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The World Champion Chicago White Sox invaded Wrigley Field this weekend for the final interleague series of the year. We took a few snapshots of the Chicago civil war at the Friendly Confines today.
White Sox captain Paul Konerko has seen everything in his days with the Cubs/Sox interleague games. Before the game today, he took a moment to talk about the weekend's festivities.
With interleague play over after this weekend, we were talking about the fact that the American League has been very dominant this year (the Sox are 12-3 right now).
To me, in the National League you have the pitcher hitting at 9, usually a weaker defensive-type play hitting at 8, and sometimes a weak hitter at 7, so you have 2 or 3 players in your lineup that aren't going to give you much offense.
The American League offenses right now are built 1-9 and are much more potent. Also, the pitching for the National League doesn't seem to be as strong as it used to be. Put it all together and you get the lopsided results we've seen this year.
DJ
*The Sox hold the edge over the Cubs in the series since its inception in 1997 27-24.
*The White Sox have pounded NL pitching during interleague play this year, scoring 7.67 runs per game (2nd most in MLB) en route to 12-3 record.
*The Sox have spent most of the season chasing Detroit and have been out of 1st for 53 days this season, unlike last year when they went wire-to-wire on top.
*Jim Thome's bomb into the river at Pittsburgh yesterday was his 50th HR of interleague play making him the ML leader by a wide margin over Carlos Delgado (43).
*Jacque Jones has had success against White Sox pitching - his 19 HRs agains the Sox are the most he's hit against any team.
One thing we see almost every night is the depth of the White Sox bench. For my money, it's clearly the best one in baseball.
You know that guys like Cintron and Mackowiak would be starters on most other teams. Add in Pablo Ozuna and thank you very much, that's a real plus for this team.
The other component is that Ozzie uses them and finds them enough playing time to keep them sharp. It's no accident our bench players have so many clutch hits this year because of that.
DJ
*The Sox, Tigers, and Twins are a combined 35-6 in interleague play this year.
*The Sox defense has been very solid during this streak of 10/11 wins with only 3 errors - the MLB average over those 11 games is 8.6 errors.
*Freddy Garcia has been dominant in interleague play, going 16-4 since 2001, with a 2.12 ERA, both tops in MLB.
*The White Sox lead the majors with 53 homers in interleague play over the last two seasons.
*Like last night, look for the Sox to jump on the Pirates in the 1st inning. The Sox lead baseball with 66 1st inning runs, while the Pirates have allowed 72, 2nd most in baseball.
Erstwhile WGN Sports wannabe anchor Skip Parker was part of Friday night's White Sox Warmup show with his take on the Astros side of the World Series last October. We've had a bunch of e-mail requests to see it again - ask and you shall receive.
Top Ten Reasons The Astros Lost To The White Sox In The World Series
* The White Sox have the second best record in the majors (49-26), while the Pirates own the second worst (26-51).
* Pittsburgh will be looking to snap its 11-game losing streak. During that span the Pirates have been outscored 83-41.
* Three of Mark Buehrle’s four losses this season have come on the road. Buehrle is 2-0 in his last three starts overall.
* Ian Snell is 5-1 in his last 7 starts.
*Chicago has won 9 of its last 10 games.
* Jermaine Dye is hitting .111 (2-for-18) in his last five games.
* Freddy Sanchez will be looking to extend his hitting streak to 11 games.
It's been a wild week for the White Sox, both on and off the field. The man in charge of the circus, Kenny Williams, took some time to talk about the state of the Sox.
Kenny Williams on Ozzie Guillen and the State of the Sox
We saw an at-bat from Scott Podsednik last night that was not only great baseball, but the type of thing on which seasons turn.
Andy Pettite was in a bases loaded jam with two out in the 4th inning. In a lefty/lefty matchup, Scott worked the count to 2-2, then cranked a long homer to right for a grand slam. It was a gutty at-bat that not only made it 6-0, but kept the Sox on this roll.
The cushion was enough for Jose Contreras to win his 16th straight decision. If you look at this rhythm the Sox are falling into, the best part about it is the contributions from everywhere.
Hawk
In the latest segment of "As Ozzie's World Turns", today the Sox manager was queried about his teams hitting prowess. Leaving town on the wrong end of a three-game sweep, the Cardinals apparently were still smarting. There were unnamed allegations from St. Louis in the paper today that accused the Sox of stealing signs from center field. Ozzie Guillen was having none of it before tonight's game.
Ozzie Guillen Refutes Claims Of Sign Stealing
Baseball Writers Dave Van Dyck and Scott Merkin Discuss Ozzie Guillen
Coming off a three-game sweep of the Cardinals, Jim Thome took time before tonight's game to sit down with Dan Roan and talk about the White Sox hot streak.
Momentum is a funny thing in baseball. Everyone wants it, but once you get some, it's hard to hold on to.
The Sox have it right now. For the first time this year, they look like they are in a real rhythm and hitting on all cylinders. You saw in the St. Louis series they not only won the blowouts, but came back and took the one-run game. Those are the games you have to win and the games that have defined this team over the last year and a half.
Hawk
White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen was suspended for Thursday's game as a result of the hit batters in Tuesday night's game. He was also fined by MLB for his comments in the ongoing battle with Jay Marriotti.
Guillen Comments on Fine and Suspension
*The Sox have won their last 7 in overwhelming fashion, outscoring their opponents 70-24.
*Only 4 teams in the last 80 years have scored 20 runs and won a 1-0 game in the same series (1936 Boston Bees, 1988 Giants, 1994 Twins).
*Once again the Sox own baseball's best record in close games, going 21-9 to this point in 1- and 2-run games. The Tigers are next at 20-11.
*Jose Contreras has not pitched up to his standards in his 4 June starts, but still has gone 2-0 this month despite a 5.54 ERA.
The White Sox bats show no signs of cooling down. They pounded St. Louis again last night and scored 8 runs or more for the 6th straight game. Afterward, they talked about their recent success.
White Sox Blast Cardinals Again
Manager Ozzie Guillen is not backing down on his comments regarding Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti, but he did take time before last night's game to clarify them and apologize to any group that might be offended.
Guillen Apologizes for Mariotti Comments
The Sox hitters are really swinging the bats these days. Their stats in June are simply awesome.
It's a good feeling for the pitching staff. You can't underestimate how much confidence it gives a staff to go out there every night knowing they have a great chance to get some big run support. It takes off the pressure to be perfect and if you give up a run or two, it's not as crucial given the abundance of offense we've seen lately.
Of course, Mark Buehrle is hoping tonight that the Sox didn't use up their allowance of runs in putting up a twenty-spot last night, but as always, that's the great thing about this game of baseball.
DJ
*Despite losing by two touchdowns last night, the Cardinals have the major leagues' best interleague road record since 2002 at 21-13. The Twins are next at 26-17.
*June is busting out all over for the White Sox bats. Last night was the 9th time this month the Sox have scored 8 or more runs, including their last 5 games which ties a franchise record.
*Jim Thome feasts on Cardinal pitching with 16 HRs in 92 ABs against St. Louis for one every 5.75AB.
*Mark Buehrle has won his last 6 decisions in interleague play and hasn't allowed an earned run in his last 27 innings of interleague play.
*Rob Mackowiak knows Jason Marquis in all the right ways from his days in the National League, going 10/24 against him.
One of the things I love about Ozzie is that he has a feel for each and every game. Each one has its own personality.
You get a lot of managers who do not have a feel for the individual games. They are so locked in to a format or a computer that they lose their feel for what is going on that day.
Look at the Sox at Cincinnati yesterday, where that game quickly became about playing for a single run at a time in what is normally a big hitter's ballpark. The Sox got there first and won that game.
You have Ozzie, Lou Piniella, Jimmy Leyland, and LaRussa - they all share the ability to treat each game by itself and have a feel for it. I can add Gardenhire and Scioscia to that list as opposed to the guys who go strictly by the printouts they have sitting there.
Hawk
He may not have the sexiest ERA or the demeanor on the mound that some fans consider to be a bulldog, but let's take a moment to appreciate Freddy Garcia.
With a win last night, Freddy is now 41 games above .500 in his career. 41 games! You don't do that without being an outstanding competitor. That just doesn't happen against big league hitters unless you can
If you have to have your best stuff and best control to win a the big league level, you are not going to win many games here. The good ones like Freddy also win when they don't have their best stuff, but they still get out there and grind and simply out-compete the hitters.
Hawk
There's a guy who continues to work hard and improve each day right in front of us and that's Joe Crede. He continues to find ways to hit tough pitches and is a much tougher hitter each season.
I remember Joe's first invite to big-league camp in my last year in 1999. He had a great swing that naturally drove the ball to right-center field. That went away for a bit and he has continued to work at getting it back.
His defense is superb and gets lots of attention, but the little things he does at the plate, plus his clutch hitting keep improving with each season.
DJ
* The White Sox have won nine of the 11 all-time meetings, including the last six.
*Chicago has won seven of its last nine Interleague road games.
* The Sox’ Jim Thome is the all-time leader with 47 Interleague home runs.
* Chicago starter Freddy Garcia is 0-3 with a 8.10 ERA in his last four starts, but is 14-3 with a 1.96 ERA in his last 20 Interleague starts.
* Cincinnati is just 5-11 in its last 16 home games.
* The Reds’ David Ross has five home runs and seven RBIS in his last six games.
* Cincy pitcher Brandon Claussen is just 3-7 this season, but has won all three of his career Interleague starts.
The tone of last night's game was set right away in the 2nd inning last night when Vicente Padilla drilled AJ Pierzynski for the first time.
I thought it was a bad call by home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi to issue a warning after Padilla hit AJ again in the 4th. No one from the Rangers had been hit. I thought he was trying to cover himself more than he was trying to protect the players. I guess he didn't want a little scuffle out there.
None of their guys left their feet all night while our guy got hit twice. That's not right.
Hawk
There's no secret to the Sox wins the last two nights in Texas - good starting pitching always leads the way.
We've talked about Jon Garland's ups and downs this season, but last night he was solid, giving up only 2 runs, and in reality, it should have been only one. He set down 15 of the first 18 men he faced and was ready from the word go last night.
Add that to another great outing by Jose Contreras on Monday and hopefully our starters can get on one of those rolls we saw so often last year, where each guy wants to outdo the previous night's effort.
Hawk
*Jon Garland has allowed a homer in his last six starts.
*Mark Teixeira, Hank Blalock, and Rod Barajas are a combined .426 vs. Garland. All the other Texas hitters combined are hitting only .172 against him. Teixeira has 4 homers and 19 RBIs against the Sox in 13 games the last two seasons.
*The Sox boast the top home run trio in the majors with Jim Thome, Jermaine Dye, and Paul Konerko at 56. Next up is the Phillies trio of Howard/Burrell/Utley with 50.
*The power trio also leads the majors in RBI with 148, just ahead of the Jays Glaus/Wells/Rios threesome at 147.
* Texas took two of three from the White Sox earlier this month. Then Rangers have won 11 of the last 16 home meetings in the series.
* Chicago has lost 10 of its last 15 road games, including the last three.
* The White Sox Jermaine Dye has seven home runs and 16 RBIS in his last 11 road games.
* Chicago’s Jose Contreras is 14-0 in his last 18 starts. With a win, Contreras would match the 15-game winning streaks of LaMarr Hoyt (1983-84) and Wilson Alvarez (1993-94) for the franchise's longest individual winning streak in 36 years.
* Texas has won 11 of its last 17 games to take a two-game lead in the A.L. West.
* Rangers’ rookie Ian Kinsler has 11 RBIs in his last six games.
* Texas starter John Koronka is 0-2 with a 6.41 ERA in his last five starts, recording more walks (11) than strikeouts (10) in those contests.
The Hawk-tionary
With all the e-mails and questions we get, how about a quick refresher course on some of the terms we use on the broadcast each day:
Ball four, base hit: Usually when the bases are empty and a walk will be as good as a base hit.
Can o'corn: An easy fly ball. The outfielder reaches up to make the catch as easy as if he were pulling a can of corn off the shelf.
Catbird seat: When the count favors the hitter, generally 2-0 or 3-1.
Chopper, two-hopper: Routine ground ball in the infield.
Cinch it up and hunker down: A pressure situtation and time for the hitter or pitcher to take stock of himself and make something happen.
Duck snort: A big swing, resulting in a weak hit, usually just over the infield, as is a duck "snorted" the ball out of his beak.
Ducks on the pond: Runners on base.
Gas: A fastball.
Hang wif'em: When a hitter is in a slump and hits a rocket line drive that is caught. Hang in there, the ball will fall one of these days.
He got a cookie: A hanging curve ball, an easy pitch to hit for a home run. The hitter usually "devours" it.
Picks To Click: DJ, the crew, and I select/pick a player who we think will have the best game. The numbers after our names indicate how many times each of us has been correct. The numbers change because we keep a separate tally for WGN/WCIU games and Comcast games.
Right size, wrong shape: A long foul ball, usually with home run distance.
Sit back, relax, and strap it down: Get ready for another exciting night of White Sox baseball!
You can cancel the postgame show: The first hit of the ball game. The potential no-hitter is over and there will be no need for a show after the game to showcase the pitcher.
Hawk
U.S. Cellular Field is the place to be tonight. Since tomorrow's game is on the network in the afternoon, Fireworks Night will be held for a special Friday viewing. It's always a great show on the South Side. If you can't get there or haven't been to one, here's a few shots to whet your appetite.
* These teams have already met nine times in 2006, with Cleveland leading the series 6-3.
* Cliff Lee is 0-4 with a 9.08 ERA in his last eight starts against the White Sox.
* C.C. Sabathia’s 10 career wins against the White Sox are tied for his most versus any club. He also has 10 career victories against the Tigers and the Royals.
* Ben Broussard is hitting .519 (14-27) with three home runs and seven runs batted in over his last seven games.
* Jason Michaels is hitting .424 (14-33) against the White Sox this season.
* Mark Buehrle is 14-3 in home starts since the start of the 2005 season (4-1, 2.57 ERA this year). Only Roy Oswalt (16), Andy Pettitte (14) and Randy Johnson (14) have as many home victories as does Buehrle in that span.
* Jim Thome has four home runs and 11 RBI against the Indians this season.
* Scott Podsednik has just two hits in his last 26 at bats (.077).
* Jermaine Dye is hitting a sizzling .458 (11-24) with runners in scoring position and two out this season.
*Last year, the Sox were 9-0 in one-run games against the Tribe. This year, Cleveland is 2-0 vs. the Sox in games decided by one run.
Give big-time credit to Alex Cintron for hanging in there and battling in the game's big at-bat last night. Alex got the count to 3-2, fought off a change-up, then drilled the home run to right.
It was that kind of night for the White Sox. Lots of walks, lots of chances, but a missed bunt here and some things on the base paths cropped up to shut down scoring opportunities.
Hawk and I were talking just before Alex came up - if you keep giving yourself opportunities, sooner or later, something has to go your way. We have not been hitting well in the clutch lately, but if you keep giving a team chances, everybody in baseball knows that something bad is going to happen. In this case, the Tigers kept giving chances and Alex made sure they finally had to pay.
DJ
* The Tigers have been great against the AL Central this year. At 22-9 vs. their own division, they lead the majors this year with Cincinnati second (23-12) and the Sox fifth (18-11). However, the Tigers are 0-4 vs. the White Sox this year.
*Rookie pitcher Justin Verlander has been great on the road with a 1.73 ERA. Prior to giving up 6 runs in his last start against the Yankees, Verlander had allowed only 1 run in his previous 3 starts.
*Jose Contreras has been up and down since a brief stint on the DL, but still holds a 13-game regular season winning streak going back to last August.
*Jim Thomel leads all active players with 45 career homers against Detroit.
*Magglio Ordonez has hit.452 in games against his former team and has a hit in all 14 games in which he has faced the Sox.
*Jermaine Dye likes the fact that it is a night game. He leads the majors with a .779 slugging % at night and is tied for the MLB lead with 15 homers in night games.
* Detroit has lost five straight games against the White Sox. * The White Sox have lost five of their last six games.
* In his last 7 starts against the Tigers, Freddy Garcia is 6-1 with a 2.28 ERA.
* The Tigers will be looking to extend their road winning streak to 9 games.
* Jim Thome has 45 career home runs against the Tigers, which are tied for his most against any opponent.
* Chicago is tied for the major league lead with 81 home runs this season (Detroit ranks fifth with 77).
* Nate Robertson has won two of his three road starts.
* Detroit’s starters boast the best ERA in the majors (3.77).
Copyright 2006 STATS LLCThe White Sox lost two of three to Texas over the weekend. After yesterday's defeat, Ozzie Guillen talked to the media at U.S. Cellular Field. Paul Konerko and Mark Buehrle also weighed in with their postgame comments.
Sox Lose 2 Of 3 To Rangers
It may not have been pretty, but the Sox stopped their four-game losing streak with an 8-6 win over Texas Saturday night. Manager Ozzie Guillen talked about his team after the game.
Ozzie Guillen Talks About 8-6 Victory Over Texas
The Sox are 12 games over .500 so far this year and it's a tribute to the talent on the team. The only thing we're doing better after two months this year is the hitting, plus Bobby Jenks has been real good at the end of games.
Otherwise, the rest of the bullpen have had their problems, our starters have had their ups and downs, we've had some defensive lapses, and certainly there have been mental mistakes.
It's a good sign of the high standards this team sets that everyone feels we can be playing much better.
Hawk
* Texas has won 6 of the last 7 meetings with the Sox, outhomering them 17-5.
*The Rangers have 17 homers in their last 11 games. They also had an American League-leading streak of 14 straight games with a homer earlier in the year.
*Only Ryan Howard of the Phillies has hit more homers (14) since April 25 than Jermaine Dye (13).
*Brad Wilkerson and Tadahito Iguchi have one thing in common - they make the most of getting on base. The two are 1-2 in the majors at runs per time on base. Wilkerson is at .580 and Iguchi is at .563.
*Vicente Padilla is tough on right-handers (.175), but hasn't had the same success agains left-handed bats (.339).
* These two teams are meeting for the first time in 2006 while Texas went 6-3 against the White Sox last season.
* The White Sox return home after a 2-5 road trip. Chicago has a ML-best .760 win percentage in its home games (19-6) this season.
* The last time the Rangers were in 1st place through 53 games was back in 1999.
* Michael Young is just 4-23 (.176) over his last six games, and three of those hits came in one game (May 30 vs. Seattle).
* Kameron Loe is 2-2 with a 2.79 ERA in five starts on the road this season. He has also given up zero home runs on the road this season.
* Jon Garland struggled against the Rangers last season, going 1-2 with a 7.27 ERA in three starts against Texas.
* Jermaine Dye has been hitting the ball out of the park with ease lately, including four home runs in his last five games.
The dreaded bases on balls were a huge part of last night's game on both sides of the diamond. Sox pitchers walked six Indians - four of those six guys scored. Our guys were taking advantage of it too with eight walks and five of them ended up scoring.
That's one of the things that makes baseball great - those sayings you hear all the time are true. With regard to the walks, it might seemed like it was contagious throughout the night on both sides, but with the same results. Those free passes really hurt.
Hawk mentioned that if you had told him we'd score eight runs with Contreras on the hill, he would be sitting pretty. Again, that's why they play the games - nothing is ever set.
DJ
The Sox head into tonight's game looking for the split in this four-game series. After a big win in Monday's opener by the Sox, the Indians have answered with two really well-pitched games.
One guy we really need to get out is Grady Sizemore. He has been on base eight times in the three games so far, going 3-4 last night.
Jose Contreras is back on the mound for us, with that 13-game regular season winning streak on the line. Hopefully he can get it done so we can end this road trip on a high note and get back home to see the Rangers this weekend.
Hawk