White Sox 3, Indians 0: Single swing the difference

As far as the offense is concerned, Ozzie Guillen's "pep talk" didn't seem to make much of a difference. The White Sox stranded seven runners over the first three innings alone, and managed just one hit over nine at-bats with runners in scoring position.

Fortunately, that hit was Carlos Quentin with two on. After Paul Konerko and Adam Dunn singled with one out in the fifth, Carlos Carrasco threw Quentin a 2-1 fastball in his wheelhouse -- heart of the plate, just above the knees -- and cranked it into the left field seats for all the runs this game would see.

Otherwise, the Sox spoiled a ton of opportunities. The game started with two consecutive walks, and neither Juan Pierre nor Alexei Ramirez scored. They didn't have much of a problem finding baserunners -- eight hits, five walks and a hit-by-pitch -- but they had a hell of a time driving them in. Even Dunn, who went 2-for-5, stranded a game-high five runners to dull the buzz.

Fortunately, the other two parts of the game were in full working order.

Gavin Floyd controlled his environment all night, needing just 99 pitches through 7 2/3 innings. He was able to keep the Indians off-balance without great command of his curveball, because he was able to use his cutter to great effect against the lefty-heavy Cleveland lineup.

The defense cleaned up the rest. Floyd was perfect through three, and when he allowed a leadoff single to start the fourth, the Sox turned a 3-6-1 double play to reset the situation. It was difficult all the way around, with Konerko making a tough pick on a hot smash, Ramirez having to hold up with a runner bearing down on him in order to let Floyd get to the bag, and Floyd making a nice pick when Ramirez's off-balance throw short-hopped him.

Even Matt Thornton benefited from an outfield that had betrayed him before. He came on with two on and two out in the eighth inning, and gave up a deep fly to left by Orlando Cabrera. It looked like it was at least a double off the bat, but Pierre was able to flag it down on the warning track in the gap. One inning later, Alex Rios helped Thornton end a prolonged battle with Travis Hafner by hanging with a knuckling liner to center.

But once again, Ozzie Guillen would not allow him to earn the save. Instead, he brought in Sergio Santos to face Matt Laporta, and he recorded the strikeout to end the game.

This time, though, Santos picked up the save, since there was a runner on, and thus, the tying run stood in the on-deck circle.

Record: 48-51 | Box score | Play-by-play