Double Trouble for the Orioles: Sox - Orioles Game 2

Baltimore seems to be a great place to be the leadoff hitter. After Alexei Ramirez went 4-for-5 yesterday, Orlando Cabrera decided not to be outdone and got himself 4 hits in his 5 at-bats, and paired them with 2 RBI. Not just that, but he had all the run support he wanted today, scoring 3 of today’s 8 runs. The Sox got everything they could have hoped for today, both at bat and on the mound, with Gavin Floyd having a spectacular outing, bringing the Sox to 76-56 for the year in an 8-3 victory over the Orioles.

Floyd hurled just 98 pitches over 8 full innings. He had 2 earned runs on 4 hits and a walk. He went hitless into the fourth inning. While the Sox were starting their rotation anew for the third time, the Orioles had only gone through their lineup once. He had some help from human highlight reel Joe Crede and the rest of his defense, but he was flawless. He was the Floyd we saw at the beginning of the season. Of his 98 pitches, 68 were strikes. His only walk came in the 7^th inning, and I’ve learned to accept that it’s better for him to miss off the plate than down the middle. Adam Russell came to close, and earned himself another run. He had a hard time finishing the 9^th and let a walk and 2 hits get on base. Paired with an error by Joe Crede (A ball got right by him on a funky hop. That makes 20 for the year.), it made for a ninth inning that was much longer than it should have been.

Thankfully, the offense more than made up for the three runs that crossed the plate. Starting pitcher Burres earned 5 of 6 runs and had 102 pitches in 5 innings. Runs were scored in 6 of the 9 innings. A double by Cabrera (one of 7 total doubles that night) was followed up by a home run by Swisher in the two-spot. Cabrera followed up his double later that night with a sacrificed fly, a triple, another double, and a single. Swish’s home run was followed up with a walk, but his game was cut short when he gave himself a contusion on his left leg after fouling a pitch off it. Brian Anderson was brought in for the rest of the game (but couldn’t muster up a hit) and Swisher was announced as day-to-day. With no back-up first baseman, things got a little scary when Paul Konerko was hit by a pitch in the 6^th inning. Nothing funny about hitting your funny bone, right, Kaptain? He had a great day before being hit, having had two doubles. TCQ had himself a double order of doubles, too, with a single and had his 100^th season RBI. Despite being responsible for keeping Thome out of the game, Griffey had two “just fair” hits today (one on a checked swing- no one was more surprised than he was that he didn’t ground out to first) and a walk. Toby Hall seemed ready for an oxygen tank after having to run from the bases on a triple by Cabrera, and had himself a hit for the night. He had good result with Gavin, so no complaints about him. Don’t you love it when things go right? Things seemed to go right for Joe Crede today. He started out with a base hit (the only hit for him tonight) and made several great plays to help out his pitchers before recording his 20^th error. Here’s hoping that his bat will get as hot as his corner.

Well, that’s your recap. Some news I can give you? Well, you can read about it yourself on the White Sox homepage, but instant replay is coming to the MLB as soon as Thursday and Ozzie seems as happy about it as I am. Furthermore, from what I read, I understand that he is still keeping Broadway and Richard in the role of the 5^th starter when needed, having liked their presence on the mound. I’m sure you miss my nonsensical notes, so here are some things to bake your noodle: why are Hawk and DJ so bad at predicting things? All night, they were announcing base hits before they were caught safely and getting ahead of themselves. Perhaps they were too busy talking about … well, I couldn’t tell you, I started to tune them out around the 3^rd inning and make my own commentary. And it looks like we have two BFFs in the dugout: black sheep AJ & BA seem to be the best of friends. I think this week (in random shots of the dugout) was the most I’ve ever seen AJ smile. Maybe blondes really have more fun and similar lame comments. 30 games left, ladies and gentlemen.