Results tagged ‘ Matt Thornton ’
Sox Break Curse, Swept Past Greinke and the Royals
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.
Danks, Dye Superb in Tampa
While the game went down to the wire, nothing was more exciting than seeing Danks performance on the mound. His mastery over the Rays hitters was a pleasure to watch. He was given a lead early by a two run shot by Jermaine Dye, and Danks ended pitching 6 innings with 8 strike outs. He was able to pitch out of numerous jams while only yielding one run.
Dotel and Thornton pitched an inning a piece while giving the ball to Bobby Jenks in the 9th. Jenks, loving the drama, had the bases loaded, but he escaped with the save as he forced Gross into a game ending grounder to Konerko.
While pitching was on target, hitting is still an issue with runners in scoring position. When one things of 14 hits, they expect the score to be better than 3 runs. It was the bottom of the order that struggled. Anderson will quickly be in Ozzie’s doghouse if he doesn’t swing the bat better.
Colon Outstanding, White Sox Bats Thump Twins
After the disappointing loss Friday night, the White Sox responded with masterful pitching, plate discipline, and timely hitting. Bartolo Colon looked great in his 6 innings of work with 2 walks and 2 strike outs. He limited the Twins to 3 hits. Colon was in his Cy Young form that baseball hasn’t seen in a few years.
The bullpen came in and completed the shutout. Dotel struggled a little with two walks, but Matt Thornton got them out of the inning. MacDougal pitched 2 innings with 2 walks, 1 strike out, and gave up a hit. He wasn’t great, but he pitched well enough to get out of some tight situations.
The hero of the game is plate discipline. Sox batters coaxed 2 walks with the bases loaded against Liriano. Liriano exited the game in the 4th while giving up 5 runs. He struggled the second time through the Sox lineup, and I can see why he is 0-2 with a high ERA.
Alexei managed his first two hits of the season and 2 RBIs. Anderson managed his first hit of the season as well. CQ continued to see the ball well and hit a solo home run in the 7th that started a three-run rally.
Wise looked better at the plate, and Corky Miller had a superb game on both sides of the plate. He had two hits, two RBIs. Still waiting for AJ to get hot. Lillibridge looked decent in the leadoff role – two walks, sacrifice bunt.
The White Sox were 5 of 12 with runners in scoring position.
It was a game the Sox really needed to break their three game losing streak.
Yankees Put Sox Back in First in the AL Central
After Rivera gave up a three-run homer to Young in the 8th, I thought all was lost, but four innings later the Yankees walked off the field victorious and the Sox were propelled back into first place in the AL Central – which been a yo-yo for the Sox and the Twins these last few weeks. Neither the Sox or the Twins are running away from the division yet, and it may come down to the last series finale between the two teams in MN.
The Sox need to continue to put up wins and let us fans and reporters worry about the scoreboard watching. This has been some exciting baseball around the league, and while I get angry at the Sox – I still come back and watch them. What impressed me the most about last night wasn’t the three home runs, but the five spot they placed in the 8th off of 4 Doubles and a RBI single off from Getz ( his first hit and RBI in the majors ). The Sox need to find ways to win that doesn’t include waiting for the home run. This was a good win, a solid win with good pitching, defense, and timely hitting.
Tonight the Sox sent Buehrle to the mound, and he looks to continue where he left off hist last start. Buehrle dominated the Red Sox lineup, and he will need another good performance, hopefully saving some of the arms in the bullpen.
Thornton came out and said his arm is tired. I figured as much how he pitched Sunday and Monday. I think he needs a few days rest, and I think he will be ready to go in Oakland for the weekend series with the As. I give him props for trying to battle through it, but you do your team no good if you constantly getting behind in the counts. It’s time for some of the new arms in the bullpen to step up and help with the slack.
Linebrink is making progress with his shoulder, but there still isn’t a timetable on when he will return to the bullpen. Seeing how cautious they are being, I do not foresee him back until September.
Crede said the pain in his back is better, and he will see about a rehab session in Triple A this week. The question posed to Ozzie is: if Crede is healthy and back with the team, will he play 3B or will Uribe continue to play there? Uribe started at 2B this year until a hamstring placed him on the DL, and he lost his starting job because of the emergence of Alexei. Will Crede be benched in the same fashion?
Uribe has more versatility because he can play more of the infield so he might be better off the bench, but I think he is playing a better 3B than Crede has all year. I love Crede, but I think his back has finally placed him out of the Sox future. Also, Uribe’s bat has been better these last few weeks.
Dotel Pitches Out of Jam; Sox Homer Back to First
While Gavin Floyd didn’t have his best stuff, but it was good enough for a win today. Leaving the 6th with one out, Thornton loaded the bases. Dotel came in relief, and got Mike Lowell to ground into an inning ending double play – saving the game for the Sox and maybe the season. It was a key game for the Sox, especially with Contreras going down the day before.
After being down 3-0, the Sox got on the board first with a solo shot from JD, but that was only the beginning. The Sox managed two two-run homers from Quentin and Thome, giving the Sox the lead 5-3. The Sox scored an insurance run making it 6-3, but Boston wasn’t out of the game yet. They managed to score two runs which lead to Dotel entering the game. Amazing.
It wasn’t the best placed game with errors on both sides, but it was a win. With the Twins losing in extras to the Royals, the White Sox climb back into first place of the AL Central.
Boone Logan and Josh Fields were sent down Triple A, and Lance Broadway and Chris Getz were called up. Logan struggled for most of the second half, and I am surprised they waited this long to send him down. The Sox sign Horacio Ramirez to fill in for the bullpen.
Observations, Game #1: White Sox vs Angels
Here are some observations I’ve made while attending the first two games ( I have tickets for all four games ) of the Angels series in Anaheim.
Game #1:
OC had a standing ovation when he received his Golden Glove. Angels fans welcomed back their beloved SS at every at-bat. Which was totally different for AJ. Angels fans cannot get past the dropped third strike still. Their boos get worse every year, and I have attended Sox vs Angels games in Anaheim since ’05.
Buehrle wasn’t at his sharpest. His fastball topped out at 86mph. I realize that Buehrle is a contact pictcher, but after the Crede error, I would have pulled Buehrle for another pitcher.
One-out, Angels have runners at first and second, and Buehrle pitched to Vlad, who is a Sox killer. I sat there when Vlad was coming to the plate saying that Buehrle should walk him. Hunter wasn’t hitting the ball well off of Buehrle and would have been a better Double Play candidate than Vlad would have.
Wassermann and Logan. Both pitchers have been struggling, so why bring them into a situation where the game win still attainable? If the bullpen did it’s job and held the Angels to six runs, we could have won that game.
I would have had a PR for Thome in the 9th. Granted, you already put Ozuna and Ramirez into the game. I felt if we had a little more speed, we could have scored another run possibly.
Some positives I saw from Game #1: I liked how the Sox fought back for the Angels to bring in K-Rod in the 9th. Dotel and Thornton were able to hold the Angels to only 10 runs and pitched well.
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