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.