The White Sox finally unleashed on the pesky Orioles last night, steamrolling the O's 8-0 after an August of struggles against one of the AL's worst teams. Perhaps more important than any offensive output was the dominating performance on the mound by Edwin Jackson who threw eight innings of shutout ball, allowing three hits, two walks, and striking out 10. As for scoring, the Sox did most of it without power, instead scoring their first six runs via a slew of RBI singles used to knock in runners. The only exhibition of power was in the eighth when Alex Rios delivered a two-run homer; Rios lead the Sox with 3 RBI. Said Jackson of the Sox' performance and their standing in the playoff race (they currently trail Minnesota by 3.5 games): "We don't need to put pressure on ourselves or come in and stress. The mood has been the same through the good stretches and bad stretches as long as I've been here. That's always been a positive, when you have a team whose confidence hasn't gone anywhere." They'll need that confidence going into this weekend's series against the New York Yankees who boast the best record in baseball (tied with Tampa Bay Rays who are also tied with the Yankees atop the AL East). Game one is tonight at The Cell (7:10 p.m., CSN). more ›

What is it about the Baltimore Orioles that stymies the Sox? With the Twins stuck in a three-game losing streak, it's the perfect chance for the Sox to close some ground, but they ran into the buzzsaw that is the Baltimore Orioles once again, losing 4-2 last night at The Cell. The loss drops the Sox to 2-4 this month against the worst team in the American League. Down 3-0, Gordon Beckham provided a spark with a solo homer in the sixth and Carlos Quentin ripped an RBI triple in the bottom of the ninth, but the Sox couldn't follow through on the rally. Mark Buehrle gave up all four runs, falling to 12-10 on the year as he went seven innings while the Sox deal with a depleted bullpen; J.J. Putz and Matt Thornton were both placed on the DL yesterday. The Sox get one more crack at the Orioles before the Yankees come to town so they hope to make the most of it with Edwin Jackson taking the hill (7:10 p.m., CSN). more ›

The Sox finished their trip to Baltimore on a down note, losing three of the four games against the Orioles which culminated in last night's 3-2 tenth inning loss. An Alex Rios double gave the Sox an early 1-0 lead but Baltimore scored twice in the sixth to take the lead. Paul Konerko rescued the Sox, hitting the game-tying solo homer to force extra innings. But it would be the Orioles' Brian Roberts who would play the conquering hero, hitting a walk-off homer in the bottom of the 10th off of J.J. Putz. The Sox now head home for a new homestand that begins with a big three-game series against the Twins, who are now tied atop the AL Central with the Sox. Freddy Garcia takes the hill in the first game tonight (7:10 p.m., CSN). more ›

Fire, Red Bull Draw more ›

Down 2-0 at one point and 2-1 late, the Sox scored a run in each of the last three innings to edge the Orioles 4-2. Carlos Quentin's solo homer in the fourth cut the Orioles' lead in half and A.J. Pierzynski doubled in a run in the seventh to tie the game at 2-2. In the eighth, Alex Rios singled in the go-ahead run and Gordon Beckham singled in the insurance run in the ninth. On the hill, Gavin Floyd pitched seven innings and got his eighth win of the year and Ozzie sent out J.J. Putz for the save opportunity and Putz secured his third save of the year. The Sox have won seven of their last 10 and hope to finish the series with a win before turning their focus to Minnesota. Mark Buehrle gets the start this afternoon (12:35 p.m., CSN). more ›

The Sox were on the losing end of a walk-off win by the Orioles, falling 2-1 in 10 innings. A Gordon Beckham solo homer tied the game at 1-1 in the third but it was the Orioles came through with a run in the bottom of the 10th to walk off with the win. John Danks had a strong six-inning outing in which he gave up just one run and the bullpen held until Tony Pena gave up the game-winner in the 10th. The Sox try to rebound later tonight (6:05 p.m., WGN). more ›

Cubs Sweep Pirates more ›

Cubs Rally Past Pirates more ›

Cubs Pound Pirates more ›

Chicagoist can't get that damn story out of our head now, but "Circle of Life" was the first thing that we thought when we heard that former Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa is about to sign a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers in hopes of returning to "the show." more ›

Major League Baseball announced the rosters for next week's All Star Game yesterday, and 6 members of the White Sox were selected, along with one Cub -- Carlos Zambrano. more ›

Throughout Florida and Arizona, players begin reporting to Spring Training to begin preparation for the 2006 season. However, it's looking like one play who won't be reporting to any camp is former Cubs outfielder Sammy Sosa, who turned down an offer from the Washington Nationals. The only Major League offer Sosa received, the Nats deal only offered a non-guaranteed 1-year, $500,000 deal. Having already turned down offers from teams in Japan and overtures from the Dominican team to play in the upcoming World Baseball Championships, Sosa's agent said, "... I can say, with reasonable certainty, that we've seen Sammy in a baseball uniform for the last time." more ›

Quite a few formerly high profile Chicago sports figures have sudeenly found themselves in new locations, or rumors abound that they might soon land elsewhere. Wednesday saw Frank Thomas offically sign with the Oakland A's, agreeing to a 1-year, $500,000 deal that could earn him up to $2.6 million with performance bonuses. Chicagoist hopes to see Thomas put up some productive numbers for the A's, athough it'll be wierd to see him in gold and... more ›

Chicagoist remembers this kid at day camp who'd gladly give up his Jell-o pudding cup in return for some grapes. We think he might be working in the front office for the Baltimore Orioles these days. That's the only explaination we can come up with to explain how, for the second year in a row, the Cubs have been able to jettison a disgruntled disappointment of an outfielder to the O's. more ›

Kenny Williams sure has been busy since the White Sox won the World Series. Had he simply brought back most of last year's roster, the Sox would have been a favorite to repeat. However, the taste of victory seems to have fueled an organizational urge to do everything possible ensure another trophy. Are the White Sox positioning themselves to do what the Bulls did in the 90's? more ›

The biggest off-season question on all White Sox fans' minds was whether Paul Konerko would return or not. With his MVP performance through the playoffs, Konerko expected to receive a number of huge contract offers. While there were a couple offers from other teams, Paulie chose to stay with the White Sox, signing a 5-year, $60 million deal. Initially wanting to sign Konerko to a 4 year deal, Sox GM Kenny Williams matched the contract length other teams offered. Konerko said right after the World Series that all things being equal, he'd choose the Sox over another team -- which is exactly what he did. more ›

With yesterday's 6-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, the White Sox saw their streak of games in which they held a lead to start a season end at 37 games. Chicagoist wasn't even aware such stats were kept, but evidently they are and the Sox's streak broke the Major League record that previously had been 27 games. However, the streak fell 11 short of the all-time record of 48 games with a lead set by the '98 Yankees. more ›

Who would have thought when the season started, that this weekend's 4-game set between the White Sox and the Baltimore Orioles would be such a key series? And the early storyline -- Sosa's return to Chicago -- ended up not happening as Sosa landed himself on the DL this week. more ›

While pitchers and catchers reported last week, today is the day for the rest of the players to arrive for spring training. Both the Sox and Cubs camps will have plenty of new faces, but perhaps the biggest change will be the silence in the Cubs clubhouse that'll be without Sammy Sosa, and his infamous boombox. Sosa might want to throw that in with the condo however, because his new manager has laid down the law in the Orioles locker room. Lee Mazzilli requires all music to be listened to via headphones only. And that even means Sosa. more ›

After months of bickering between Cubs management and Sammy Sosa, it's looking like a deal sending the fading superstar to the Baltimore Orioles will be completed sometime in the next couple days. A number of hurdles have to be crossed before the deal is official, but none likely to kill the deal. more ›

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