Evening Box Score: Sox Lose Again

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Oct 4, 2008 4:00AM

OK, this is starting to get ridiculous, Chicago. Two teams in the playoffs, each has played two games and we've yet to celebrate a victory on either side of town. In a game that looked early on like it had the makings of a Sox blowout, the South Siders instead fell to Tampa Bay 6-2 in Friday evening's game two of the ALDS.

In the first inning, the White Sox's first three batters reached base with no outs, but the team's station-to-station base running limited them to just two runs. And those would be their only two runs off starter Scott Kazmir, or any of the Rays' relievers. It's not that the Sox didn't have base runners...it's that they stranded 12 men on base without any extra-base hits to force them across the plate.

The Rays produced a run in the second, scored two on a Akinori Iwamura home run and then added three insurance runs in the eighth. Mark Buehrle went seven plus and was charged with five of the run before giving way to the bullpen.

The Sox and Rays head back north to resume their series on Sunday afternoon at the Cell. Hopefully, some home cooking will help the Sox turn this series around.

AP Photo/Chris O'Meara