But it could have been worse.

The White Sox looked to keep their distance from the Tigers, but it was not meant to be. The Sox lost 8-6 and now have only a one-game lead on Detroit.

Gavin Floyd returned from the disabled list tonight and started off well. He ran into some trouble in the fifth inning. He gave up a hit and a walk to lead off the inning. He was responsible for all three runs scored in the inning, and that put the Tigers up 3-1. » Continue reading “Well Then…That Sucked”

The Sox are now back to just a two-game lead in the AL Central after falling to the Tigers by a final of 5-3. Not much was going to happen when you can’t muster more than two hits through five innings. Given the lack of run support that Jake Peavy gets, it is almost unsurprising.

Of course, Jake wasn’t totally unscathed in the loss. He ended up giving up critical home runs that would eventually lead to a game-winning homer to Miguel Cabrera that would put the Tigers up for good in the game. Before the Cabrera home run, there was the homer to Austin Jackson. 

On a slightly more positive note, Gordon Beckham now has hit his career-high 15th home run in a season. Given how he has gone of late, who would have thought he’d have so many home runs. Perhaps he wants to join other teammates who are in the 20 home run club so far this season. » Continue reading “No Offense Equals Loss for White Sox”

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”

Run support? Sort of . . .

Well, Justin Verlander did his thing and Jake Peavy did his thing. Unfortunately, JV came out on top and the Dirty Beast won by a final of 4-2 in the first game of this three game set that is crucial for Sox success. The one huge mistake tonight was when Jake hit Quintin Berry in the bottom of the third inning. There were already two outs at this point. All Jake had to do was get one more out without the runner who was hanging out at third base scoring.

It was not meant to be. Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder and Delmon Young were all up to bat after Quintin got hit. And of course, OF COURSE, they would come through to make sure that run would score.

For some added insurance, the Tigers got one more run in the bottom of the seventh inning. JV went eight innings, which is not really unusual for a start of his. He is on a streak of 72 games of going at least six innings in each start. Ugh! I “can’t stand” Justin! » Continue reading “Missing: White Sox Offense”

Ah yes, after a brief break from the Tigers and Indians, the Sox are back to playing yet another series against the Dirty Beast. This time, we are starting that stupid two game series stuff in preparation for Interleague play this weekend.

Here is what to know for the next couple of days.

2012 Record: White Sox 16-19, 3rd in AL Central. Tigers 17-17, 2nd in AL Central

2012 Season Series: 3-3

All-Time Series Record: 1.004-1,025 (The Sox are 534-484 at home against the Tigers)

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

John Danks:  2-4, 5.89 ERA, 26K v. Drew Smyly: 1-0, 1.59 ERA, 34K

Jake Peavy: 4-1, 1.89 ERA, 44K v. Max Scherzer: 2-3, 5.73 ERA, 45K

Monday’s game begins at 7:10 pm and Tuesday’s game is at 1:10 pm. All times CDT. 

Again the Sox will face an AL rival. This time, they get to see the Dirty Beast. Again. This might not be the best thing for the Sox. They haven’t exactly played the best against their AL competition. In the past few series, the Sox have played the Indians, Royals and the Dirty Beast. All of the series were lost.

There has been some good pitching performances from the starters and bullpen. Then there have been other days when it seems no one used to pitch has it.

The offense has been amazing some nights. Then other nights, lacking if not non-existent.

Meanwhile the Tigers are hanging around .500. This is why the game of baseball needs to be played and standings can’t be determined in April.

The Tigers were picked as the favorite to run away with the AL Central. However, they have been hanging around the break even point and second place for a lot of the season. They are still dealing with injuries. However, starter Doug Fister was recently activate from the disabled list.

I still think the winner of the AL Central will be the one who can beat up on the other division rivals. So far, the Indians have been doing that. But there is still time for things to turn around.

Who’s Hot: Alejandro De Aza  is hitting pretty well this May. So far his average is .362 this month. Andy Dirks who is hitting .555 of late. Who’s Not: AJ Pierzynski is just seven for 46 of late. That is over a span of 13 games. Miguel Cabrera has only six hits in his last 26 at-bats.

For more on the Tigers, be sure to visit Motown Lowdown. 

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?”

(l-r) Jeff Manto, Brent Lillibridge, Ken "Hawk" Harrelson, Adam Dunn

Yesterday was day two of SoxFest. It was another fun day. There were moments of testiness as well as some questions that were asked that left me scratching my head. Below are the tweets of the day. There are a couple of gaps. For the first time ever, I ended up in Twitter Jail for tweeting too much in an hour. Fortunately, it only lasted for an hour. If it had gone longer, I am not sure what I would have done. Maybe create an account just for the jail time. In any event, enjoy. I will bring you day three today as well on twitter. As always, if you have any questions, please ask. I know the spelling gets wonky at times so some of the tweets might not make a ton of sense. (Like Ichiro turning into i crap!)

Day Two Tweets: » Continue reading “SoxFest Day Two. A Bit Of Drama”

Texting and driving and texting and batting practice do not mix. ~Will Ohman.

The White Sox had another social media night event at the ballpark last night. In addition to getting to see the Sox take batting practice, there was a pre-game parade around the warning track for the fans who participated as well as may giveaways throughout the night. It was Ladies’ Night at the park where women could get manicures and massages around.

Joe Crede was on hand and it was also Roger “The SodFather” Bossard bobblehead night. In addition to signed items from players for social media night, there were two special prizes: a chance to sit in the Gold Coast Ticket club for an inning with Joe Crede and a chance to change a base during the game. » Continue reading “Adventures In Baseball”