Knights on the Mound: Sox -Indians Game 1

While the Indians had their ace on the mound- Cliff Lee, whose ERA is barely over 2.00 and had a 19-2 record coming into this game- the White Sox sent out Clayton Richard and his wide shoulders, who spent most of his year holding down the fort in Charlotte. After only 4 innings and some change, during which he allowed 4 runs to cross the plate (including one on ANOTHER fielding error by Clay Rich himself), the reins were passed to the harvest of the farm system, beginning with Ehren Wasserman. He’s spent a considerable amount of time with the Sox, but he’s also been doing a lot of mound time in Charlotte and was recalled because of the expansion of the roster. His efforts saved the 5^th inning, but didn’t pan out as well in the 6^th inning. Boone Logan, who was recently recalled from –you guessed it- Charlotte ended the 6^th inning without allowing any more runs to cross the plate. He started off with 3 balls, but ended with no men on base. MacDougal- a name you might have to search the depths of your memory for- was also back from Charlotte. He completed a scoreless 7^th inning, seeming to be a medium between the MacDougal that was too wild and the good MacDougal. Adam Russell (He also spend the majority of the year in Charlotte (25 of the 44 games he was in), but has been with the Sox fairly consistently since being called up) gave up one run in the 8th inning. Unfortunately, their efforts were not enough.

The Sox barely scraped together 5 hits over 9 inning. The game started well, with base hits by Cabrera and A.J. to start off the first. But no more hits materialized until the 8^th inning, when Paul Konerko had a base hit. Lee only struck out 4 over 9 innings, but in 109 pitches tied up nearly everyone. The Sox were still trailing 5-0 in the 9^th when their 4^th hit finally materialized. Joe Crede singled, followed by a single by Orlando Cabrera, but they were once again stranded on base. Was it a case of great pitching or the fact that our hitters were no match?

On the bright side:

It wasn’t Boone Logan’s fault. Think about how much damage he could’ve done given the situation he came in (men on 2^nd and 3^rd, only one out) but he didn’t. Joe Crede got a hit today. When nearly everyone was struggling to muster a hit, Joe Crede, who has been trying to get back to his old self since seeing no action at the plate for a month, got one. He’s had 4 hits and 1 RBI and 2 runs scored since returning from the D. L. on August 25^th. Speaking of the D.L., Scott Linebrink is back and will be ready to pitch again as soon as Wednesday.

Bad signs:

Nick Swisher hasn’t had a hit since August 26^th. Nor a walk since August 27^th. Since the 27^th, he has been 0 for 16. He’s been 3 for 35 in his last 10 games. In fact, the herder of awesome wasn’t even supposed to play today; he only had a chance because Ken Griffey, Senior Junior was feeling back tightness today. And, oh yeah, we are once again tied for 1st place with the Twins.