How sad that interleague play is over. Those Kansas City Royals give us problems all the time, and this series was no different. I was very excited about the pitching matchup today with Greinke going against Peavy, and it did not disappoint. The Sox bullpen, however, that was the part that kind of disappointed.
But it wasn't all bad, the Sox actually engineered a really epic almost-comeback thanks in large part to that 3-run triple from Lillibridge. How wonderful and random. I was really hoping we would score in the 8th so as not to have to face Joakim Soria, but it didn't work out that way, and Soria shut us down for good.
I liked the way we totally got back into this game tonight, though. These boys are tough, and they know how close this AL Central race is going to be from here on out. I mentioned in my last blog that I don't like to scoreboard watch, but when we're still only 2.5 games out, I can't help but try and take a peek at what our little Twins and Tigers friends are up to. Their series against each other went pretty much how I wanted to, with one team taking 2 of 3. Now with us playing another really hot team in Texas, we need to focus on winning these games so as to not fall back down to where we were. The Twins begin a series with the Rays tomorrow, and the Tigers will begin a series with the Mariners on Friday. Seems like all three AL Central contenders may have their work cut out for them, so it will be an exciting weekend for baseball (although it's also going to be an exciting weekend of NBA free agency as well...).
So I thought that being back in the AL would not be a big deal, but this series made me question that theory. Were the Sox just hot because they were beating up on the bad teams? I still think they were playing some good baseball against KC, they just always seem to give us trouble. Hawk even mentioned that last year we lost more games to KC than we did to the Tigers. Very strange. On the other hand, we have been playing some good teams and beating them. Such is the beautiful thing about baseball. The game changes constantly and it is up to us as fans to try and keep up. Right now, just as well, it's up to the White Sox to keep up with these teams in their own division by beating teams no matter what league they're in, no matter what division they're in. I hope during this off day they can reflect on how they almost came back to win this game and held on until the very last out. I'm pretty split when it comes to momentum affecting things, but i think and hope that this is one of those times where it does. These Rangers are tough, and they will come out fighting to keep their first place spot. It will be quite an awesome weekend like I said.
...At least I know Jerry Reinsdorf has other plans for this weekend. ^_~
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Crosstown part 2
Well, the coveted BP crosstown cup belongs to the White Sox, and the Crosstown classic, as well as interleague play in general, has come to an end. But what would a Sox/Cubs series be without a little drama right? and what would a little drama be without Carlos Zambrano?
I thought what he did was childish and terrible. I can understand being frustrated with your "dead ass" team (as Bob Brenly so graciously put it), but if you give up a home run when the hitter is behind in the count like that, you can't totally blame someone else for that. Especially not Derek Lee. If you have a problem with someone on your team, you have every right to confront them about it, that's what a person in a leadership role like that would do. However, you certainly don't have the right to yell and scream and freak out after a bad inning, and get in your teammates' face. That's just not being a very good teammate in my opinion. I'm glad he got suspended, and i'm glad that even when he gets back he is going to stay in the bullpen. He i s good enough to be a starter, but he has to earn that role back. Unless Jim Hendry actually finds someone that wants him. The Cubs are just in a bad position financially in general, and that just makes things harder on them.
Now, on to a much more awesome story...The Sox only being 1.5 games behind in the AL Central!
This might be the earliest i've ever begun to "scoreboard watch", but it has happened. A few weeks ago I figured there would be no way I should even be caring about the Twins and the Tigers, but now I am watching closely making sure they both lose...
But that's impossible for the next 3 days because they are playing each other. -_-
Back to that series against the Cubs, I loved the starts we got from Peavy and Freddy for sure, and even with a bit of shakiness from Danks, our starters still have an ERA of around 2.29 since the winning streak (and 2 losses to the Cubs in between) began. The offense continued as Gordon even put himself on the score sheet a few times, and Quentin and Paulie continue to hit home runs like crazy.
But will this continue now that we don't have the little old NL to beat up on anymore? i mean, we are playing Kansas City now for 3 games, but then we go to Texas, and that certainly won't be easy, because they're the only team as hot (if not hotter) than us. I'd like to believe that this wasn't just a case of NL ownage, and we can at least take 2 of 3 from KC, and Texas. if we can just continue to win every series from now until the end of the year, this division will be ours for the taking.
So let's start with a great game against the Royals, boys. I think Buehrle can get the job done against....uh oh, wait. Is this a pitcher we've never seen before? At least i've never heard of him. Regardless, I think we can get the job done and keep this little AL Central race of ours very interesting. my pick to click tonight shall be...Carlos Quentin.
I thought what he did was childish and terrible. I can understand being frustrated with your "dead ass" team (as Bob Brenly so graciously put it), but if you give up a home run when the hitter is behind in the count like that, you can't totally blame someone else for that. Especially not Derek Lee. If you have a problem with someone on your team, you have every right to confront them about it, that's what a person in a leadership role like that would do. However, you certainly don't have the right to yell and scream and freak out after a bad inning, and get in your teammates' face. That's just not being a very good teammate in my opinion. I'm glad he got suspended, and i'm glad that even when he gets back he is going to stay in the bullpen. He i s good enough to be a starter, but he has to earn that role back. Unless Jim Hendry actually finds someone that wants him. The Cubs are just in a bad position financially in general, and that just makes things harder on them.
Now, on to a much more awesome story...The Sox only being 1.5 games behind in the AL Central!
This might be the earliest i've ever begun to "scoreboard watch", but it has happened. A few weeks ago I figured there would be no way I should even be caring about the Twins and the Tigers, but now I am watching closely making sure they both lose...
But that's impossible for the next 3 days because they are playing each other. -_-
Back to that series against the Cubs, I loved the starts we got from Peavy and Freddy for sure, and even with a bit of shakiness from Danks, our starters still have an ERA of around 2.29 since the winning streak (and 2 losses to the Cubs in between) began. The offense continued as Gordon even put himself on the score sheet a few times, and Quentin and Paulie continue to hit home runs like crazy.
But will this continue now that we don't have the little old NL to beat up on anymore? i mean, we are playing Kansas City now for 3 games, but then we go to Texas, and that certainly won't be easy, because they're the only team as hot (if not hotter) than us. I'd like to believe that this wasn't just a case of NL ownage, and we can at least take 2 of 3 from KC, and Texas. if we can just continue to win every series from now until the end of the year, this division will be ours for the taking.
So let's start with a great game against the Royals, boys. I think Buehrle can get the job done against....uh oh, wait. Is this a pitcher we've never seen before? At least i've never heard of him. Regardless, I think we can get the job done and keep this little AL Central race of ours very interesting. my pick to click tonight shall be...Carlos Quentin.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
3 sweeps in a row!!!
Wow, those Sox are hot!!
I found myself repeating over and over again about the same reasons that they were losing, and now i'm finding myself repeating over and over again the same reasons why they are winning.
But I still must must must talk about how much I loooove this pitching staff! Gavin had another outstanding game today, for sure. Unfortunately, as usual, he did not get the win to show for it, but he had a spectacular performance nonetheless. The starters have been going long, conserving the bullpen (please no more Scott Linebrink...) and Bobby has been totally solid in nailing it down. Our starting 5 have been nothing short of amazing, and that's the staff I knew they could be to win this lovely little AL Central.
Speaking of the AL Central, the twins just got swept by...the Brewers?!?!? Mwahaha! That leaves the Sox just 2.5 games out of 1st place now, and 2 games behind the Tigers (would have been 1 if the Mets beat them...dang.). Now this is looking like the AL Central that everyone predicted, and it's going to make for a really exciting second half if we can keep it up and stay close. I'm gonna have alot of fun cheering for my Sox and hatin' on the Twins and Tigers like I always do. ^_^
Now the next thing I must must must talk about. Carlos Quentin. His bat and his home run swing have come back from the dead, and it's about time. He has been crushing the ball, hitting 2 homers last night and 1 the night before. I'm oh so glad he is starting to come around again, as that is another key to the Sox success, and will be for the rest of the season. Paulie also found his home run swing which was missing for a bit, and his average has been staying hot right along with the Sox themselves.
Ah, and now we start the Southside version of the Crosstown classic, er, the BP crosstown cup (great timing on that advertisement, guys...). The pitching matchup tomorrow will be Peavy vs. Zambrano. In other words, very entertaining. Big Z tends to do well against the Sox, but if Peavy is on like he was in his last start, the Cubs may be in some trouble. I just hope we keep this going and get even closer to those Twins. All I know is, this will be quite an awesome weekend!!!
I found myself repeating over and over again about the same reasons that they were losing, and now i'm finding myself repeating over and over again the same reasons why they are winning.
But I still must must must talk about how much I loooove this pitching staff! Gavin had another outstanding game today, for sure. Unfortunately, as usual, he did not get the win to show for it, but he had a spectacular performance nonetheless. The starters have been going long, conserving the bullpen (please no more Scott Linebrink...) and Bobby has been totally solid in nailing it down. Our starting 5 have been nothing short of amazing, and that's the staff I knew they could be to win this lovely little AL Central.
Speaking of the AL Central, the twins just got swept by...the Brewers?!?!? Mwahaha! That leaves the Sox just 2.5 games out of 1st place now, and 2 games behind the Tigers (would have been 1 if the Mets beat them...dang.). Now this is looking like the AL Central that everyone predicted, and it's going to make for a really exciting second half if we can keep it up and stay close. I'm gonna have alot of fun cheering for my Sox and hatin' on the Twins and Tigers like I always do. ^_^
Now the next thing I must must must talk about. Carlos Quentin. His bat and his home run swing have come back from the dead, and it's about time. He has been crushing the ball, hitting 2 homers last night and 1 the night before. I'm oh so glad he is starting to come around again, as that is another key to the Sox success, and will be for the rest of the season. Paulie also found his home run swing which was missing for a bit, and his average has been staying hot right along with the Sox themselves.
Ah, and now we start the Southside version of the Crosstown classic, er, the BP crosstown cup (great timing on that advertisement, guys...). The pitching matchup tomorrow will be Peavy vs. Zambrano. In other words, very entertaining. Big Z tends to do well against the Sox, but if Peavy is on like he was in his last start, the Cubs may be in some trouble. I just hope we keep this going and get even closer to those Twins. All I know is, this will be quite an awesome weekend!!!
Monday, June 21, 2010
6 in a what?
6 in a row, silly. That's how many games we have won. How awesome does that feel?
I do understand that these sweeps were of really bad teams, but I already mentioned several times how we are wining the games that we are supposed to! And that is a really good thing. I'm not getting so insanely excited that I can't contain myself, but I am feeling pretty good about how the Sox have been playing here during this streak of awesomeness.
Besides, the 1 day out of every 5 that the Nats are actually supposed to win for sure, we beat them too. And that was an awesome awesome game by the way. Gavin Floyd showed the world (or at least the MLB Network audience) that he's the man too. He might not have had as many K's, but he still showed some dominance out there, as he did in his previous start against the Cubs. He, along with the rest of the staff, is starting to show why I, along with many others, picked them to win this division. Everyone's ERA is nice and low, and when your 5th starter dominates as well as your big names like Danks and Peavy, then I would say your pitching staff is in mighty good shape. I was a bit worried about Peavy's start the other day but he proved me wrong. I was hoping the injury wouldn't affect him, and they way he pitched that day, it really didn't seem like there was any injury to that shoulder at all. It was really a beautiful thing.
Now the interleague test becomes at least a little bit tougher, with a very good team from Atlanta coming to the ballpark tomorrow night. I like Jason Heyward, as everyone does, and since every one of these pitching matchups is awesome for these games, it will come down to the offense. If our pitchers can shut the kid down, and Rios, Quentin, and Paulie still stay hot, then I think this streak can continue. Either way I know these games will be really fun to see, and if we can beat these Braves the way we beat up on the Pirates and Nats, Then maybe more people will start realizing this team is for real, and I will feel much better about it too.
I also anticipate a huge ovation for the Sox when they take the field tomorrow night. An 8-1 road trip is pretty freaking good, especially because the 1 loss was still almost a no hitter from your starting pitcher. I remember back in 2000 when the Sox had a similar awesome roadtrip and they got a standing ovation when they returned home as well. I can see that happening again, and I can see the division championship that followed happening again too. ^_~
Keep it up, boys!!
I do understand that these sweeps were of really bad teams, but I already mentioned several times how we are wining the games that we are supposed to! And that is a really good thing. I'm not getting so insanely excited that I can't contain myself, but I am feeling pretty good about how the Sox have been playing here during this streak of awesomeness.
Besides, the 1 day out of every 5 that the Nats are actually supposed to win for sure, we beat them too. And that was an awesome awesome game by the way. Gavin Floyd showed the world (or at least the MLB Network audience) that he's the man too. He might not have had as many K's, but he still showed some dominance out there, as he did in his previous start against the Cubs. He, along with the rest of the staff, is starting to show why I, along with many others, picked them to win this division. Everyone's ERA is nice and low, and when your 5th starter dominates as well as your big names like Danks and Peavy, then I would say your pitching staff is in mighty good shape. I was a bit worried about Peavy's start the other day but he proved me wrong. I was hoping the injury wouldn't affect him, and they way he pitched that day, it really didn't seem like there was any injury to that shoulder at all. It was really a beautiful thing.
Now the interleague test becomes at least a little bit tougher, with a very good team from Atlanta coming to the ballpark tomorrow night. I like Jason Heyward, as everyone does, and since every one of these pitching matchups is awesome for these games, it will come down to the offense. If our pitchers can shut the kid down, and Rios, Quentin, and Paulie still stay hot, then I think this streak can continue. Either way I know these games will be really fun to see, and if we can beat these Braves the way we beat up on the Pirates and Nats, Then maybe more people will start realizing this team is for real, and I will feel much better about it too.
I also anticipate a huge ovation for the Sox when they take the field tomorrow night. An 8-1 road trip is pretty freaking good, especially because the 1 loss was still almost a no hitter from your starting pitcher. I remember back in 2000 when the Sox had a similar awesome roadtrip and they got a standing ovation when they returned home as well. I can see that happening again, and I can see the division championship that followed happening again too. ^_~
Keep it up, boys!!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Why Stephen Strasburg is so cool
I hate when i really like a song, or video game, or something like that, and then it gets obnoxiously overdone/overplayed. It happened with Blink 182, it happened with Pokemon, and my God, it's happening with Stephen Strasburg.
This is one of the coolest stories inn baseball, i think. A team like the nationals is finally getting something to be excited about, and the kid has not disappointed yet. But I hate the way ESPN is giving him the Brett Favre treatment now, and even my beloved MLB Network had a countdown in the corner of the screen today for how many hours were left until his third start. His first start I can understand, but his 3rd? yeesh. I hope Hazel Mae didn't have anything to do with that one. it was probably Mitch Williams, he's silly like that.
But the off the field hoopla that surrounds him isn't why I think he's so cool. I think he's so cool because I watched his first two starts, and he is just a really really good pitcher. That's pretty much what it comes down to. He is human, he makes some mistakes, and then he adjusts to them. he just has some nasty nasty pitches that I have a feeling some of our hitters are not going to even see go by them. His velocity is awesome, his control is awesome, and i already know it from watching the actual games, not by watching the constant lovefest he gets from the networks. I think he's worth talking about in this blog once, but i'm not going to write about it every single day. He just happens to be playing against the Sox tonight, so i figured it was worth mentioning. I think we are all smart enough baseball fans for us to see for ourselves what he can do, so so let's just enjoy one of this year's coolest stories and leave it at that, ok?
Now, onto another cool baseball story, the White Sox finally turning things around!
As I said in earlier posts, i think the Sox have ben playing some great baseball, whether the Pirates just plain suck or not. We took advantage of their mistakes, and played the way we were supposed to against them. Good pitching, good hitting, and Bobby Jenks closing it out. I was very excited.
Now tonight we have o face the aforementioned Strasburg, and obviously it's going to be tough. Not only do we usually have problems with pitchers we have never faced before, but this pitcher is much better than the other new faces we've seen. I was originally looking forward to Buehrle going against him (would have been about an hour and a half long lol), but because of unforseen Peavy injury we get Gavin going tonight. I still think it's a good matchup, as Gavin is coming off of a stellar start against the Cubs.
I'm also interested to see if Viciedo plays at all tonight, as he was called up from Charlotte and Jayson Nix has gotten the boot. Probably for the best, as Nix just couldn't seem to get things going after that pinch-hit grand slam when he came in for Mark Teahen and his broken finger (I still haven't heard when he's coming back, either...hmm...). Viciedo looked good during spring training, so we'll see if that's an improvement from the struggling Nix. It will be weird seeing another infielder with the number 24 though...^^;
This will be very fun to watch and I hope the Sox can beat this kid! My pick to click tonight shall be...Paulie.
This is one of the coolest stories inn baseball, i think. A team like the nationals is finally getting something to be excited about, and the kid has not disappointed yet. But I hate the way ESPN is giving him the Brett Favre treatment now, and even my beloved MLB Network had a countdown in the corner of the screen today for how many hours were left until his third start. His first start I can understand, but his 3rd? yeesh. I hope Hazel Mae didn't have anything to do with that one. it was probably Mitch Williams, he's silly like that.
But the off the field hoopla that surrounds him isn't why I think he's so cool. I think he's so cool because I watched his first two starts, and he is just a really really good pitcher. That's pretty much what it comes down to. He is human, he makes some mistakes, and then he adjusts to them. he just has some nasty nasty pitches that I have a feeling some of our hitters are not going to even see go by them. His velocity is awesome, his control is awesome, and i already know it from watching the actual games, not by watching the constant lovefest he gets from the networks. I think he's worth talking about in this blog once, but i'm not going to write about it every single day. He just happens to be playing against the Sox tonight, so i figured it was worth mentioning. I think we are all smart enough baseball fans for us to see for ourselves what he can do, so so let's just enjoy one of this year's coolest stories and leave it at that, ok?
Now, onto another cool baseball story, the White Sox finally turning things around!
As I said in earlier posts, i think the Sox have ben playing some great baseball, whether the Pirates just plain suck or not. We took advantage of their mistakes, and played the way we were supposed to against them. Good pitching, good hitting, and Bobby Jenks closing it out. I was very excited.
Now tonight we have o face the aforementioned Strasburg, and obviously it's going to be tough. Not only do we usually have problems with pitchers we have never faced before, but this pitcher is much better than the other new faces we've seen. I was originally looking forward to Buehrle going against him (would have been about an hour and a half long lol), but because of unforseen Peavy injury we get Gavin going tonight. I still think it's a good matchup, as Gavin is coming off of a stellar start against the Cubs.
I'm also interested to see if Viciedo plays at all tonight, as he was called up from Charlotte and Jayson Nix has gotten the boot. Probably for the best, as Nix just couldn't seem to get things going after that pinch-hit grand slam when he came in for Mark Teahen and his broken finger (I still haven't heard when he's coming back, either...hmm...). Viciedo looked good during spring training, so we'll see if that's an improvement from the struggling Nix. It will be weird seeing another infielder with the number 24 though...^^;
This will be very fun to watch and I hope the Sox can beat this kid! My pick to click tonight shall be...Paulie.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Man, are the Pirates bad...
Nothin' like playing a really bad NL team to start up a steak here.
I'm not taking anything away from our dearest White Sox, for they have been playing some good baseball. It might be easy to lose sight of that when you see how bad the Pirates are (mainly in tonight's game), but you have to love the fact that Quentin got a couple of RBI's, Juan Pierre continues to own the basepaths, and Paulie continues to raise his average.
But the real thing that excites me? is that we haven't had to use the home run lately to win. This is what Ozzie and Kenny planned to do, and whether or not they get into all these little reality-show-like tiffs with each other (oddly enough my favorite channel ever MLB network will actually have a reality show about this...), they have always agreed on that type of play. It happened in 2005, and it seemed to work pretty well if I do say so myself. Everything seems to be clicking together in that respect, and I hope it continues.
And another thing I wanna say (a little Lou humor for ya there if you heard that sound clip of him complaining about Stone Pony complaining about him not playing Tyler Colvin enough...) is about the pitching. I read an interesting article in the Tribune today about how D.J. Carrasco has noticed that the bullpen has been struggling a bit for the Sox without him. I, like Ozzie, give Carrasco TONS of credit for his performances last year, but I also know that the way we built this pitching staff, we shouldn't have needed a long reliever like that. He would have been wasting away only coming in every once in a while and perhaps he wouldn't stay as good. The way the pitching has actually been was a different story, as the starters hadn't gone very long. But lately things have been turning around for them too, as Danks had a long outing today, and let's not forget Gavin's from the other night.
Basically, I like seeing this team be the team it's supposed to be. Hopefully we can get back up to .500 and at least make a run for this thing. I know everyone is calling the Ranger and still complaining because "the Pirates suck". They do suck, but that's why we need to win these games above all else. These are the teams we are supposed to beat, and if we start winning, then the overall feel in the clubhouse and the ballpark will be a very good thing, I promise you.
So can we sweep the Pirates tomorrow? I guess we'll find out. ^_^
I'm not taking anything away from our dearest White Sox, for they have been playing some good baseball. It might be easy to lose sight of that when you see how bad the Pirates are (mainly in tonight's game), but you have to love the fact that Quentin got a couple of RBI's, Juan Pierre continues to own the basepaths, and Paulie continues to raise his average.
But the real thing that excites me? is that we haven't had to use the home run lately to win. This is what Ozzie and Kenny planned to do, and whether or not they get into all these little reality-show-like tiffs with each other (oddly enough my favorite channel ever MLB network will actually have a reality show about this...), they have always agreed on that type of play. It happened in 2005, and it seemed to work pretty well if I do say so myself. Everything seems to be clicking together in that respect, and I hope it continues.
And another thing I wanna say (a little Lou humor for ya there if you heard that sound clip of him complaining about Stone Pony complaining about him not playing Tyler Colvin enough...) is about the pitching. I read an interesting article in the Tribune today about how D.J. Carrasco has noticed that the bullpen has been struggling a bit for the Sox without him. I, like Ozzie, give Carrasco TONS of credit for his performances last year, but I also know that the way we built this pitching staff, we shouldn't have needed a long reliever like that. He would have been wasting away only coming in every once in a while and perhaps he wouldn't stay as good. The way the pitching has actually been was a different story, as the starters hadn't gone very long. But lately things have been turning around for them too, as Danks had a long outing today, and let's not forget Gavin's from the other night.
Basically, I like seeing this team be the team it's supposed to be. Hopefully we can get back up to .500 and at least make a run for this thing. I know everyone is calling the Ranger and still complaining because "the Pirates suck". They do suck, but that's why we need to win these games above all else. These are the teams we are supposed to beat, and if we start winning, then the overall feel in the clubhouse and the ballpark will be a very good thing, I promise you.
So can we sweep the Pirates tomorrow? I guess we'll find out. ^_^
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Late postgame show cancellations
Well, I don't think anyone expected that, huh?
Gavin Floyd and Ted Lilly were both amazing, and these three crosstown games have been pretty good for the most part. Game 1 was very very anticlimactic purely based on the fact that the Stanley Cup victory celebration was still running wild around the town, but both teams provided some unusual offense, and the Sox prevailed off of Wells just a bit more. I didn't see much of that game, so I can't provide any in-depth Steve Stone-like analysis (plus I really don't want Lou do go off on me for doing so ^_~).
Yesterday's game was a bit better pitching-wise, and I knew it would be a good matchup considering how surprisingly good Silva has been this year and how good Buehrle is against the NL in general. The Sox held their lead and Bobby came in to save the day, and although he did give up 1 run, i'm glad he came through when we needed him.
Today was...very weird. I didn't expect the no hitters to go that far, and once Gavin gave up that first hit to Soriano, I just hoped to God that the Sox would get a hit of their own, so as to not have to go through the agony of hearing about it from the Cubs fans of the world. Luckily, Juan Pierre was the man. and where Shawn says he never gets on base, he sure did get on base in the top of the 9th. I thought we had a chance to win, but it turns out that walking Rios to get to Paulie was a good idea after all.
I love the way the Sox and Cubs play each other. They know how intense it is, especially in a season where neither team will likely make the playoffs, so this is kind of like the glory series for them. The first round of games were awesome to watch and I hope it keeps up when we return to the Cell. I like interleague play in general, and I know I touched on this before. It's kinda cool to see teams that wouldn't normally play each other, and i'm all about the random aspects of sports.
By the way, the two reject NL teams this weekend were the D-backs and Cardinals. hehehe.
Anyway, as for the Sox, time to move on to play the Pirates. Hopefully that will be time to get some more wins, as we've been turning it around a bit as of late. Good old Freddy will have a chance to get another win. Should be good.
Gavin Floyd and Ted Lilly were both amazing, and these three crosstown games have been pretty good for the most part. Game 1 was very very anticlimactic purely based on the fact that the Stanley Cup victory celebration was still running wild around the town, but both teams provided some unusual offense, and the Sox prevailed off of Wells just a bit more. I didn't see much of that game, so I can't provide any in-depth Steve Stone-like analysis (plus I really don't want Lou do go off on me for doing so ^_~).
Yesterday's game was a bit better pitching-wise, and I knew it would be a good matchup considering how surprisingly good Silva has been this year and how good Buehrle is against the NL in general. The Sox held their lead and Bobby came in to save the day, and although he did give up 1 run, i'm glad he came through when we needed him.
Today was...very weird. I didn't expect the no hitters to go that far, and once Gavin gave up that first hit to Soriano, I just hoped to God that the Sox would get a hit of their own, so as to not have to go through the agony of hearing about it from the Cubs fans of the world. Luckily, Juan Pierre was the man. and where Shawn says he never gets on base, he sure did get on base in the top of the 9th. I thought we had a chance to win, but it turns out that walking Rios to get to Paulie was a good idea after all.
I love the way the Sox and Cubs play each other. They know how intense it is, especially in a season where neither team will likely make the playoffs, so this is kind of like the glory series for them. The first round of games were awesome to watch and I hope it keeps up when we return to the Cell. I like interleague play in general, and I know I touched on this before. It's kinda cool to see teams that wouldn't normally play each other, and i'm all about the random aspects of sports.
By the way, the two reject NL teams this weekend were the D-backs and Cardinals. hehehe.
Anyway, as for the Sox, time to move on to play the Pirates. Hopefully that will be time to get some more wins, as we've been turning it around a bit as of late. Good old Freddy will have a chance to get another win. Should be good.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Sox issues switching places?
Well, for all the complaining I did about the Sox offense, it seems that that tables have turned, and it has been the pitching that has disappointed me as of late. I haven't watched as many full games lately because of the Blackhawks madness, but I watch MLB network pretty avidly, and I have seen the highlights of these lame games. Not to mention the games I get to be at the ballpark at and they screw up.
Danks is known for being our really good pitcher who gets no run support. I can understand giving up 4 runs, but i feel like his 5 or so innings pitched was a bad thing because of our holes at the long reliever position. Ozzie said himself that he didn't think he needed any help in that respect because you have 5 guys who can go at least 6 or 7 innings every game, and then you put in Santos or Pena for an inning, then set it up with Thornton or Putz, then close it out with Jenks. Well, that seems to not be the case lately as our starters have had very short outings, and aside from the game that Buehrle got ejected from, the bullpen has sucked it up when we were in need of help.
Now as far as tonight's game went, Masterson was 0-5 coming in to this game, and we only got 1 lousy run, which was of course a solo home run. I had mentioned in a previous post, that Mark Teahen was particularly good against Masterson, but sadly he is on the DL with a broken middle finger.
I don;t wanna rant about the Sox too much, perhaps i'm taking my Hawks anger from these last 2 games out on the fact that the Sox suck too. But all I know is, i'm tired of the lack of offense, and now the crappy pitching. Unless of course, you are Freddy Garcia. ^_^ How about that, huh guys???
2 other side notes before I finish this rant:
1) The NL really stuck it to me right after i was talking about pitching being back by having a bunch of high scoring games...
2)...and the AL almost proved that pitching was back for at least 1 day...but Armondo Gallaraga got robbed of that one...even though I don't like the Tigers very much at all (or any team from Detroit), that was still a very sad thing. I did just hear that Jim Joyce was from Toledo though...hmm....(MAC day reference...)
Danks is known for being our really good pitcher who gets no run support. I can understand giving up 4 runs, but i feel like his 5 or so innings pitched was a bad thing because of our holes at the long reliever position. Ozzie said himself that he didn't think he needed any help in that respect because you have 5 guys who can go at least 6 or 7 innings every game, and then you put in Santos or Pena for an inning, then set it up with Thornton or Putz, then close it out with Jenks. Well, that seems to not be the case lately as our starters have had very short outings, and aside from the game that Buehrle got ejected from, the bullpen has sucked it up when we were in need of help.
Now as far as tonight's game went, Masterson was 0-5 coming in to this game, and we only got 1 lousy run, which was of course a solo home run. I had mentioned in a previous post, that Mark Teahen was particularly good against Masterson, but sadly he is on the DL with a broken middle finger.
I don;t wanna rant about the Sox too much, perhaps i'm taking my Hawks anger from these last 2 games out on the fact that the Sox suck too. But all I know is, i'm tired of the lack of offense, and now the crappy pitching. Unless of course, you are Freddy Garcia. ^_^ How about that, huh guys???
2 other side notes before I finish this rant:
1) The NL really stuck it to me right after i was talking about pitching being back by having a bunch of high scoring games...
2)...and the AL almost proved that pitching was back for at least 1 day...but Armondo Gallaraga got robbed of that one...even though I don't like the Tigers very much at all (or any team from Detroit), that was still a very sad thing. I did just hear that Jim Joyce was from Toledo though...hmm....(MAC day reference...)
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