No matter which team you prefer, you're either sad to see baseball go or glad the long, torturous 2009 season is done. Benjy will wrap up the season for both teams (and look ahead to 2010) later in the week, but for now, here's what went down yesterday.
Even a Cubs fan such as myself has to hand it to the White Sox: this "Well, if we can't be in the playoffs so we might as well completely screw up the playoff picture for someone else" attitude is pretty addictive. The White Sox downed Detroit 5-1 last night, forcing the Tigers into a tie with the Minnesota Twins heading into the last day of the season. Adding a little fun to the festivities, if the Twins and Tigers finished tied, the Twins host a playoff which will have to be played Tuesday because of the Vikings-Packers Monday Night Football game at the Metrodome. Anything that messes even the slightest bit with Bud Selig is totally awesome with us. Okay, but there was a game last night, too. Freddy Garcia looked sharp, pitching seven-plus innings, striking out seven, and giving up only a single run. Carlos Quentin had a two-run homer and Alex Rios also had a great night, knocking in three runs. The Sox wrap up 2009 against the Tigers today at 12:05 p.m. (WGN).
It was a roller coaster weekend for the Sox but they came away winners over Detroit Sunday 8-4 and took two of three from the Tigers as the team closed out the home part of its 2009 schedule. Rookie Daniel Hudson, making his second career start, got his first Big League win, pitching six strong innings. Carlos Quentin was the offensive star for the Sox, driving in four runs including an RBI double in the second and a key three-run homer in the eighth. Podsednik, Kotsay, Beckham, and Dye all contributed RBIs in the winning effort as well. Matt Thornton struggled for the Sox bullpen, giving up two runs in the ninth, but eventually shut the door to clinch the victory. The Sox head over to Cleveland for a three-game series starting tonight at 6:05 p.m. (WCIU).
The Cubs won for the third straight game and for the sixth time in seven games since sending Milton Bradley packing for the year as they tripped up the Giants 6-2. Earlier this week, we said the Cubs' playoffs hopes were done. Even though the Cardinals (finally) clinched the NL Central, the Cubs do still have slim hopes of sneaking into the playoffs, 5.5 games back of Colorado in the Wild Card with 8 games left, though they'll still have to get through the Giants (which they will with a series sweep), Florida, a streaking Atlanta, and the aforementioned Rockies. Playoffs or not, the Cubs looked good yesterday, starter Tom Gorzelanny allowing only one run over five innings and the bullpen giving up only a solo homer in the seventh. The offense did their part, too, as Jake Fox and Geovany Soto had two RBIs each and Aramis Ramirez added a homer to the tally. The Cubs go for the sweep today at 3:05 p.m. (WGN).
With the White Sox having been eliminated from the playoff race Thursday night, there was nothing left for them to do except play spoiler in the AL Central. And that's what they did Friday night as Jake Peavy threw lights out and Gordon Beckham provided the offense as the Sox beat the Tigers 2-0. The win put the Tigers lead over the Twins at a meager two games. As for Peavy, he struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, giving Sox fans a reason to be optimistic for 2010. Said Peavy of another outing for the Sox, "It was fun tonight. I was able to make some pitches when I needed to, getting out of some jams, and the boys played well behind me for a hard-fought ballgame on both sides." Gordon Beckham's two-run homer in the sixth was the only offense for either team. The two teams continue their weekend series tonight at 6:05 p.m. (CSN).
The Sox and Dodgers played extra baseball and in the end it came down to Scott Podsednik who provided the heroics for the Pale Hose, driving in the winning run in the bottom of the 13th to give the Sox the 6-5 victory. The Sox found themselves down 4-0 going into the bottom of the fifth as the Dodgers knocked around starter Clayton Richard. But then in the fifth the Sox started the comeback, courtesy of a Konerko solo shot and an RBI triple from Wise. The Sox then went ahead in the sixth thanks to A.J. Pierzynski's three-run homer only to see the Dodgers tie the game at 5-5 in the seventh. But the Sox bullpen went into lockdown mode as Scott Linebrink, Matt Thornton, Bobby Jenks, Octavio Dotel and Aaron Poreda combined for 0 runs and 8 K's over six innings of relief. Poreda ultimately got the win when, in the bottom of the 13th, Podsednik knocked a two-out bases loaded single for the win. Afterward, Podsednik said, "Game-winning hits are always fun, but most importantly, to win the series against a club like the Dodgers, who came into town with the best record, maybe that will give us some momentum here. We haven't been playing that great at home, so maybe that will give us some momentum going into the Cubs series."
The Cubs missed a bundle of opportunities to score en route to a 5-3 loss in Detroit last night, their third straight loss. Overall, the team batted 1 for 15 with runners in scoring position and left 13 men on base. Geovany Soto showed some power with a solo shot and Derek Lee extended his hitting streak to 21 games but the Cubs inability to take advantage of scoring opportunities sank them. Rich Harden also struggled on the mound, losing his third straight decision as he gave up four runs - two earned - over 5.1 innings pitched. Not that the bullpen fared much better as both Heilman and Marmol walked in runs. The series finale starts at 12:05 p.m. this afternoon (WGN).
John Danks gave the White Sox his third straight quality start, but it wasn't enough to deliver a win as the Sox bullpen and bats couldn't hold up their end of the bargain and the Sox fell 5-2. Danks was rough early, giving up three runs in the first two innings, but then settled down and held the Dodgers scoreless for the remainder of his seven innings. But his early stumbles, including a two-run homer given up to LA's James Loney in the second, were too much for the Sox to overcome. Matt Thornton gave up two runs in relief in the eighth to help LA along to victory. Of course, credit is also due to LA's starter, Hiroki Kuroda, who held the Sox to two runs on four hits over 8.2 innings. Paul Konerko provided an offensive spark early for the Sox with a solo homer in the second, but the Sox couldn't get much going after that. Game two of the three game set gets underway tonight at 7:11 p.m. (WCIU).
The White Sox bullpen blew a brilliant performance by Gavin Floyd but were fortunate enough to be on the winning side of a walk-off win as a Scott Podsednik single in the bottom of the ninth gave the Pale Hose a 4-3 win over the division rival Detroit Tigers. After a nearly three-hour rain delay to start the game, Jim Thome gave the Sox an early 1-0 lead when he hit his 553rd career home run in the second. In the third, Thome added to the lead when he smacked a bases loaded single. Meanwhile, on the mound, Floyd had a brilliant outing for the Sox, allowing only one run on five hits and striking out five over eight solid innings. The Sox took a 3-1 lead into the ninth when Bobby Jenks suffered his second blown save of the season, giving up a two-run homer in the ninth to Curtis Granderson. But, as we mentioned, the Sox turned this one around and Ozzie described the love-fest in the dugout: "Today, everybody could have just gone down and said, 'Oh, there we go again,' when Granderson hit the home run. Everybody went back to the dugout and was rooting and cheering for each other."
The Detroit Tigers edged their way past the White Sox this afternoon in a 5-4 win in game one of a doubleheader. A Paul Konerko sac-fly gave the White Sox an early edge in the bottom of the first, but the Tigers knocked in two runs of their own in the top of the second to take a 2-1 lead. With the Tigers up 3-1 in the fifth, Jermaine Dye belted his 15th homer of the year with a man on to tie the game at 3-3. With the White Sox again trailing in the bottom of the eight, Paul Konerko went deep to tie the game at 4-4. In the top of the ninth, however, a fielding miscue would lead to the winning run for Detroit as the Sox failed to pull even for a third time. On the mound, Clayton Richard only lasted 4.2 innings, giving up three runs, but it would ultimately by Scott Linebrink who would take the loss with the unearned run in the top of the ninth. The two teams shower and do it all again tonight starting at 7:11 p.m.
We're only 8 days into the season and already the Sox have had two postponements. Ah, early spring. Today's game in Detroit was postponed due to weather; no make up date has been set, though the teams play each other a few more times this season and, if a double-header is to be avoided, they have a mutual off day on June 22. The postponement has also caused a reshuffling of the rotation: Contreras will remain on schedule to start tomorrow, but Danks - today's scheduled starter - will now start on Thursday night in Tampa Bay. This pushes Colon's next start back to Friday, followed by Buehrle on Saturday and Floyd on Sunday. [WhiteSox.com]
The White Sox out-slugged the division rival Detroit Tigers 10-6 this afternoon in the first game of a three-game set in Detroit. The scoring started in historic style in the top of the second inning when Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko hit back-to-back home runs - the 300th career home run for each. After adding four runs in the third, the Sox added more when Carlos Quentin belted his third homer of the season, a two-run shot in the top of the fourth, and then smacked another homer in the the top of the sixth, a solo shot. Quentin and Konerko both finished with four RBI's each. Starting pitcher Gavin Floyd was roughed up, giving up six runs and walking seven in five innings of work, but the bullpen trio of Carrasco-Thronton-Linebrink shut the Tigers out over the last four innings to give the Sox the victory. Center fielder Dewayne Wise was forced to leave after separating his right shoulder making a diving catch in the fifth.
Sox Prep For Game 163
It was bailouts and baseball on the Chicagoist office television today and, thankfully, the baseball brought better news for Chicago.
Needing a win to stay alive in the playoff hunt, the White Sox on Sunday rediscovered the win column after nearly a week of losing. The White Sox might have guessed that luck was on their side Sunday when the Indians scratched likely AL Cy Young winner Cliff Lee from his scheduled start in a do-or-die game for the South Siders. By beating the Cleveland Indians 5-1 on the official last day of the regular season, the Sox ensured they'll get to play at least one more day.
Zambrano No-Hits Astros
Looks like the attack memo went out to the entire tiger world this week*. A McHenry County man was mauled Tuesday at a circus-training farm when he got too close to the big cat. Hawthorn Corp, whose name may ring a bell if you follow animal rights news, owns around 50 tigers, 20 of which are currently off performing in circuses. [Trib, photo by mape_s]
"While in the pen with the tigers, one of the tigers jumped on the victim and knocked him to the ground," Stone County Sheriff Richard Hill said in a news release. "At that point, two other tigers joined in the attack and drug the victim to a water pool."Continue reading "Tiger Attacks in Missouri"
Ten-Second Bandit: It's more than just your high school nickname. In fact, it's the FBI's moniker for two different area bank robbers, one of whom is in prison. The other, current 10SB has been holding up local banks, demanding money within...well, you know.
Chicagoist certainly doesn't envy White Sox GM Kenny Williams and the difficult task he has to rebuild a team that lost 90 games in 2007. On Tuesday, he once again was overmatched by the opposition and missed the ball on potential help for his club. Recent reports suggested that the Sox were close to landing third baseman Miguel Cabrera from the Florida Marlins — a player that Ozzie Guillen referred to as his "fourth son."...
Why Are They Called the Bears?
Sure, this city's sports scene is all Bears, all the time right now, but Chicagoist can find a way to make you care about the World Series. As Tommy Lasorda has been telling that poor Cubs fan up in the tree "since his team was eliminated from the postseason" in those playoff promos (they should have done some fact-checking on that one though--what, he's been up there since May?), it doesn't matter who's in the...
The Coast Guard is planning to create 34 live-fire training zones in the Great Lakes that could discharge over 400,000 lead and copper bullets into the waters. This would amount to more lead dumped in the water than the entire state of Michigan dumps in a year, even after the gunfire from Detroit celebrating the Tigers reaching the World Series.
In less than 20 hours, the White Sox salvaged what was looking like an ugly series, and one that could have ended all hope for winning the AL Central title.
While Chicago will never become a Tigers town, for this weekend anyway it could become a Tiger town. As in Woods. Tiger Woods joins dozens of other PGA golfers in town this week, as the Medinah Country Club in suburban Medina, IL plays host to this year's PGA Championship -- the final of the four major tournaments. This is the first time that Medinah has hosted the PGA Championship since 1999. Coming off his...
Was it only a week ago that the Sox sat in third place in the AL Central, 10 games behind the Detroit Tigers? My, how things change quickly!
The White Sox open a 3-game series against the AL Central-leading Detroit Tigers tonight in Detroit. Some are considering this a do or die series, even though we're only in mid-July. Amazing how losing 5 of 6 brings out the doom and gloom in so many Sox fans. Especially when it includes a sweep by the Yanks. Fortunately, the local media are trying to talk Sox fans down off the ledge. It's not time to panic -- yet!
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.
After last week's successful rehab start for the Iowa Cubs, we predicted Cubs pitcher Mark Prior would be returning to the Cubs rotation very soon. In fact, the Cubs did activate him over the weekend, and Prior made his season debut Sunday. After that outting, he may have wished he'd stayed in the minors a bit longer. In his first start of the season, Prior lasted just 3 2/3 innings, giving up 8 runs. He...
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