Game Notes For Monday @ Cleveland
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* The White Sox are 61-42 (.592) in Baltimore since 1987, Chicago’s best road winning percentage against any American League opponent over that span.
* The White Sox won their last two games at Tampa Bay to take that series, three games to one. Chicago improved to 7-5, the first time this season they’ve moved two games over .500.
* The Orioles have lost five in a row to dip below .500 (6-7) for the first time in 2009. They surrendered 12 runs on Monday, the fifth time this season they’ve allowed at least 10.
* Carlos Quentin’s .814 slugging percentage through 12 team games is the third-highest mark by any White Sox hitter at this point of the season since 1954 (minimum 40 PA).
* Nick Markakis has reached base in each of his last 22 games, the longest active streak among current American Leaguers. He’s batting .395 against righthanded pitching this year, as compared to .167 versus lefthanders.
* Brian Roberts has scored at least one run in all six Oriole wins this season. He’s hit .519 (14-for-27) in Baltimore’s victories, collecting at least two hits in five of the six wins.
* Baltimore and Chicago split a two-game series in Baltimore earlier this month.
* More than half of the Orioles’ 13 wins have come by a single run (7-1 in 1-run games). Their seven one-run wins are the most in baseball.
* The White Sox are 10-1 when holding their opponents to four or fewer runs.
* Despite having the lowest batting average in the American League, the White Sox are leading the league in runs scored per game with 5.43.
* Nick Markakis has drawn 19 walks on the year, most in the American League.
* Joe Crede is tied for the American League lead with 21 RBI (tied with Josh Hamilton – Tex) and had the game-winning RBI off Joba Chamberlain last night.
*The Sox come into today's game 8-10 in Cactus League play while the Cubs are 6-11.
*Nick Swisher is still at home in the Cactus League with 10 RBI and is hitting .429 over his last four games.
*The Sox and Cubs also meet March 22 in Mesa.
*Nick Masset starts for the Sox. He is 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA in three appearances this spring.
*Scott Linebrink is scheduled to pitch today. He has made back-to-back scoreless outings after allowing one run in each of his first three appearances.
*The Sox come into today's game 8-10 in Cactus League play while the Cubs are 6-11.
*Nick Swisher is still at home in the Cactus League with 10 RBI and is hitting .429 over his last four games.
*The Sox and Cubs also meet March 22 in Mesa.
*Nick Masset starts for the Sox. He is 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA in three appearances this spring.
*Scott Linebrink is scheduled to pitch today. He has made back-to-back scoreless outings after allowing one run in each of his first three appearances.
* The White Sox have won four straight meetings with the Tigers and lead the season series 8-4.
* Chicago has just one win in its last 12 road games while the Tigers have won three of their last four at home.
* Jeremy Bonderman will be seeking his first home win since July 1. Bonderman is 0-2 with a 7.07 ERA in two starts against the White Sox this season.
* Placido Polanco is hitting .447 (17-for-38) during his current eight-game hitting streak.
* Jim Thome is five home runs shy of becoming the 23rd player in Major League history to reach the 500 home run plateau.
* The White Sox are hitting an AL-worst .240 with runners in scoring position this season.
* Jon Garland is 0-3 with an 8.49 ERA in his last six starts. Garland is 12-6 with a 4.21 ERA in 23 career starts against the Tigers.
* Curtis Granderson is hitting .692 (9-for-13) with two doubles, two homers and four RBI in his last four games.
* The White Sox have made things exciting for their fans this season—after spotting the Royals a 4-1 lead after one inning yesterday, Chicago came back to win a game for an MLB leading ninth time.
* Paul Konerko is hitting .524 (11-21) off the Tigers Chad Durbin.
* Bobby Jenks is 10/10 in career save opportunities vs. the Tigers.
* The Tigers are second in the American League with their hitters having struck out 63 times with runners on base this year.
* Although they had no postseason appearances to show for it, the Indians outscored their opponents by 236 runs over the past two seasons. Only the Yankees (+260) sported a better scoring differential during the same span.
* Grady Sizemore led the American League in 2006 with 53 doubles, and he ranked second with 11 triples. The leadoff hitter’s 92 extra-base hits were the third-highest single-season total in Indians history.
* Travis Hafner has hit .318 against the White Sox each of the past two seasons. He also has collected more homers (10) and RBI (30) versus the White Sox since 2005 than any other player.
* The White Sox were 17-7 each of the past two Aprils. Their combined mark of 34-14 (.708) was the best April winning percentage over the last two seasons.
* The White Sox have won five straight games on Opening Day, the fourth-longest active streak in the majors. Only the Yankees (9), Orioles (6) and Giants (6) boast longer current streaks.
* Jim Thome hit 42 homers last year, the most by any player in his first season with the White Sox. He also took 46.5 percent of the pitches he saw for balls, the highest rate in the majors.
*Several of the Sox players got some work in during a "B" game today at Tucson, including Bobby Jenks, who threw three innings.
*Jon Garland, Mike MacDougal, Andrew Sisco, and David Aardsma are scheduled to work today for the Sox.
*The Sox final week of spring training finishes with a 3/30 split game against the Birmingham AA farm team and two games in Atlanta 3/30 and 3/31 before heading to Chicago for Opening Day 4/2 against Cleveland.
*Lefthander Doug Davis starts for the Diamondbacks today.
*With yesterday's loss to the Rockies, the White Sox are 0-6 vs. Colorado this spring.
*On July 12, the Twins were 12 games out of first with a record of 49-40 and had gotten there with a long winning streak in June. Since then, they have continued on, going 46-26, while the Tigers were 33-37 and the Sox were 33-38.
* Jermaine Dye and Jim Thome punished AL Central pitchers with the long ball this year. Dye hit 22 HRs in the division while Thome popped 20.
*Javier Vazquez has had back-to-back 12 strikeout games. If he turns the trick again today, he will be the first pitcher in five seasons to do so.
*Scott Podsednik has tallied 40+ steals for the 4th straight season which matches Carl Crawford of Tampa Bay and trails only Juan Pierre's six season string.
*With the White Sox eliminated from postseason contention and the Astros 1 1/2 games out of first in the NL Central, this could mark the first time in 10 years that both pennant winners have failed to make the playoffs.
*The Sox 3-4-5 combo of Thome/Dye/Konerko is far and away tops in the majors for those slots. They rank 1st in OBP (.398), HRs (127), RBIs (388), runs (349), and second in batting average (.317) - a point behind the middle of the Rockies order.
*The White Sox staff has posted the large ERA increase in the American League this year, up 1.04 to 4.65 from last year's 3.61.
*Cleveland has won 6 of the 8 meetings at Jacobs Field in 2006, a far cry from last year when the Sox went 9-1 at the Jake.
*The Indians have scored 20 runs total in the first 2 games of this series and lead the majors with 17 11+ run games.
*Chicago trails the Wild Card-leading Twins by 5.5 games with just six games to play (seven for Twins).
*Cleveland has won 9 of 16 games in this matchup this year, including a 4-2 mark at Jacobs Field.
* With Joe Crede’s home run yesterday, the White Sox became just the 10th major league team – and 3rd from the AL – to have four players hit 30 or more HR in a season (Dye 43, Thome 42, Konerko 35, Crede 30).
* Jon Garland will try to join Chien-Ming Wang and Johan Santana as the majors’ only 18-game winners on Monday night. He already leads the majors in wins on the road (11).
* Cliff Lee is 2-1 with a 3.57 ERA (9/22.2) in five September starts.
* Victor Martinez is hitting .400 (16-for-40) during his current 11-game hit streak. He has reached base via hit or walk at least two times in all 11 games.
*Since August 29, the White Sox bullpen has a 6.79 ERA, third worst in the majors.
*Jim Thome has posted his 7th season with 35+ HRs, 100 RBI, 100 walks, and 100 runs scored.
*Freddy Garcia has allowed 1 hit in 8 innings in each of his last 2 starts, a feat accomplished only twice in the last 50 years (Sam McDowell & Dave Stieb both had back-to-back complete game 1-hitters).
*Paul Konerko has now reached 100 RBI for the 4th time in his Sox career.
*The Sox have won 12 of the 18 meetings with the Tigers this year.
*Good pitching and timely hitting do mean everything. Last year, the Sox had the lowest team on-base % for an AL division winner in the last 20 years (.322). This year, the Tigers aren't far off that mark at .326.
*The Tigers were 70-33 with Placido Polanco and only 20-28 without him.
*Carlos Guillen is often overlooked, but he is tied with Miguel Tejada for the AL shorstop lead in homers with 19.
*The Sox currently have 9 players with at least 20 doubles. They have a chance to be the first team ever with 9 players with 25 doubles.
*Jim Thome's 34 homer increase this year (7 to 41 and counting) is the highest for a 25+ year-old player in the history of the American League.
*Detroit is just 5-11 against the White Sox this year. The 11 losses are the Tigers’ most against any opponent.
*The Tigers have lost 12 of their last 17 road games.
*Jermaine Dye is 25-for-60 (.417) with 7 homers against Detroit this season.
*The White Sox will be looking to snap their three-game losing streak.
*Kenny Rogers is 4-0 with a 2.03 ERA over his last six starts.
*Chicago’s bullpen has posted an 8.03 ERA over its last 10 games.
*Mark Buehrle is 7 1/3 innings shy of his sixth straight 200-inning season.
* The 2006 White Sox are on the verge of becoming the first team in American League history to have four players with 30 home runs and 100 RBIs in a single season. Jermaine Dye (.323-41-114) and Paul Konerko (.315-32-105) already have reached those milestones. Jim Thome (.291-39-99) and Joe Crede (.300-29-93) aren't far behind. If Thome and Crede finish in the 30-homer, 100-RBI club, the White Sox join the 1996 and 1999 Rockies as the only teams with four players to reach it.
* The Minnesota Twins are relying heavily on pitching to compete in the American League Central this season, but their hitting is markedly improved over a year ago. As a team, the Twins are batting .285 on the season, and only the Yankees (.285) have posted a higher average among all big league teams. Minnesota batted .259 as a team in 2005, and only Seattle (.256) had a lower team mark among AL clubs.
* The Oakland Athletics have quietly posted the best second-half winning percentage in the majors with a 38-19 record (.667). The Athletics are surging after going 45-43 before the All-Star break. This is the eighth straight season they have posted a better record during the second half. In the last eight years, Oakland is 366-210 after the All-Star Game, good for a .635 winning percentage that tops all major league clubs in this span.
* Justin Morneau has seen the biggest 2006 hike in his batting average among all major leaguers with at least 200 at-bats in 2005 and at least two at-bats a game this season. The Twins' first baseman hit .239 with 22 homers and 79 RBIs a year ago. This year he's batting .325, a spike of 86 points, and he leads the Twins with 33 homers and 121 RBIs.
*The Sox have a clear offensive advantage over the A's this season. Looking at MLB season ranks, the Sox are hitting .284 (3rd) while the A's are at .260 (27th). The Sox average 5.51 runs/game (2nd) to the A's 4.7 (19th) and Chicago hits .314 with runners in scoring position to lead the majors while the A's are last at .243.
*Since the A's visited Chicago, Frank Thomas has been on a tear, hitting .316 with 27 homers. The A's were are 52-34 since then.
*Since the start of the 2005 season, no one has more games than Jon Garland who has 35 wins (tied with Chris Carpenter).
*After going 4-3 with a 6.19 ERA in his first 12 starts, Garland is 13-1 with a 2.92 ERA since June 13.
* Since last year, the Sox are 9-2 at Anaheim with a team ERA of 2.73.
*Ervin Santana is very tough at home, with a career record of 18-5 with a 3.17 ERA at Angel Stadium.
*Since July 1, opponents are hitting at a .352 clip off Mark Buehrle, highest against any MLB pitcher.
*Vladimir Guerrero is on another tear, hitting .405 since August 13.
*Joe Crede is one homer away from 30, which would make the Sox the 3rd AL club in history to have 4 30+ HR hitters. The others were the 2000 Blue Jays (Delgado, Batista, Fullmer, Cruz Jr.) and 2000 Angels (Glaus, Vaughn, Anderson, Salmon).
* Including last year’s ALCS, the White Sox have won six consecutive games at Angel Stadium.
*Chicago has lost six of Jose Contreras’ last 8 road starts.
*The Angels have won 7 of their last 8 games.
*In his last five starts against the White Sox, John Lackey is 3-0 with a 2.65 ERA. However, Lackey is 0-2 with a 7.43 ERA in his last five starts at Angel Stadium.
*Chicago’s bullpen has posted a 10.66 ERA over its last four games.
* In his last 9 home games, Adam Kennedy is hitting .485 (16-for-33) with 7 RBIs.
*Jon Garland takes for the hill for the Sox tonight having gone 12-1 in his last 13 decisions.
*AJ Pierzynski loves the alternate uniforms. He has two walk-off HRs in his career - last June against the Dodgers wearing the 1959 replica uniform and last night vs. the Tribe wearing the Halfway To St. Patrick's Day green.
*The Sox rank second in the major leagues with 40 come-from-behind wins, trailing only the Twins who have 42.
*The Sox lead the major leagues with 208 homers and are on pace to hit 239, which would rank second behind the club's 242 in 2003.
*It's been feast or famine for the Sox lately. In their lsat five wins, they are averaging 7.2 runs a game. In their last six losses, only 2.33 runs.
*These are two potent offenses. The Sox rank 2nd in MLB for runs per game (5.5) and the Tribe rank 3rd (5.45).
*Since the All-Star break, Indian starters have the lowert ERA in the American League at 3.87.
*Just as in 2005, the Indians are on a late-season tear. Since August 1 combining both years, their record is 60-31.
*Jim Thome has struggled against his former team, hitting only 9/42 (.214).
*Cleveland has won 7 of its 12 meetings against the White Sox this season
* Cliff Lee will be making his fifth start of the season against the White Sox. In his last three starts against Chicago, he is 0-2 with an 8.22 ERA.
* The Indians have lost three of their last four road games while the White Sox have just two wins in their last 7 games.
* Mark Buehrle has 9 career losses against the Indians, his second most in his career against any opponent (10 against Minnesota ).
* Cleveland has scored 748 runs this season, the third most in the majors, while the White Sox rank second with 769.
* Jermaine Dye and Jim Thome have combined for 8 homers and 22 RBIs against the Indians this season.
* Victor Martinez ranks second among catchers in hits this season (153).
*Last season, the Sox led MLB with a 35-19 record in 1-run games. This season they are 14th at 20-19.
*The Sox are now only 16-17 against the American League East this year.
*Kevin Youkilis may not look like a leadoff hitter, but he's done the job by getting on base at a .392 clip, the second highest OBP by a leadoff hitter in baseball.
*The Red Sox have been in a scoring drought, leading baseball by scoring less than 4 runs on 14 different occasions since August 14.
*Jim Thome has 12 homers in his last 25 games against Boston, including 1 on Monday night.
*Maybe Boston can be the tonic for Scott Podsednik - he owns a .370 career batting average vs. the Red Sox.
* The Red Sox have won two of their three meetings against the White Sox this season. However, Boston has just two wins in its last 10 games overall.
* Jermaine Dye needs one more homer to become the fourth player in White Sox history to hit 40 in one season.
* The White Sox lead the majors with 203 home runs this season. The franchise record for homers in a single season is 242 set in 2004.
* Jon Garland will be trying to become baseball's first 17-game winner this season. Garland is 11-2 in 15 road starts this season.
* Julian Tavarez will make his second start of the year for Boston. He will be pitching on three days' rest after he allowed three runs over three innings last Thursday against Toronto.
* Jim Thome is just 13-for-63 in his last 18 games at Fenway Park.
* Boston leads the majors with a .990 fielding percentage and its 52 errors are 11 fewer than any other team in the league this season.
*Since 2001, Mark Buehrle has 14 wins over the Royals, the most by any opposing pitcher.
*Look for the Sox to get the early jump tonight. Over the first 4 innings this season, their run differential is +120 (best in the majors) while the Royals are -127 in those innngs (worst in the majors).
*The White Sox are the only team in baseball with 4 players who have 85+ RBIs.
*At .382, Mark Grudzielanek has the highest average of any opposing hitter vs. the White Sox.
*The Sox and Royals depend on the homer very differently. The Sox lead the majors with 45.8% of their runs via the HR while the Royals are dead last at 25.2%
*Since August 5, the Royals are hitting .319 at home.
* The White Sox have won 10 of the 16 meetings this season, thus winning the seasons series for the sixth consecutive season.
*Chicago has crushed 18 homers in the past eight games, and now has 200 for the seventh consecutive season.
* The White Sox Jermaine Dye needs one home run to become the fourth player in Sox history (ninth times) to hit 40 in one season.
*Chicago’s Jose Contreras got shelled in his last start vs. the Royals (8/16/06), allowing seven runs on 12 hits in the loss. Contreras was 7-0 in his previous nine starts vs. K.C.
* Kansas City is just 19-40 vs. division rivals this season, losing eight of its last 10 home games vs. A.L. Central rivals.
*Kansas City pitcher Runelvys Hernandez is 0-4 in his last five home starts and is just 1-4 with a 8.31 ERA in five career home starts vs. the White Sox.
*Tampa Bay, which hasn't won a series in Chicago since April 1998, is still looking for its first road win in the month of August and has lost 21 of the last 22 road games.
*Since June 30, Jon Garland has been as good as any pitcher in baseball, going 9-1 with a 2.71 ERA.
*Former Sox player Greg Norton is one of the few Devil Rays having a good August, hitting .377 for the month.
*In his first 10 games after the All-Star break, Jermaine Dye didn't homer or get an RBI, but since then he has hit .344 and leads the AL in that span with 14 homers, 38 RBIs, and a .736 slugging %.
* The D-Rays were swept three straight by the Orioles in Baltimore over the weekend---Tampa Bayhas now lost four straight overall.
* The Devil Rays took two of three earlier this season from the White Sox. However, they have lost four straight and six of the last seven at U.S. Cellular Field.
* The Sox lost two of three over the weekend to the Twins and are just 5-8 since August 15.
* Jermaine Dye is increasing his MVP status of late---Dye is batting .387 (12-for-31) with five home runs and 11 RBI during his current 8-game hit streak.
* The D-Rays called up former No. 1 draft pick Delmon Young to the big club yesterday. This will be Dmitri Young’s little brother’s first taste of big-league pitching.
* Carl Crawford is hitting .429 (21-for-49) and has eight multi-hit games over his last 13 contests.
* Freddy Garcia is 0-2 with a 5.87 ERA in his last five starts vs. the Devil Rays.
* Jim Thome missed his fourth straight game on Sunday with a strained left hamstring and remains day to day.
*It's not hard to see that the Twins ascent has been linked to great starting pitching. Since June 1, Brad Radke (2.59) and Johann Santana (2.72) rankd 3rd and 4th in AL ERA. Francisco Liriano, who is on the shelf for the Twins right now, is 2nd (2.23).
*Defense is another strength for the Twins. They are currently on a 20-game winning streak in games where they have committed fewer errors than their opponent.
*If the season ended today, Justin Morneau would set Twins record for slugging % at .590.
*The Sox hit the long ball yesterday as they have all year. No other team has as many 2+HR games as the Sox with 57.
*The Sox won the first 5 games of the season series from the Tigers, but the two teams have gone 4-4 since.
*Although the Tigers are 4-9 against the Sox, they are 33-10 vs. the rest of the AL Central. The Sox are 21-20 against the rest of their division.
*Since 2002, only Randy Johnson has more wins (77) among lefthanders than Mark Buehrle (75). Kenny Rogers is 6th in that time span (70).
*Alex Cintron (.400) and Jermaine Dye (.396) have punished Tiger pitching all season.
*Craig Monroe and Scott Podsednik lead baseball in scoring once they get on base. Monroe scores at a .496 clip (68/137) and Podsednik is right behind at .484 (77/159).
* The White Sox have won nine of the 12 meetings this season, including four of five games decided by one run.
*Chicago is in the midst of a 10-game stretch against Minnesota and Detroit (1-2 thus far). The Sox are a league-best 41-27 vs. teams currently above .500.
*Chicago’s Jermaine Dye needs one homer to set a new personal single-season best (33 this season and in 2001). Dye is batting .459 in his last 10 games vs. the Tigers.
*Chicago starter Jose Contreras is 5-1 with a 1.96 ERA in his last six starts vs. Detroit.
*Detroit has lost three in a row and nine of its last 12 games overall.
* The Tigers’ Craig Monroe is batting .458 (11-24) with two doubles, a triple, a home run and five RBIs in his last six contests.
*Detroit rookie Justin Verlander has lost his last two starts, but is 6-0 with a 2.38 ERA in his last eight home starts.
How do they stack up?
A look at the Central's key numbers.
Home Record
Twins 43-19
Tigers 38-20
White Sox 41-23
Vs. AL Central
Tigers 36-19
White Sox 29-22
Twins 27-26
Batting Average
Twins .287
White Sox .285
Tigers .278
Runs
White Sox 684
Tigers 619
Twins 611
ERA
Tigers 3.68
Twins 4.19
White Sox 4.59
*Chicago has won 15 of the last 17 meetings at U.S. Cellular Field, as well as eight of the last 10 meetings overall.
*Kansas City has no home runs and just six extra-base hits during the last four games (all losses at Cleveland).
*Kansas City starter Mark Redman is 7-2 in his last 13 starts, and is 1-0 with a 2.66 ERA in three career starts at U.S. Cellular Field.
*Chicago has won four in a row and is now two games ahead of Boston in the A.L. Wild Card race.
*Chicago’s Jim Thome is batting .418, with nine home runs and 23 RBIs in his last 17 games vs. the Royals.
* White Sox starter Jon Garland is 7-1 at home vs. the Royals in his career, including 4-0 with a 1.70 ERA in his last five home starts vs. K.C.
*Justin Verlander takes the hill for the Tigers tonight on what amounts to nine days rest. Verlander has made three starts this season on six or more days rest and is 3-0. Opponents are hitting only .133 off him in those games.
* After losing the first five games against the White Sox this season, the Tigers have won three of the last four games versus Chicago.
*Detroit is hitting .321 on the road since the All-Star break, recording 10 or more hits in eight of the 10 road games since the break.
* Since June 17, Justin Verlander is 7-0 with an ERA of 1.93 in eight starts and has only allowed one home run over that span.
* Dmitri Young is currently on a 5-game hitting streak in which he is hitting .474 (9-for-19) during the streak.
* Joe Crede is hitting .438 (14-for-32) with 4 HR and 9 RBI in his last nine games.
* Jose Contreras is 2-1 with an ERA of 2.05 in three starts against the Tigers this season.
* Chicago’s pitchers have an ERA of 4.99 and have allowed 21 home runs in 10 home games since the All-Star break.
*The good news for the Sox as they face off with NY and Detroit in these next 6 games is that they have the best record in the American League against +.500 teams at 30-19.
*The bad news is that after starting out 32-12 at home, the Sox are only 2-8 at U.S. Cellular in their last 10 home games.
*The name of the game for Chien-Ming Wang is keep the ball down and let them hit it on the ground. He has the 3rd hightest % of ground balls at 76.9% and has allowed the lowest %of HR per 9 innings at .46.
*Freddy Garcia hasn't won since late June, but will have a better chance if he continues to keep Derek Jeter down. Jeter has only 5 hits in 25 careers ABs vs. Garcia.
Copyright 2006 STATS LLC
*Since 1999, the White Sox have the best road record at the Rogers Centre of any AL team at 20-12.
*Despite the problems recently, White Sox starters have logged more innings than any other starting staff in baseball.
*Both teams score by the home run. The Sox lead baseball with 47.1% of their runs coming via the long ball, while the Jays are 3rd at 41.7%.
*The Sox have given up at least 4 runs in 10 straight games.
*The Sox are at 9-15 in the month of July and are in danger of recording only the 5th July in franchise history with less than 10 wins.
*With 61 HRs already, Jim Thome and Jermaine Dye are on pace to crush the team record for HRs by a duo (78, by Belle and Thomas in 1998).
*Runelvys Hernandez has been much more effective at home (3.65 ERA) than on the road (10.62 ERA) for the Royals this year.
*Mark Grudzielanek has feasted off Sox pitching in his career, hitting .378.
*Paul Konerko is hitting only .240 this month, but does have 7 HRs in 75 ABs.
*Chicago has won five straight in Baltimore, scoring at least six runs, and knocking out at least 11 hits in each contest.
*The White Sox have lost five straight series they've played, going 3-12 while giving away their lead in the wild-card race, falling a half-game behind the Yankees.
*The White Sox have committed just four errors over their last 18 games. The Orioles, meanwhile, have committed an error in just one of their last seven games.
*35 years ago today, perennial Gold Glove winner Brooks Robinson committed three errors in one game for the first time in his career. The Baltimore Orioles’ third baseman committed all of his miscues in the sixth inning against the Oakland A’s, leading to two unearned runs.
*Jim Thome has just two RBI over his last nine games.
*Erik Bedard has won seven straight starts while posting a 1.29 ERA with 53 strikeouts in 49 innings.
*12 of Miguel Tejada’s 18 homers this year have come at Camden Yards.
*The White Sox have won five of the seven meetings this season, including all three meetings in Chicago. The White Sox have won the last six meetings at U.S. Cellular Field.
*Minnesota has won nine of its last 10 and 29 of its last 36 games overall.
*The Twins’ Nick Punto is in the midst of a 15-game hitting streak, one shy of the team’s season-long streak (16 by Justin Morneau).
*Minnesota’s Brad Radke is 4-0 with a 2.66 ERA in his last eight starts. Radke has allowed a home run in each of his last 10 starts at U.S. Cellular Field.
*Chicago has lost nine of its last 12 games to drop 6 ½ games behind the Tigers in the A.L. Central.
*The White Sox Jermaine Dye has no home runs and no RBIs in nine consecutive games.
*Chicago’s Javier Vazquez is looking to become the 10th pitcher (12th occurrence) since 1900 to win 10 games in four consecutives for four different teams.
*The White Sox have the league's best record against the AL West at 14-7.
*Good pitching will shut the Rangers down - they have scored 2 or less runs 8 times since June 25, the most in the majors during that time.
*The two bullpens have been going in different directions since July 3. The Rangers are the best in baseball with a 1.33 ERA while the Sox are 27th in that time at 5.48.
*Scott Podsednik has more steals (29) than the entire Rangers team (27).
*Home runs have been key for the Sox all year. 45.7% of their runs score via the HR, tops in the majors.
*Both team have been scoring lots of runs. The Sox lead baseball with 6 players who have scored at least 50 runs and the Rangers are tied for 2nd with 5 players.
*Chicago is 1-2 against the Rangers at home this season compared to a 3-1 mark in Arlington.
*Texas has only hit one home run in their last seven road games.
*John Wasdin will be making his fifth start of the season after giving up zero runs in 2.1 innings of relief duty against the White Sox on June 3.
*Texas is 8-4 this season when Gary Matthews Jr. registers two or more RBI in one game.
*Mark Buehrle is 8-2 against the Rangers since 2001, the third best record by an active pitcher against Texas (minimum 10 decisions).
*Chicago has 28 come from behind victories this season, tied for the second most in the majors.
* Brian Anderson has hit safely in nine straight games and is hitting .462 (12-for-26) in those nine games.
*The Sox lead the season series over the Tigers 5 games to 1, with 3 1-run wins.
*Despite some stumbles over the weekend (5 for 35), the Sox continue to hit well with runners in scoring position. Their team batting average with RISP is .308.
*Jim Thome has hit 46 career homers against Detroit, the most by any active player.
*Jon Garland has won five consecutive road starts and has an ERA of 2.35 in the month of July.
*Left-handed hitters are hitting only .182 off Nate Robertson this season
*The Sox need to get the bats going against the Yankees. Since 4/21/04, they are averaging only 2.6 runs against the New Yorkers in 10 games.
*Both teams pitching leaves much to be desired in July - the Sox have a 6.28 ERA for the month and the Yankees are at 5.53.
*Hopefully Paul Konerko can be back in the lineup today. His .364 batting average at Yankee Stadium is highest among active players with 100 ABs there.
*Jarret Wright's 6.28 ERA in day games is the highest in baseball.
* The teams split the six meetings last season, with just 28 total runs scored in those contests.
* Chicago has won 10 of its last 13 road games, batting .333 as a team over that span.
* White Sox OF Jermaine Dye has four home runs and 10 RBIs in his last four games, while teammate Jim Thome has homered in each of his last three road games.
* Chicago’s Jose Contreras has a franchise record 17-game winning streak which began on 8/21/05 vs. the Yankees. Contreras, who began his career in New York, is 2-0 with a 0.60 ERA in two career starts vs. the Yankees.
* The Yankees had the league’s best post- All-Star Game record last season (49-27, .645).
* Yankees’ third baseman Alex Rodriguez has four home runs and 12 RBIs in his last four home games. A-Rod needs just two home runs to reach 450 in his career.
* New York starter Randy Johnson is 0-2 with a 6.60 ERA in his last two starts vs. the White Sox. He has allowed six total home runs in those two starts.
* Last season, the American League took the Midsummer Classic, 7-5. The AL has not lost to the NL since the 1996 game in Philadelphia (8-0-1 since).
* The National League leads the all-time series, 40-34-2.
* Brad Penny was named the NL’s starting pitcher for Tuesday’s contest by Phil Garner. It marks the 2nd consecutive season that the National League’s starter will be making his ASG debut (Chris Carpenter in 2005).
* Kenny Rogers was named to his 4th career All-Star Game and his first as a starter by American League manager Ozzie Guillen. The last time Detroit had the starting battery for the event was 1966, when Denny McLain threw to Bill Freehan.
* Rogers will be the 2nd oldest pitcher to start an All-Star Game. Roger Clemens became the eldest when he started the 2004 ASG in Houston.
* David Eckstein (for Jose Reyes) and Francisco Liriano (for Jose Contreras) were named as late replacements to their respective squads on Monday (Edgar Renteria will start at shortstop for the NL in place of Reyes)---Liriano joins Jose Lopez (Seattle), Gary Matthews Jr. (Texas) and Magglio Ordonez (Detroit) as replacements on the AL roster, while Eckstein joins Roy Oswalt (Houston) as replacements for the NL.
* Team USA beat the World team in the Futures Game on Sunday, 8-5. Royals’ prospect, Billy Butler homered en route to earning MVP honors in the contest. The USA prospects now lead the all-time series, 5-3.
* With the addition of A.J. Pierzynski as the final player added to the AL squad, the White Sox will be represented by seven players at the ASG---most of any team. The Mets are second on that list with six players, although Pedro Martinez, Tom Glavine and Jose Reyes will not participate.
* The Tigers head into the All-Star Game with MLB’s best record and the most wins by an AL team at the break (59) since the 2001 Mariners (63). The White Sox had the best record at the 2005 All-Star break and, of course, went on to win the World Series.
* There will be 25 first time All-Stars in this year’s contest---12 for the AL and 13 for the NL.
* The overall MLB batting average has increased each month this season: April-.265, May-.268, June-.270, July-.279.
*The Sox trailed 3-0 early last night, but it was no surprise that they came back to win. The Sox are tied with Milwaukee for the MLB lead in comeback victories with 27.
*Take away the 2006 post-season and the Red Sox have won 8 of the last 10 regular season games at U.S. Cellular Field.
*Keeping the opposition in the ballpark always sounds good, especially to the Sox who have won their last 17 games when NOT allowing a home run, tops in the majors with Toronto far back at 7.
*The MLB home run leaders face off this weekend. Jim Thome and David Ortiz lead all players with 29 HRs coming into tonight's game.
*Kevin Youkilis is a big key to the Red Sox attack from the leadoff spot. His .408 on-base % in the leadoff slot leads all of baseball.
* The Sox are right on last year's pace (54-29 this year vs. 57-26 last year) and it's been the offense that has really stepped it up. Everything is up - runs per game (5.9 vs. 4.8), batting average (.287 vs. .262), homers (124 vs. 104).
*The pitching story is reversed - as the Sox ERA has gone up to 4.42 (3.52 a year ago) and opponents are batting .267 (.244 last year).
*Jon Garland is looking to improve his performance at home tonight. In his last 4 home starts, he is 0-1 with a 6.48 ERA. He has won only once at U.S. Cellular Field this year.
*Juan Uribe's 28 RBIs since June 15 lead the majors in that time span.
*With 124 HRs, the Sox are poised to break their team record of 128 HRs at the All-Star break set in 2000.
*With two wins this weekend, the Sox have extended their lead in the all-time series vs. the Cubs to a 29-24 advantage.
*The Sox continue to excel at jumping to an early lead. Their +82 run differential in the first three innings is best in baseball while the Cubs -62 is the second worst.
*With yesterday's home run, Paul Konerko now has 12 HRs vs. the Cubs in his career.
*Mark Buehrle has won 8 straight interleague decisions, the second longest streak in baseball behind Kenny Rogers' 9. Teammate Freddy Garcia has 7 straight interleague wins.
*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.
*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.
* 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.
*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.