but the Sox really hasn't shown us something to really cheer about this last homestand - especially against teams in our own division.  I hope they turn it around because I hate to see them lose the way they have been.  You will lose games.  It's the nature of the schedule, but to lose the games as they have been... it's simply an embarassment to the fans, to the organization, and to themselves as ballplayers.

Pirate's Centerfielder Nate McLouth Traded to the Braves

First there were talks of Peavy going to the White Sox.  Next there was talks of Oswalt going to the White Sox.  While McLouth isn't going to the White Sox, this is the first major trade of the season before the July 31st trade deadline.  With teams who are buying, they will most likely look at this deal to get a sense of the going price of talent.  Everyone looks for pitching, and it looks like it will come at a premium. 

We saw the best of the Sox on Monday, and the worst of the Sox on Tuesday.  You had a sense that the game wasn't in the Sox favor when Alexei Ramirez couldn't get Scott Podsednik to third, Podsednik getting picked off at second on what appeared to be a steal attempt of third base.  Lets think about that for a moment.  With JD at bat, there is NO reason whatsoever to even try to attempt to steal third - if that was what Podsednik was trying to do.  JD has been one of the hottest Sox hitters these last few weeks, so why on earth would you do something as boneheaded as getting picked off at second.  The kicker?  JD smacked a single that could have scored Podsednik if he was still at second base.

It was a game of missed opportunities.  A game of bad defense, bad pitching, and bad clutch hitting.  Paulie had a good hitter's count, and he pops up.  I lost count how many times Sox hitters have been overly aggressive at swinging.  Ramirez is notorious for aggressive swinging especially balls out of the strike zone.  As much as it puzzled the annoucers, Kennedy bunted OC to third eventhough he has been the A's hottest hitter.  He knew that his team has been struggling, and he wanted to make sure there was a runner at third with less than two outs.  Cust earns a sac fly, and the A's were up 1-0.  The Sox almost had a carbon copy inning except they didn't score.  Alexei couldn't execute the bunt, and he popped out, failing to move Podsednik to third.  Execution has been a problem for the Sox all season, but they have been better during the last two weeks.  Why is Wise playing center?  I understand he was the starter before he went on the DL, but BA has been playing better as well as hitting better than Wise has been.  Wise has been terrible at the plate, and I only recall one hit that actually made it to the outfield since he has been back.  He either had soft grounders to the pitcher or strikes out.  While his defense looks good, his offense has more to be desired.  Make BA the starter and stick to it, Ozzie.

While the offense was giving you heartburn, the defense was giving you a stroke.  How many times will Ozzie put Betemit at third base?  It seems that everytime he is at the hot corner, he makes a error that changes the game.  His bat hasn't been great, and his glove is worse than Fields.  I rather have Fields strikeout three times a game than to give up big errors.  Granted, Fields glove isn't great, but it's better than what Betemit has to offer.  I think we are going to see a bigger push for Beckham if Betemit/Fields continues to struggle as they have been.  Yes, Fields has been better, but Monday night we saw the bad Fields striking out three times and look completely lost at the plate. 

Colon doesn't have the ability to pitch over mistakes.  We saw that in the whitewash the Twins gave the Pale Hose a few weeks back, and last night was no different after Betemit's error.  Colon flip-flops wins, and last night was his turn to lose, and lose he did.  He was pitching well keeping the game close until the error, and then, as if punishing the team, lost all control walking batters and serving a room service fastball to Holliday for a bases clearing double which effectively knocking the Sox out of the game.

After the mistakes, you could see/feel the energy drain from the players.  They weren't crisp, and it looked like pressure was getting to them to make plays offensively.  They say that you are only as good as your next pitcher, and the White Sox have Richard, who has been lights out, on the mound tonight.  Hopefully last night was a fluke, and the White Sox can rebound and play a solid game.  It's another step in Richard's evolution as a starting pitcher in the rotation, and if he has another quality start, he has my vote.

Cox Snags a Foul Ball

While watching Baseball Tonight, it was mentioned that the White Sox were persuing talks with the Astros for pitcher Roy Oswalt.  Kenny Williams tried to pick up Jack Peavy a week ago, and he mentioned when the trade fell through that he would continue to look to improve the team for a playoff push this year.

Oswalt said that he would not wave his no-trade clause if the White Sox and Astros come to an agreement.

It seems that the elite pitchers of the NL don't want to pitch at the homer-friendly Comiskey Park regardless if the White Sox are a winning team or a strong coaching staff.  Don Cooper is one the best pitching coaches in the game, and I am sure it would take a lot for a pitcher to no want to pitch for someone as accomplished as Coop.

To be honest, Oswalt hasn't been pitching that well.  He is only 1-2 this season with a ERA over 4.  While he is a workhorse, he is primarily a fastball pitcher which wouldn't bode well if he cannot make his spots.  He would have been a nice 1-2 punch with Buehrle going with a rotation like: Buehrle, Oswalt, Danks, Floyd, and Richard.

Since Kenny Williams is looking at elite pitchers, he should give AZ Diamondbacks a call and see what it would take to get Dan Haren.  Haren signed a 4 year, 44.75 million dollar contract last August, and he features a fastball in the 92-94 range with movement, sports a split-finger fastball which is his strikeout pitch, a changeup, and curveball.  Once in a while, he would use a cutter.  He has one of the best K/BB ratio in the majors, but he is prone to giving up home runs which might not suit pitching in Comiskey Park.  Dan Haren's Wiki Page 

This trade was kinda of a head scratcher for me.  While Corky Miller was OK, I didn't feel the need to go out and pick up a backup catcher.  Broadway has been decent for the White Sox, but he didn't step up in big situations.

White Sox pitchers do a terrible job of holding runners, so to use that Miller was only 1-for-9 for tossing out runners is horse pucky.  AJ isn't any better.  But, the knock that Miller got was his batting average.  He only managed to be in the low two hundreds, and I think the Sox looked for a little more run production from their anemic offense.  Ozzie wants to use Castro more coming into the summer to keep AJ fresh for a push in September.

I don't see Castro as a huge upgrade to be honest, and I think Williams traded away a decent trade bait pitcher for little return.  I hope I am wrong tho.  Time will tell.

It has been a great week for White Sox baseball.  Heading into Friday, the White Sox were 2-1 on their six game road trip.  Angel's pitcher Weaver was just too much for the Sox, and they failed to sweep on Wednesday.  With an important series starting on Friday, the White Sox needed to make up some ground on the Royals, Twins, and Tigers. 

The Pale Hose sent out Clayton Richard to the mound on Friday, and the young southpaw dominated the Royals lineup.  Not only did Richard pitch well, all the Sox hitters managed a hit and scored a run in the 11-2 shellacking.  It was Richard's fourth start of the season, and it was his second win.  If Richard continues to pitch as well as he has in his last few starts, Ozzie is going to have a difficult decision with Contreras and Colon.  Currently Contreras is pitching in Triple-A trying to regain his lost command.  As for Colon, he has been hit or miss this season.  He is usually good one game and bad the next.  Hopefully he can break this pattern when he pitches against the A's this week.

The 1-2 combination of Scott Podsednik and Alexei Ramirez are getting it done.  While the tandum isn't as strong as it was with Podsednik and Iguchi, Ramirez has been working the field more and stopped trying to pull the ball.  He has been more discipline at the plate, and his average has gradually climbing.  Pods has been an excellent catalyst for the White Sox setting up the 3-4-5 hitters perfectly.  He is a much needed sparkplug for the offense, and he is one of the MVPs of the offense along with Dye and Konerko.

Saturday we saw Buehrle looking for win number seven, and he came close but he gave up a solo home run to walk away with a no decision.  The White Sox rallied past the Royals in the ninth to give them their forth win on their current road trip and in line for the sweep on Sunday.  With a 2-2 tie going into the eighth inning, the White Sox put runners at first and second with consecutive bunt singles by Podsednik and Ramirez.  JD managed a walk, and the White Sox took the lead on Thome's RBI ground out.  Tied 3-3 in the ninth, Getz hit a one-out single, Fields walked, and Podsednik smacked a RBI single to give the Pale Hose the lead again.  Alexei got the Sox an insurance run, and Bobby Jenks nailed down his eleventh save of the season.  The White Sox offense managed to score three runs off the Royals bullpen to get them their second win in the three game set.

Sweeps haven't been kind to the White Sox this season, and they looked to complete their third attempt of a series sweep in the last two weeks.  To complete this feat, the Pale Hose needed to get a win over Zack Greinke who has been magnificant this season.  At first glance, one might think that the Sox were doomed, but that was before Greinke had to pitch to Podsednik.  The speedy left-hander started the game with a triple and scored on a single to left from Thome who beat the shift.  The Sox lead 1-0, but the lead was a short.  The Royals managed to plate three runs off of Danks in the second.  I am sure there was a lot of collective sighs as Danks didn't have his best stuff, but he battled and kept the Sox in the game going five and a third innings giving up four runs on nine hits, two walks, and five strikeouts. 

Dotel entered the sixth inning to get the Sox out of a pickle.  The righty has been lights out this season, and he continued to dominate Sunday giving up no runs in an inning of relief.  The Sox scored four runs, three earned off of Greinke in which he hasn't surrendered more than two runs this season.  Thorton's outing was superb going almost two innings in relief that lead to the Sox plating a three spot in the top of the ninth.  AJ started the inning with a single.  BA came in as a PH for Wise and coaxed a walk.  Fields walked which lead to Getz's heroic GW single to right.  The ball sailed over the head of Guillen that plated both AJ and BA.  BA blew through the stop sign that Cox gave, but BA managed a beautiful slide that just beat the tag to put the Sox up by two.  Podsednik got an insurance run, and the Sox cruised to a 7-4 win. Jenks collected the save, and Thornton was awarded the win.  The Sox completed the sweep over insurmountable odds of beating Greinke and completing the sweep.

The curse is broken, and the Sox walk into their next homestand with a 5-1 road trip.  The Sox will see the A's(4), Indians(3), and the Tigers(5).  It will be a long homestand, and the Sox play a double hitter with the Tigers to make up a previous rained out game.  It's another important series with the Indians and the Tigers.  Both teams are playing well, and the Sox have the opportunity to gain some ground on the Tigers.  With the win on Saturday, the White Sox managed to slip into second plate in the AL Central.

Josh Fields has been playing much better on this last road trip.  He must have sensed his job might be in jeopardy because he has been delivering some clutch at-bats and showed better plate discipline.