The last word I wanted to use about the series with Boston was optimistic- until about the 8th inning of today’s game, that is. As it turns out, all is not lost and Mark Buehrle is still a good pitcher, Juan Uribe is a star hitter, and Carlos Quentin should no longer be referred to as TCQ, but rather the Juggernaut. You can’t stop him! (Or guys from hitting him!) In an elating game, the White Sox won against the Red Sox 5-3, maintaining their division lead.
Mark Buehrle had a scoreless game going into the 8th inning. Somehow, though, he threw more pitches than the other guy (Lester), who gave up more hits and walks. Unlike his last few starts, he was back to the old Buehrle. If he and mini-me (or… mini-him) Danks are examples of what is going on with the rest of the 'pen, our ERA will go back to being the best in baseball soon enough. If we go back to using our bullpen right. Dotel and Carrasco weren’t used right. Dotel walked a guy, and gave up a hit- a three-run homer to Pedroia that got the walked, hitter, and the hitter Buehrle had put on in the very top of the 8th safely home. Carrasco seemed to have control problems in the 8th when he was brought on, too. After Thornton did some lefty damage, Carrasco came on just to walk someone. He’s been a bit overly solicited lately, so perhaps that’s why the control wasn’t there today. However, his control problem redressed, and the 8th ended with no further damage.
Alas, we have arrived at the hitting portion of the programming. Quick notes: TCQ HR31, Griffey had 4 at-bats, but no K’s! Progress! But no hits, either… Konerko and Dye matched today: no hits, 2 strikeouts. Yikes. My lil’ buddy OC proved to me that he didn’t give up, and went 2 for 3, walked, and picked up 2 RBIs. Another RBI (2, if you go by MY official scoring) belonged to Pierzynski who had a sacrificed fly, and then got Cabrera to third on a single. AJ misread the single and tried to get to second and was trapped in a run-down. Seeing that the BoSox were busy chasing AJ down, Cabrera ran home and scored, while AJ held them off. It’s also worth mentioning (For the laughs alone) that Juan Uribe was caught trying to steal 2nd base or… was picked off first base. Well, I guess that might have undone any significant hitting he did, but nevertheless, I’ll take him over Fields any day. In total, Uribe went 2 for 2 with a sacrificed bunt. Swish (whose batting average, .231, is exactly that of Uribe’s) scored on a walk: his only achievement of the day. Oh. And Thome sat out for Griffey. I know yesterday we said that perhaps Dye deserved the day off, but Thome had the day off just a few days ago. This is about Griffey, not the well-being of the other players, we can't deny it anymore.
Well, I don’t have any incoherent notes today, but I have some news and anectode(s). First of all, Ozzie’s been saying Joe Crede has disappeared off the face of the earth, and doesn’t keep in contact with him. From what I understand, he’s still waiting to play two games to complete his rehab assignment with the Knights. Seems true enough, no news has surfaced until today. Crede got an epidural (I have so many medical questions about this, I wouldn't know where to begin!) so he could play pain-free. We’ll see what results this yields soon enough. I hope. I am eager for his return, but more eager to figure out what in the world is going on with his back. Is there a name for his mysterious ailment? And, in some Brian Anderson news… I guess, like most normal people, I don’t pay enough attention to the graphics on the scoreboard when I go to games. Well, it’s the top of the 9th, Anderson comes into CF for Swish, and makes a catch for an out. Well, a graphic of a puppy running to catch a tennis ball in his mouth comes on the screen, with his collar saying, “Nice Catch.” Really, if that’s not fitting for B.A.’s role with the Sox, what is? He’s there to play “fetch the ball” in CF, and has no opposable thumbs or something so he can’t bat- metaphorically speaking, of course. So, even the guys making the graphics like to throw backhanded insults at BA? Or perhaps it’s a bunch of girls with Photoshop on their résumé that just think he’s cute and didn’t see my brilliant deduction coming... Did anyone else notice that?
Issues? JD is 3 for 18 in August. Griffey hasn’t “settled in” yet, or whatever you choose the reason for his lack of productivity at bat to be- and in terms of finding a permanent way to assign positions. Although we won today, so did the Twins. No extended lead here. The good news? I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to Geico. A strong start to the series is always good news- especially against a team that has hurt us in the past.
No comments:
Post a Comment