Morning Box Score: First Half Mercifully Behind Cubs, White Sox
By Chuck Sudo in News on Jul 11, 2011 2:30PM
The All-Star break is upon us and the Cubs limp into it with the second-worst record in Major League Baseball. Yesterday's thrashing by the Pirates at PNC Park was a textbook study of how they got that there. Ramon Ortiz gave up six runs in four innings of work including a three run home run to Andrew McCutcheon (part of McCutcheon's five RBI game), Starlin Castro committed his 18th error of the season and the Cubs ground into four double plays as Pittsburgh took three of four from the North side nine.
Lest anyone think Saturday's win over Minnesota would be a reversal of fortune, let us remind you that even a blind dog can find a bone once in a while. The Twins maintained their Svengali-like stranglehold on the Sox, tagging Jake Peavy for five runs and ten hits over 4-1/3 innings. The White Sox' struggles with runners in scoring position continued, which has been their Achilles heel all season. The White Sox end the first half of the season four games under .500 and still saying to a man that they haven't played up to their potential. They've played 92 games, which indicates maybe they are playing to their potential.