What a lucky road trip thus far! The Sox finally ended what turned out to be an incredibly awful series against the Orioles with yet another loss. While the losses weren’t pretty, the Sox did get help from their favorite team of late, the Kansas City Royals who beat the Tigers. Now, there will be a showdown in Detroit. It will be three games you won’t want to miss a second of. There is even national television exposure for one of the games because people are realizing just how good this series should be. Here is what you need to know for these critical, life or death games this weekend:

2012 Record: White Sox 72-58, 1st in AL Central. Tigers 69-61, 2nd in AL Central

2012 Series Record: 4-7

All-Time Series Record: 1,005 – 1, 029 (The Sox are 470-544 at Detroit)

The following pitchers are expected to pitch this weekend: 

Jake Peavy: 9-9, 3.09 ERA, 155K vs. Doug Fister: 7-8, 3.67 ERA, 102K

Francisco Liriano: 5-10, 5.06 ERA, 142K vs. Max Scherzer: 14-6, 4.13 ERA, 195K

Chris Sale: 15-5, 2.81 ERA, 155K vs. Justin Verlander: 12-7, 2.80 ERA, 198K

Friday and Saturday’s games begin at 6:05 pm and Sunday’s game is at 7:05 pm. All times CDT.  » Continue reading “Appointment Television. Series Preview: White Sox @ Tigers”

Just a minor thing before getting to the game that was not pretty today.

Do you consider yourself the ultimate White Sox fan and think the world should know about it, perhaps in a TV commercial? If so, Dan Bell Casting has put out a casting call in the Chicago Area for Sox fans. The Auditions will be on July 25 and 26 and the pay is pretty good for shooting ($500/shoot day) and even better if the commercial airs ($1,500 upon airing). » Continue reading “Congratulations Detroit! You Best The White Sox”

is the pulse fading on this team?

There is still life. But it may be fading fast. Rick Porcello retired the first 12 batters he faced. In other words, the man had a PERFECT GAME going on. Chris Sale was also cruising, but had given up a run after a Jhonny Peralta come backer went off his hand.

No matter as the White Sox would strike first scoring a run in the fifth inning after Paul Konerko finally broke through with a single on the right side. After a series of failed double plays, the Sox would score on a Dayan Viciedo bloop single that drove in Alex Rios.

And like what seems to happen all too often, the Tigers would come back in the bottom of the fifth inning scoring two runs of their own. It would be so nice to have a game where the lead obtained by the Sox wasn’t given up immediately afterward. » Continue reading “White Sox Might Be On Life Support”

The White Sox won by a final of 5-2 this afternoon against the Detroit Tigers. The most entertaining event of the game (aside from some timely offense and defense by the Sox) was in the first inning when Miguel Cabrera found that the batter’s box was not in the right spot.

That led to about a 10 minute delay while the grounds crew had to go redraw the batter’s box. Turns out it may have been for naught as Miggy then hit a lazy fly for the final out in the inning. I am sure Austin Jackson and Brennan Boesch probably weren’t happy at realizing the box was in the wrong spot, but c’est la vie.

Jake looked pretty good in the game. Much better than against Texas and again he was facing a tough lineup. Of course, I will be watching to see how Jake continues bouncing back after each start. So far he seems to have been ok, but you never know with him. » Continue reading “White Sox 1, Dirty Beast Nothing”

Spring Training is over. Things will matter starting tomorrow. For the Sox, the things that will matter begin on Friday afternoon.

Before spring training really had begun, I made an early prognostication on how the AL Central would look come October. Now that spring is done and the season is about to begin, I thought I would revisit how the standings may look. I knew things could change, but how much still remains to be seen.

In addition to what I think, I also talked to fellow AL Central writers, Jen who writes about the Royals, Jessica who writes about the Tigers and Jen, a contributor here on South Side Hit Girl.

So far, everyone is in agreement that the Tigers are the team to beat. From there, opinions vary a great deal. I think the standings will end up with Detroit, Chicago, Kansas City, Cleveland and Minnesota. The White Sox the past few weeks had me thinking there might be something special happening. » Continue reading “Did Spring Make A Difference In Eventual AL Central Standings?”

Just a couple of more days. Then things count for real. While we have all been paying attention to the spring somewhat, there is an important thing to consider. What should we expect with the other teams in the division.

Some of us are starting to drink that delicious Kool-Aid the White Sox have been serving up the past couple of weeks. I wonder if it will continue. Since you might not be super familiar with the other teams in the division (other than disliking or even hating them), here are things that Jen who writes Drinking The Royals Blue Aid as to say about the Royals and Jessica who writes Motown Lowdown has to say about the Tigers this season.

On the KC Royals:

1) Pitching: If the Royals are to improve and contend, pitching will be key.

2) Will the young players (ie Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Danny Duffy, and the bullpen) build on their rookie seasons or will they deal with the dreaded “sophomore slump”?

3) Were the 2011 seasons for Alex Gordon and Jeff Francoeur career years or can they duplicate them?

And in combining all three, Kansas City is hosting the All-Star Game. Can they get more than one All-Star? » Continue reading “What Is In Store for the 2012 Chicago White Sox?”

Middle of the week. Almost the weekend. That can’t get here fast enough. I don’t know about you, but the week, is dragging along. At least it is for me anyway. It is finally spring, which is a plus. Not to mention the weather here in Chicago has been amazing.

Yesterday, the Sox had the day off, but they will be back at this afternoon. They will face the Mariners at 3:05 pm. As spring winds down, there is still not a ton happening in Sox land, but there are a few stories to read.

 First off, Jim Margalus’  White Sox Outsider 2012 is on sale now. I have the 2011 edition and will be picking up the 2012 edition soon. This has great information in it and is definitely worth your time to read. I strongly suggest you get your copy.  » Continue reading “South Side Hits: Wednesday March 21, 2012″

Ha! Humber, number. Yay rhyming.

The White Sox started off the second half with a bang and hoped to sweep the Tigers in Detroit Sunday afternoon. Phil Humber took to the mound and faced Brad Penny. After a good start, the Sox couldn’t hold the lead and lost to the Tigers, 4-3.
» Continue reading “Tigers Have Humber’s Number”

Coop, AJ & Edwin talk it over

Edwin Jackson is a lucky bastard. Somehow he managed to get a quality start in a 4-2 loss where he earned a no-decision. While the final was 4-2 in favor of the Tigers tonight, this game wasn’t really that close.

Jackson needed over 30 pitches to get out of the first inning. He did give up a home run to Brennan Boesch in the first inning. That is just never good. Not when you are facing a dude like Justin Verlander who has owned you of late. Sure, he has had some “bad” luck against the White Sox, but really, giving him an early cushion Edwin? » Continue reading “Edwin = UGH”

Once again, John Danks pitched a great game.

Once again, the offense failed to give him run support.

Once again, the White Sox lost, this time being swept by the Detroit Tigers in a 3-0 loss at Comerica.

The Sox failed to get a hit until the fifth but had baserunners via walks. AJ Pierzynski broke up the no-hitter with a single, but the offense failed to score a single run. The best chance the Sox had was in the seventh inning. » Continue reading “Swept Again”