The minute I finished at work, I got a call from my season ticket holder friend, who invited me to the game this evening.  Having some things to do with my daughter and other errands I had to run, I politely declined.  I’m sad to say I’m glad I did.  This had to be the worst game of the season, with nothing going right for the Sox.  Bad defense, bad pitching, no hitting.  That pretty much summed up the Sox’ evening.  The Jays hit mercilessly and at will.  It didn’t matter who the Sox threw out there.  The Jays were swinging at beach balls up there.  I almost don’t even get mad at games like this because from jump the Sox simply had no chance.  It’s the hearbreakers they lose, like that game in Tampa with the slam to lose the game that make me mad.  This is just a game the Sox need to put behind them and back Buehrle tomorrow with the bat. 

With the way the Orioles scored seemingly at will against Bartolo Colon, I’m actually impressed the Orioles were kept to just 6 runs.  The two runs which finally crossed the plate for the White Sox at the top of the 8th after a Jim Thome two-RBI single would not be nearly enough, even if it put the Sox within slam territory.  It was ultimately too little too late.  I noticed Bartolo getting squeezed, and the umpire would not give him the corners when the ball would tail back over the plate.  Bartolo then seemed to aim his pitches, going straight down the middle, and the Orioles hit like they knew what was coming, swinging with authority at his pitches.  The Sox hitters in contrast were tentative and did not look aggressive against Eaton, who has become Cy Young overnight even with a 7.04 ERA.  He was moving his pitches around and the Sox looked like they were guessing.  When hitters guess, they do not look aggressive, and if they do make contact, it does nothing but produce an out. 

Still, it was a winning road trip, with the best part being the 3-out-of-4 series against the Rays in Tampa.  The 5-and-4 trip will end with the Sox returning home to face the best team in the East so far – the Blue Jays.  I’m not sure it will stay that way the entire season, and the Jays have had some injuries already.  Still, the Sox will hopefully find some comfort at home before their fans…

I was much more pleased with both the effort and outcome of tonight’s game compared to last night, with Danks proving he truly is a domiant starting pitcher, and an outstanding lefty at that, and some 2-out RBI hitting from Getz and Fields. 

I am overall pleased with not just the potential of this Sox team on the Major League roster, but what they have in the minors as well.  It is clearly a more intelligent and fiscally responsible way to cultivate a winning franchise than big-name franchises who are always so focused to “win now” they lose the bigger picture, throwing bad money after bad and still getting nowhere. A team on the north side comes to mind, as does one in the Bronx.  The White Sox are doing it right – with intelligent trades and draft picks and becoming deep in pitching. Let’s go for the series win tomorrow.

After watching the Sox for so many years, I have become accustomed to watching this team struggle mightily against rookie pitchers.  I joke to myself perhaps every rookie should wish their debut be made against the White Sox, since they seem to never fare well against rookie pitchers.  Bergesen was good, but it’s aggrevating the Sox make these rookies look like Cy Young.  He wasn’t that good. 

The problem is, Contreras was also not good, with 6 earned over 5 1/3 innings, and 6 walks.  His weight loss not withstanding, Contreras simply has not yet been good all year – with tonight being his worst outing on the year.  I have always been aggrevated with this guy’s lack of confidence in his fastball.  With his size and strength, I cannot figure out why he cannot reach back and fire his fastball with authority.  Instead he throws his forkball in the dirt to the point where he walks 6 hitters on the evening.  Jose will need to realize it starts with his fastball – not his forkball. Sox will will have to try to get ‘em tomorrow.

When AJ hit his two-run homer to put the Sox ahead 2-0, I thought to myself, “This is a nice start.  Let’s keep it going.”  The Sox did that and more, knocking out 17 hits, scoring 12 times.  It was good to see Brian Anderson go 3-for-5 on the day, with 2 runs scored.  If he plays everyday, it will be interesting to see if he can be good enough at the plate on a consistent enough basis to win the starting center fielder job permanently.  I’m not holding my breath since he has not done it after a few seasons, but he also has not had a chance to play every day since 2006.  With the way the Sox are hitting, I think they can live with Brian Anderson’s .273 batting average and his stellar glove in center field.  I sincerely wish Brian could be the guy because he is probably the best outfielder the Sox have. 

Carlos Quentin continues to be the beast he was in 2008, hitting his 7th homer on the season.  It appears he is suffering no ill effects from his wrist injury last year, and I’m glad to feel at ease his power stroke has not suffered.  Gavin Floyd pitched extremely well, giving up just 2 earned over 7 innings pitched.  Kenny has done a heck of a job with his pitching moves for the most part, with Gavin Floyd being no exception. 

Overall, I’m quite pleased with the Sox’ 7-5 record.  I like the solid pitching and the offense has been timely with a mix of power and base hits.  Taking three of four from the American League Champion Rays is big, especially in their ballpark.  I did not expect this, and the Sox were just a Zobrist slam away from sweeping this series.  Clearly, the Rays do not pitch as well so far this year as they did last year.  That could hurt them if that does not change. As for the Sox, they will need to continue doing what they have been doing in Baltimore.

I have a lot of respect for teams which show me heart, guts, and unrelenting determination.  When I watch guys like Mark Buehrle, Carlos Quentin, Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko, to name a few, I see this, and I love it.  These guys fight and give it their all.  To dominate they way they did today – and the way in which the did it – a complete team effort behind stellar pitching by Buehrle, and a diverse offensive attack with extra base hits and the long ball.  This was perhaps the Sox’ best effort turned in yet on the young season.  This Rays team is unrelenting and very talented.  But Kazmir was off his game tonight, and the Sox were very patient, walking a total of ten times on the day, and scoring five times on those ten walks.  Good teams make their opponents pay for their mistakes.  I’m glad to see the Sox make the Rays pay the price.  I’m glad to see the Sox are guaranteed a split on a very tough series, but I hope they will not be satisfied and instead fight hard to take three of four.  I believe they will.  I mispoke of this team a couple days ago, calling it the same plodding offense it has been for years. To a point that is true, but if they execute, and put good at-bats together they can be a force and beat anyone in the league, especially with the outstanding pitching they have been getting.  Let’s go for the series win tomorrow…

I’m proud of the hustle, the heart, and the tenacity of this White Sox team and how they played last night.  I’m not happy with the result, nor with the grand slam homer, worst-case-scenario Thornton surrendured to pinch hitter Zobrist to ultimately lose the game.  Still, Thornton was due to give up some runs, and has been fantastic until that point.  Ozzie played the hot hand and got burned. That’s not Ozzie’s fault. What made the slam all the more  aggrevating for me was the fact it was not even a bad pitch – in on the hands of Zobrist who somehow, someway managed to yank it out of the park.  Thornton just got beat, but the Sox tried to make something happen in the ninth, with the impressive Chris Getz stealing third to put himself in a position to tie the game in the top of the ninth.  I’m very impressed with this kid.  He is an intelligent hitter who goes the other way when necessary, and knows how to situationally hit and steal bases.  I love this type of player, and am glad to see plenty of positives even in a heartbreaking loss such as this…

I was glad to be able to sit down and watch most of this game tonight, even if I wanted to throw something at the television more than once, with 14 hits and just 3 runs.  With outstanding pitching from John Danks and the bullpen, they saved the inept Sox offense once again.  It is incredible how many times the Sox had guys on third base with less than one out and could not get a run accross.  Three singles, less than one out, no runs across.  Frustrating.  The two-run homer from Dye was essentially what this game came down to with the good pitching.  Good pitching and home runs have been the formula for the Sox for years, and it doesn’t appear to be changing any time soon.  I was glad to see the perfectly executed hit-and-run put on by Ozzie with Chris Getz coming through in a big way with Brian Anderson running on the play.  It couldn’t have been done better.  The Sox are going to have to do more of this, and hope to continue to get the good pitching they have gotten so far. 

If anyone says speed is overrated, I think that’s garbage. Speen never hurts because a speed team can limit the opposition’s extra base hits, and create extra base hits on offense.  The extra base cannot be overrated. Just watching the Rays and Sox should be enough to illustrate speed’s value.  What is a bit frustrating is seeing essentially the same plodding team we’ve seen for years, and while home runs and outstanding pitching were the keys in 2005, they played great defense and got timely hits, and had a leadoff hitter who stole his share of bases.  I’m not sure how much Scotty has left, but he’s not an old man, and will hopefully be able to contribute to the big league club.  In 2005, I knew there was something different about that team.  They executed contstantly on offense and defense.  This team already looks like the mediocre non-2005 teams I’ve watched in the past.  I can only hope they can find something.  I’ll take the win, but this team definitely has to play better…

The Sox offense did not hit enough to win. Period. Well, not quite.  The Sox pitching was also not great, even if Ozzie said Contreras threw the ball “really well,” he still surrendured 5 runs, 4 earned.  No matter how good Contreras says he feels, at some point, there will have to be some results.  Contreras knows this, but like him, we as Sox fans want to see it.  I’m not surprised Mike MacDougal gave up four earned in just two non-quality innings pitched. Most Sox fans I know gave up on this guy a long time ago, but for some reason, the White Sox continue to go back to that well, thinking past failure will somehow lead to future success. Cooper can only perform so many pitching miracles.  I don’t think Mike MacDougal is going to be one of them. 

It will not get any easier for the Sox going to play the American League Champion Rays in Tampa Bay.  I’m hoping for at least .500 ball on the road trip.  Let’s start with a win tomorrow. 

Being a member of the 300 club for home runs might not seem like such big a deal with all the 500-plus home run hitters in the game past and present, but I have never seen, nor likely will ever see two guys hit their 300th home run in back-to-back at-bats.  When I saw Paulie’s celebratory reaction with Dye in the dugout, it was surprising because Paulie is not usually that expressive. But this was a special occasion, an event which may never again happen in baseball, and most importantly, the Sox had enough hitting to win behind a shaky Gavin Floyd.  Today, the offense bailed out the pitching after several strong starting pitching performances.  That is what the Sox failed to do so often last year.  Konerko clearly refuses to have his traditional slow starts, now hitting .346 on the season, and going 4-for-5 with 4 RBI, and was a triple short of the cycle. Quentin seems determined to get back on track with his MVP calibur performance last year, crushing another ball over the wall, and batting .333 on the young season.  I’m glad to see such a good offensive start in such cold weather for these guys.  I look forward to seeing what happens when it heats up.