Of the career-high 57 pitches Tony Pena threw Friday night against Minnesota, two stand out.
With Joe Mauer on third with two outs in the 11th inning, Pena appeared to catch the outside corner twice against J.J. Hardy. Home plate umpire Chris Guccione disagreed, them both pitches balls and opening the door for Hardy's go-ahead single through the left side that gave the Twins a series-opening 4-3 victory.
"We thought it was a pretty close pitch to take," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "The umpire thought it was a ball. It's a shame he lose the game because he deserved to win, he deserved better than what he did."
Pena threw three innings in the Sox' second straight extra-inning game, striking out four as his team failed again to capitalize on solid pitching. The offense went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and are 4-for-27 in those situations over the last two games.
"Pena did great," said Sox starter John Danks, who allowed one earned run in six innings. "The whole bullpen, everyone did great. I wish I could have had a quicker first inning and get a little deeper in the game so I didn't have to burn guys out. Pena went out there and threw great."
While Pena may have gotten the loss, his ability to eat up innings for taxed bullpen could prove valuable -- especially if Freddy Garcia can't turn in a quality start today. At this point, the Sox just want to avoid falling any further before righting the ship.
The bright spot thus far, has been the pitching. In addition to Danks' stellar outing, Sergio Santos also had his second straight scoreless relief outing, this time striking out Delmon Young to end a Twins scoring threat in the seventh inning.
"I have all the confidence in the world no matter who we turn the ball over to down there," Danks said. "We didn't want to start the season 1-3, but, like I said, it's early. We have plenty of time, no need to push the panic button just yet. We know how good we are, it's just matter of time before we click on all cylinders and play to our full capabilities."
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
Game #3: Indians 5, White Sox 3, 11 innings
It is, admittedly, a ridiculously small sample size. But through three games, the offensive numbers the White Sox have put up are underwhelming.
Their .154 team batting average is the worst in the majors and no team has fewer hits (14). Despite getting two quality starts and a satisfactory one, they dropped two of three games to Cleveland, a team projected to finish at the bottom of the division.
After a night that saw the Sox go 3-for-18 with runners in scoring position, strike out 12 times and squander numerous chances to take control, manager Ozzie Guillen said the problem was not making contact when it mattered.
"I know it's early in the season, I know it's cold, but we have too many strikeouts,” he said. “We had plenty of opportunities to score some runs, but we didn't put the ball in play. When you have the kind of ball club we have, you better start putting the ball in play more often."
According to second baseman Gordon Beckham, who along with Paul Konerko struck out with the bases loaded to stall a fifth-inning rally, the problem may be that they're trying too hard.
"I think we want to score runs so bad that we're almost pressing a little bit," he said. "I think we're almost geared up too much instead of just letting the runs come to us. We're good hitters and we haven't showed it lately. It will come."
Guillen praised the pitching as he got another quality start, this time from Gavin Floyd, who tossed six innings of two-run ball. Floyd and four relievers -- including Sergio Santos, who made his Major League debut -- combined to strike out 16. With Mark Buehrle's Opening Day gem and Jake Peavy's serviceable outing on Wednesday, the pitching has given the Sox a chance to win every game. Thus far, the offense just isn't clicking consistently enough.
Mark Teahan is hitless on the year and Alexei Ramirez and Alex Rios are off to .091 and .100 starts respectively. The team's three-game hit total is the lowest since 1984.
Yes, there are 159 games left, but these early-season games count just as much as the ones in September, so not capitalizing still hurts. Especially when when two very winnable games slip away.
"I felt like we should have swept them," Floyd said. "It's early on, you know, this doesn't really mean anything right now, but it'd be nice to get on a winning streak."
Their .154 team batting average is the worst in the majors and no team has fewer hits (14). Despite getting two quality starts and a satisfactory one, they dropped two of three games to Cleveland, a team projected to finish at the bottom of the division.
After a night that saw the Sox go 3-for-18 with runners in scoring position, strike out 12 times and squander numerous chances to take control, manager Ozzie Guillen said the problem was not making contact when it mattered.
"I know it's early in the season, I know it's cold, but we have too many strikeouts,” he said. “We had plenty of opportunities to score some runs, but we didn't put the ball in play. When you have the kind of ball club we have, you better start putting the ball in play more often."
According to second baseman Gordon Beckham, who along with Paul Konerko struck out with the bases loaded to stall a fifth-inning rally, the problem may be that they're trying too hard.
"I think we want to score runs so bad that we're almost pressing a little bit," he said. "I think we're almost geared up too much instead of just letting the runs come to us. We're good hitters and we haven't showed it lately. It will come."
Guillen praised the pitching as he got another quality start, this time from Gavin Floyd, who tossed six innings of two-run ball. Floyd and four relievers -- including Sergio Santos, who made his Major League debut -- combined to strike out 16. With Mark Buehrle's Opening Day gem and Jake Peavy's serviceable outing on Wednesday, the pitching has given the Sox a chance to win every game. Thus far, the offense just isn't clicking consistently enough.
Mark Teahan is hitless on the year and Alexei Ramirez and Alex Rios are off to .091 and .100 starts respectively. The team's three-game hit total is the lowest since 1984.
Yes, there are 159 games left, but these early-season games count just as much as the ones in September, so not capitalizing still hurts. Especially when when two very winnable games slip away.
"I felt like we should have swept them," Floyd said. "It's early on, you know, this doesn't really mean anything right now, but it'd be nice to get on a winning streak."
Game #2: Paul Konerko off to hot start, but needs a warm shower
After a forgettable Spring Training, the White Sox first baseman has homered in each of the season's first two games, drove in five runs and drawn three walks.
His two-run blast in the third inning Wednesday night staked starter Jake Peavy to a 3-0 lead, which soon evaporated in the damp, chilly U.S. Cellular Field air as Cleveland stormed back for a 5-3 victory. Konerko became the first White Sox player to homer in the first two games of the season since Jim Thome accomplished the feat in 2006.
His secret?
Not letting the pressure of getting off to a good start steer him away from his simple approach at the plate.
"I feel pretty good up there," Konerko said. "I'm just trying to swing at good pitches, and sometimes when you face sinkerball guys like we've faced Opening Day, tonight and tomorrow, you just really try to lock in because you can give a lot of cheap strikes away on balls out of the zone.
"I'm just trying to see it as best I can and make good decisions and not do too much, not put too much expectation on it. Whatever situation is in front of me, [I] just try to be in that one -- and that's it."
The 34-year-old veteran is still slotted in the cleanup position for manager Ozzie Guillen, who is counting on the stalwart to pick up some of the run production lost with the departure of Jermaine Dye.
"We expect a lot of him this year," Guillen said. "He's batting fourth for a reason. Hopefully he'll continue. It's a marathon and hopefully he'll stay hot as long as he can."
While Konerko seems to have the staying-hot thing down on the field this young season, he ran into a problem warming up after the game.
For some reason, there was no hot water in the Sox' showers -- an inopportune development considering the game-time temperature of 43 degrees and icy winds gusting up to 23 miles per hour.
Konerko laughed off the bad news.
"That's the word on the street," he joked. "It's the big leagues, you know. I don't know what's going on. I don't know whose fault it is, but we'll just blame it on our clubhouse guy. Usually you do it to the visiting side, not the home side. The joke is on us."
Levity aside, Konerko must be a vital part of a Sox offense that promises to be less long ball and more Ozzie Ball. The team's 22 home runs in spring training were the lowest total since moving to the Cactus League. It will be up to the pop in the lineup, such as Konerko, to clear the table once it's set.
Two games in, he's doing just that.
One situation at a time.
His two-run blast in the third inning Wednesday night staked starter Jake Peavy to a 3-0 lead, which soon evaporated in the damp, chilly U.S. Cellular Field air as Cleveland stormed back for a 5-3 victory. Konerko became the first White Sox player to homer in the first two games of the season since Jim Thome accomplished the feat in 2006.
His secret?
Not letting the pressure of getting off to a good start steer him away from his simple approach at the plate.
"I feel pretty good up there," Konerko said. "I'm just trying to swing at good pitches, and sometimes when you face sinkerball guys like we've faced Opening Day, tonight and tomorrow, you just really try to lock in because you can give a lot of cheap strikes away on balls out of the zone.
"I'm just trying to see it as best I can and make good decisions and not do too much, not put too much expectation on it. Whatever situation is in front of me, [I] just try to be in that one -- and that's it."
The 34-year-old veteran is still slotted in the cleanup position for manager Ozzie Guillen, who is counting on the stalwart to pick up some of the run production lost with the departure of Jermaine Dye.
"We expect a lot of him this year," Guillen said. "He's batting fourth for a reason. Hopefully he'll continue. It's a marathon and hopefully he'll stay hot as long as he can."
While Konerko seems to have the staying-hot thing down on the field this young season, he ran into a problem warming up after the game.
For some reason, there was no hot water in the Sox' showers -- an inopportune development considering the game-time temperature of 43 degrees and icy winds gusting up to 23 miles per hour.
Konerko laughed off the bad news.
"That's the word on the street," he joked. "It's the big leagues, you know. I don't know what's going on. I don't know whose fault it is, but we'll just blame it on our clubhouse guy. Usually you do it to the visiting side, not the home side. The joke is on us."
Levity aside, Konerko must be a vital part of a Sox offense that promises to be less long ball and more Ozzie Ball. The team's 22 home runs in spring training were the lowest total since moving to the Cactus League. It will be up to the pop in the lineup, such as Konerko, to clear the table once it's set.
Two games in, he's doing just that.
One situation at a time.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Game #1: Opening Day at U.S. Celluar: White Sox 6, Indians 0
Just five innings into the White Sox' 2010 season, veteran pitcher Mark Buehrle made the defensive play of the year.
Not the defensive play of the first five innings. Not the defensive play of the first game, or week or month.
The defensive play of the year.
A bullet from the bat of Cleveland Indians' Lou Marson crashed off his leg and caromed into foul territory along the first-base line with a teeth-gritting Buehrle chasing it down. When the left-hander got to it, he deftly flipped it without looking through his legs with his glove to first baseman Paul Konerko for the out.
Not your typical 1-3.
What was routine, however, was Buehrle's Opening Day gem. Making his team-record eighth season-opening start, the veteran worked quickly and efficiently in his seven scoreless innings to pick up the win in the Sox' 6-0 victory over Cleveland.
He did the things he always seems to do. Throw strikes, work fast, keep the ball off the meaty part of the opponent's bat.
It was classic Buehrle-being-Buehrle.
But after the game, everyone was talking about the not-so-flashy Buehrle's flashy play.
"We were joking that he made the play of the year on Opening Day, so now we have 161 more to look down at that play and hear about it," catcher A.J. Pierzynski joked. "It was a great play, and usually when guys go between their legs like that they throw it high but he put it right on the money. Paul was in a perfect position and I told Mark I was going to try to run over there and grab it, but we'd have a collision and I'd be in trouble with all the fans for hurting him. So, I just tried to stay away."
OK, so are Buehrle's heroics being oversold? Not according to Sox second baseman Gordon Beckham, who weighed in with this nugget.
"I was talking to the second-base umpire Bruce [Dreckman] and he said, 'Turn off the cameras now, it's the best play of the year, first game.' Unbelievable play."
Konerko, who drove the first pitch he saw all season into the right-field seats for a two-run home run in the first inning, was confident that Buehrle's no-look toss would stand up to the league's best.
"As he was running over there, I didn't know if we'd get the guy, but as he was getting close, I started to get loud to try and give him a voice to where I was," Konerko explained. "I knew he'd get that ball up in the air and out to me. I didn't know how he was going to do it, whether it was going to be barehanded or whatever, but I knew he'd get it there. He's got that kind of savvy. I doubt there's a better play to be made all year by a pitcher. It will hold up the whole year it was so good."
The play was only part of a near-perfect afternoon for the home team on the South Side. Good pitching, solid offense and spectacular defense were all on display.
Some people get carried away with extrapolating the results from Game No. 1 out to the entire season. Some people don't put too much stake in it.
You see, Opening Day, for all it's wonderful qualities, presents one giant disconnect between players and fans.
The players, who've been working their way through drills for a good month-plus, know that this isn't either the start of their season nor any more important than any of the other 161 games they'll play during the regular season. They'll couch their excitement or disappointment by pointing out just how insignificant one game is over the course of the marathon season.
To the fans, however, Opening Day is a bastion of hope. A day where everyone is in first place. Fans want their team to win every game, but they really want them to win the first. Hell, after waiting for over six months, can you blame them?
One undeniable fact is that if you win the first, you don't have to worry about losing them all.
That's a mission accomplished for the Sox, who can now go on with their business. The bunting-surrounded excitement of the opener is over. The top play has been made.
All in all, it was a highlight real day, with one great centerpiece serving as the main highlight.
Pierzynski summed up the excitement, relief and reality of the post-opener locker room and the long road ahead.
"The weather was awesome, the fans were awesome," he said. "The game, obviously, was amazing. What a good Opening Day. I'm glad it's over though, because now all these amateur media people can get out of here and we can get back to the typical five of you who are here."
Not the defensive play of the first five innings. Not the defensive play of the first game, or week or month.
The defensive play of the year.
A bullet from the bat of Cleveland Indians' Lou Marson crashed off his leg and caromed into foul territory along the first-base line with a teeth-gritting Buehrle chasing it down. When the left-hander got to it, he deftly flipped it without looking through his legs with his glove to first baseman Paul Konerko for the out.
Not your typical 1-3.
What was routine, however, was Buehrle's Opening Day gem. Making his team-record eighth season-opening start, the veteran worked quickly and efficiently in his seven scoreless innings to pick up the win in the Sox' 6-0 victory over Cleveland.
He did the things he always seems to do. Throw strikes, work fast, keep the ball off the meaty part of the opponent's bat.
It was classic Buehrle-being-Buehrle.
But after the game, everyone was talking about the not-so-flashy Buehrle's flashy play.
"We were joking that he made the play of the year on Opening Day, so now we have 161 more to look down at that play and hear about it," catcher A.J. Pierzynski joked. "It was a great play, and usually when guys go between their legs like that they throw it high but he put it right on the money. Paul was in a perfect position and I told Mark I was going to try to run over there and grab it, but we'd have a collision and I'd be in trouble with all the fans for hurting him. So, I just tried to stay away."
OK, so are Buehrle's heroics being oversold? Not according to Sox second baseman Gordon Beckham, who weighed in with this nugget.
"I was talking to the second-base umpire Bruce [Dreckman] and he said, 'Turn off the cameras now, it's the best play of the year, first game.' Unbelievable play."
Konerko, who drove the first pitch he saw all season into the right-field seats for a two-run home run in the first inning, was confident that Buehrle's no-look toss would stand up to the league's best.
"As he was running over there, I didn't know if we'd get the guy, but as he was getting close, I started to get loud to try and give him a voice to where I was," Konerko explained. "I knew he'd get that ball up in the air and out to me. I didn't know how he was going to do it, whether it was going to be barehanded or whatever, but I knew he'd get it there. He's got that kind of savvy. I doubt there's a better play to be made all year by a pitcher. It will hold up the whole year it was so good."
The play was only part of a near-perfect afternoon for the home team on the South Side. Good pitching, solid offense and spectacular defense were all on display.
Some people get carried away with extrapolating the results from Game No. 1 out to the entire season. Some people don't put too much stake in it.
You see, Opening Day, for all it's wonderful qualities, presents one giant disconnect between players and fans.
The players, who've been working their way through drills for a good month-plus, know that this isn't either the start of their season nor any more important than any of the other 161 games they'll play during the regular season. They'll couch their excitement or disappointment by pointing out just how insignificant one game is over the course of the marathon season.
To the fans, however, Opening Day is a bastion of hope. A day where everyone is in first place. Fans want their team to win every game, but they really want them to win the first. Hell, after waiting for over six months, can you blame them?
One undeniable fact is that if you win the first, you don't have to worry about losing them all.
That's a mission accomplished for the Sox, who can now go on with their business. The bunting-surrounded excitement of the opener is over. The top play has been made.
All in all, it was a highlight real day, with one great centerpiece serving as the main highlight.
Pierzynski summed up the excitement, relief and reality of the post-opener locker room and the long road ahead.
"The weather was awesome, the fans were awesome," he said. "The game, obviously, was amazing. What a good Opening Day. I'm glad it's over though, because now all these amateur media people can get out of here and we can get back to the typical five of you who are here."
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