25-31 this season

Mission. Continue doing what has worked so well in playing games at Fenway. Ozzie will send the following guys out to do this tonight:

Juan Pierre LF, The Cuban Missile SS, The Carlos Quentin RF, The King 1B, AJ Pierzynski C, Alex Rios CF, Big Donkey DH, Bacon 2B, Brent Morel 3B.

Phil Humber will start tonight. Originally, Phil was slated to start Wednesday afternoon. However, with Gavin having pitched in relief in Saturday’s 14-inning affair at Toronto, they swapped days to start.

Phil will be looking to get his fourth win on the season. He has been the most consistent starter this season but he has not faced the Red Sox before. On the season he is 3-3 with a 2.85 ERA, a 0.93 WHIP and 33 strikeouts. The only Red Sox player who has faced Humber is Drew Sutton and he is did not get a hit in that one at-bat. Lucky for Sutton, he won’t be facing Humber tonight as he is not starting.

30-24 this season

Tito will send out the following guys to try and stop Phil and co.,

Jacoby Ellsbury CF, Dustin Pedroia 2B, Adrian Gonzalez 1B, Kevin Youkilis 3B, David Ortiz DH, Carl Crawford LF, Jed Lowrie SS, J.D. Drew RF, Jason Varitek C.

Alfredo Aceves will start for the Red Sox. You may recall or heard that Aceves was the one who “broke” Marlon Byrd’s face during the first weekend of interleague play when that other Chicago baseball team visited Boston. Aside from that incident, Aceves has been good so far this season. Aceves has stepped into the rotation to fill in while Daisuke Matsuzaka is on the disabled list. 

So far, Aceves has five career starts in 59 appearances.  Against the White Sox in the past five years, Aceves is  2-0 with a  4.05 ERA, a 1.13 WHIP and he has four strikeouts.

 *notes: Bobby Jenks should return from the disabled list tonight. The White Sox are 11-12 in their last 13 against the Red Sox.  

New day. Hope if you had a long weekend, it was a good one. To get you back into a work kind of mood, here is your morning reading to help ease you back into the grind.

More on the latest Ozzie words and he has also made peace with the media.

Another take on Ozzie and his dissing of fans.

Mark Teahen getting time at first base and in right field. Be sure to read down the page to see how the latest arm in the bullpen, Brian Bruney, feels about the Sox organization.

Video of Jordan Danks and Dayan Viciedo.

In case you didn’t see the SI Article on Jim Tressel, here it is for you to read. (No, it’s not baseball or White Sox related, but it *is* a huge sports story)

. . . until this evening and another White Sox winner (I hope)!

To get on a roll. The White Sox are now 4-0 in their last four games against the Red Sox with the White Sox winning tonight 7-3. Dirt Bag Jake Peavy picks up his second win of the season while Jon Lester gets his second loss. The Sox have also won five in a row at Fenway.

The Pale Hose got things going early in the first with an AJ Pierzynski single up the middle to score two runs. Always nice to spot the starter an early lead before he even throws a pitch.

Jon Lester wasn’t on early, but his teammates picked him up in the bottom of the first inning. Adrian Gonzalez hit a solo home run in the bottom of the first with two out. With that kind of start, you can’t assume it would be a low scoring game or that the potent Red Sox offense wouldn’t challenge Dirt Bag as the game went on. » Continue reading “It Just Takes One”

24-31 this season

New week and thus a new start for the White Sox. Should be a good match up tonight. Here is Ozzie’s lineup for the evening:

Juan Pierre LF, The Cuban Missile SS, The Carlos Quentin DH, The King 1B, AJ Pierzynski C, Alex Rios CF, Brent Lillibridge RF, Bacon 2B, Brent Morel 3B.

The Dirt Bag, Jake Peavy will start for the Sox. It will be is fourth start of the season. His last start against the Texas Rangers was cut short after a nearly three-hour rain delay. Rather than risking his health, he was not brought back out to continue the game after the rain delay. Dirt Bag also gave up his first walk of the season in that start.

In past five years, Jake is 0-1 with a  5.40 ERA. His WHIP is 2.00 and he has three strikeouts against the other Sox.

30-23 this season

To counter Ozzie’s guys, Tito is sending out the following lineup:

Jacoby Ellsbury CF, Dustin Pedroia 2B, Adrian Gonzalez 1B, Kevin Youkilis 3B, David Ortiz DH, Carl Crawford LF, Drew Sutton SS, J.D. Drew RF, Jarrod Saltalamacchia C.

Jon Lester will start for the Red Sox. Lester will be trying to get his eighth win on the season. He has won his last seven decisions since he lost on Opening Day. The past five season against the White Sox, Lester is 2-2, with a 4.99 ERA. His WHIP is 1.43 and he has 24 strikeouts.

Let’s hope that the right Sox win tonight. And those socks would not be red.

*notes: Dallas McPherson was designated for assignment. Lucas Harrell was option to Triple-A Charlotte. Brian Bruney and Jeff Marquez were called up. Both Bruney and Marquez are right-handed pitchers.

Gavin Floyd and Phil Humber will switch starts with Gavin going on Wednesday afternoon after having pitched in relief on Saturday. Phil will start tomorrow night.

Admit it. You love him. Now. You might be one who hated him at the start of the season and probably was even PISSED OFF when the Sox chose to DFA Lastings Milledge and keep Brent when Jeff Gray needed to be added to the bullpen. Hell, opening day you might have said to yourself that Brent was no better than a Triple-A player and was wasting roster space with his crappy play and lack of any sort of power.

But a funny thing happened. He got playing time and he was actually hitting the ball. He also was making spectacular plays on defense. (Remember those two catches in New York?) He’s doing so many good things that some might even be calling for him to play every day and even be the clean-up hitting in the lineup when Ozzie does give him a chance to play. » Continue reading “L’il Bridge Is Earning Your Love”

After a miserable time in Toronto, the Pale Hose are shipping off to Boston. One can only hope the trip to the North East is kinder and gentler than usual.

2011 Records: White Sox 24-31 (4th in AL Central) Red Sox 30-23 (1st in AL East) Season series: 0-0

2010 Record: 6-1

All-Time Sereis Record: 919-945 (The White Sox are 385-551 at the Red Sox)

The following pitchers are expected to start in the three games:

Jake Peavy: 1-0, 3.00 ERA, 14K v. Jon Lester: 7-1, 3.36 ERA, 70K

Gavin Floyd*: 5-5, 3.69 ERA, 56K v. Alfredo Aceves: 2-0, 2.22 ERA, 17K

Phil Humber: 3-3, 2-85 ERA, 33K v. Tim Wakefield: 2-1, 4.14 ERA, 16K

Monday and Tuesday’s games will start at 6:10 pm and Wednesday’s game will begin at 12:35 pm. All times CDT.  » Continue reading “Series Preview: White Sox at Red Sox”

I don’t know about you, but after yesterday’s game, I am glad the Sox are leaving Canada, despite my wanting to visit Canada very soon. While it could not possibly be worse than yesterday, somehow I think they could find a way to be just that. Now that the Sox are off to Boston, I hope things turn around. And no offense to my Boston sports-loving friends, but I really do not want to hear Tessie or Dirty Water the next three days.

Anyway, here is some of the stuff you might have missed with it being a holiday weekend and all.

Ozzie holds court and talks about the recent team woes.

To start or not start on Tuesday? That is the question for Gavin to decide.

Update on Mark Teahen’s rehab assignment.

Name calling involving clowns. Unsurprisingly, there is a *tad* bit of homerism going on as well.

A new stat for judging managers.

White Sox Rant takes a look at John Danks in light of his latest start, eh, implosion.

Hope you have been safe this Memorial Day weekend. If I have any readers who are serving or have served in the military, THANK YOU! I have no words to say just how much what you do / have done for me and others is appreciated.

John Danks is still winless.

The White Sox sent the lefty up to face the Blue Jays Ricky Romero, but Danks barely lasted four innings and now has an 0-8 record. Danks gave up nine runs in those four innings, as the Sox lost 13-4.

Danks looked terrible in those four innings. He gave up back-to-back-to-back singles, which scored a run. With one out, Danks walked the bases loaded, and the next batter, Aaron Hill, hit a grand slam to put the Blue Jays up 5-1. Immediately following, Danks gave up a homer to Edwin Encarnacion, his first home run of the season. In the fourth, Danks gave up a single to Yunel Escobar which scored Rajai Davis. The next batter, Corey Patterson, hit a two-run homer to right.
» Continue reading “Danks Doesn’t Dazzle”

24-30 this season

For the LOVE of all things holy, sacred and good, the White Sox had BETTER provide some run support for Mr. Danks. It’s probably too much to ask for run support, but here is Ozzie’s lineup for accomplishing just that today:

Juan Pierre LF, The Cuban Missile SS, The Carlos Quentin RF, The King 1B, Alex Rios CF, Big Donkey DH, Blastro / Cookie Monster C, Brent Lillibridge 2b, Brent Morel 3B.

John Danks will start today. He is trying to avoid an 0-8 start on the season. He has gotten no run support in his well pitched games. A couple of his starts have been his fault the team lost, but the overwhelming majority, he’s lost due to not getting any run support.

In the past five years against the Blue Jays, Danks is 1-3 with a 4.39 ERA, a 1.50 WHIP and 25 strikeouts. While John hasn’t been the best against Toronto, the Sox as a whole haven’t played well against the Blue Jays. Today would be a great day to get a win and a split in this series.

26-26 this season

John Farrell will counter with the following lineup:

Yunel Escobar SS, Corey Patterson LF, Jose Bautista RF, Juan Rivera 1B, J.P. Arencibia C, Edwin Encarnacion DH, Rajai Davis CF, Jayson Nix 3B.

Ricky Romero will start today for the Blue Jays. In the past five years against the White Sox, Romero is 1-0 with a 4.05 ERA, a 1.20 WHIP and 19 strikeouts. On the season, Romero is 4-4 with a 2.91 ERA. His WHIP is 1.17 and he has 61 strikeouts. Romero had a no-decision in his last start. He allowed only one run in seven innings.

* The White Sox have recalled RHP Lucas Harrell as Tony Pena was placed on the disabled list with right elbow tendinitis.

Base runners left on base. Check. Middle of the order guys failing to drive in runs. Check. Impatient hitters at the plate seeing a “new” pitcher. Check. Starter used in a relief role. Check. Extra inning loss. CHECK!

That pretty much sums up yesterday’s game against the Blue Jays. Brent Lillibridge did come through with some big hits, but we fans are starting to just expect that from him. If he does anything other than that when he plays, well, we just might call for his head. The Sox lost yesterday’s game by a final of 9-8 in 14 innings. I actually thought they would pull a win out because Gavin Floyd made a relief appearance. Given that the Sox tend to score runs for him, it seemed like a victory was in sight.

Unfortunately, Gavin gave up the winning run in the bottom of the 14th inning. He did pitch well, except for the one mistake. There was other amusement in the game with Omar Vizquel making an appearance at first base when Paul Konerko was pinch run for after continuing the inning. Not that you would expect any, but Ageless handled himself well over at first base. Though, he did have to get a smaller glove as the first baseman’s glove he was initially using was too big.

Enough of that mess. Today we will hope for a split with the Jays as that would be quite the change from the usual results against them.

And now for some light reading.

Another edition of things we’ve learned about the White Sox.

Tony Peña is messing things up.

Rich asks why not Lillibridge?

Walk on Donkey’s hitting woes.

As the rotation continues. . . .

Final game this afternoon before shipping off to Boston. White Sox, please make it worthwhile to watch and not depressing.