John Danks deserved better. Faced with the task of pitching the opening game of a double header, Danks was looking to go deep into the game, preserve the bullpen, and most importantly, get the W to help the White Sox avoid a 2-5 skid. He held up his end of the bargain, taking a no-hitter and perfect game through 5 innings, but the Sox offense, weighed down by three automatic outs at the bottom of the lineup, mounted nary an offensive attack against Brian Burres and the Orioles.

I think it was Hitlesswonder who expressed his concern over the lack of Danks' curveball in his first 4 games. Well, for 5 innings we saw what happens when Danks adds that curve to his arsenal, 5 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 4 K. But when he hung an 0-2 curveball to Adam Jones leading off the 6th, he lost his no-hitter, and thanks to Toby Hall behind the plate, he lost his concentration as well.

Jones has good speed, while Hall has no arm. So Danks spent the better part of the next at-bat throwing over to first base in an attempt to prevent the inevitable stolen base. He was unsuccessful, as Jones was able to take second on a botched hit-and-run. A couple pitches later, Danks left a navel-high changeup over the plate which Guillermo Quiroz smashed over the left field wall. It was the first HR Danks has allowed this season, the first of Quiroz' career, and it immediately decided the game.

I say the game was immediately decided because Burres is left-handed and has a changeup, which he used to carve up the 2/3rds of a major league lineup that Ozzie ran out there in the opener. Much as we saw last season, the lineup is just too easy to go through when you have 3 consecutive players who don't belong in a major league lineup. Add in the rest of the team's inability to hit LHP, to go the other way, and this one was over in the 6th.

Hours before game time, upon hearing the news that Alexei Ramirez and Toby Hall would be in the starting lineup in place of Jermaine Dye and AJ Pierzynski, I wondered aloud where the White Sox offense would come from on Saturday.

I absolutely understand the need for both of them to have off-days. The bottom 3rd of the lineup just looks a whole lot uglier with them out.

The game is essentially shortened to 6 innings with three consecutive below replacement level hitters placed back-to-back-to-back. There's not much room for error.

Needless to say, the Sox did not play error-free baseball. The key gaffe came early, the second inning, after Mark Buehrle hit Jonny Gomes and subsequently appeared to have him picked off first base. The infielders -- I'm not going to assign blame, though Hawk and DJ seemed to agree that it was Juan Uribe's fault -- botched their second rundown in as many days, setting up what would prove to be the game-winning, 2-out rally. Three singles and 19 pitches (alot for a Buehrle meltdown) later, the Sox were down 3 runs, from which they would never recover.

Andy Sonnanstine had himself a resume builder, tossing 9 3-hit shutout innings, facing just 2 over the minimum. He just went right at the Sox and they couldn't do anything to stop him. They couldn't work their way on base; he was always ahead in the count. And more importantly, they couldn't do anything with the balls in the strike zone. Almost everything was hit softly, and generally on the ground. Heck, their first hit of the game was a bunt single by Orlando Cabrera. It was almost a 2-hitter.

Elephant in the Room

After being limited to just 3 hits, one of which was a bunt, by Sonnanstine on Saturday, the White Sox now rank 13th in the AL in batting average at .239, lower than they hit during the dismal '07 season, fractions of a percentage point away from the cellar (Cleveland at .239, or .2389). It has gone largely unnoticed thanks to good plate discipline and timely homeruns, but the Sox still aren't hitting.

The starting lineup today featured two batters with an average above .250, Nick Swisher and Joe Crede. That's not going to cut it, no matter how many walks they draw or how many homers they crank.

 

The Cheat is nowhere to be seen, so I figured I'd jump in with a recap of Saturday afternoon's game.

• Gavin Floyd came up with a performance that will be totally acceptable out of the fifth starter's role for the rest of the year. While not looking great, he didn't look totally horrible. 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER is a performance that should be good enough to win most games. He got the lead late in the game and held it during his final inning. It seemed like Gavin occasionally ran into problems with two outs, but hopefully that will be something that disappears after getting comfortable.
  
• Is there anyone more fun to watch in the lineup right now that Carlos Quentin? He's taking a starting spot and running away with it. I'm not sure which brought more joy to watch, his RBI single in the sixth inning or his absolute bullet from left field to nail a jogging Edgar Renteria trying to return to first base. Bad news for Jerry Owens supporters.
• Dontrelle Willis couldn't find the plate with a plate-finding machine, and it finally cost him in the sixth inning. Nick Swisher picked up his third walk of the game (and his sixth in this last two games) to start off the action. He may be hitting .200 after five games, but the .478 on-base percentage sure looks sexy. Moreover, he hasn't looked totally overmatched in center.
• After looking like secondhand horse poo in Spring Training, Jermaine Dye has been locked in to start the year, picking up his second home run in the eighth inning for that all important insurance run.
• What's up with Orlando Cabrera in the field? He botched a cutoff throw early in the game that led to an early Tiger run, and he's just looked out of sorts at times. He's drawn some walks but hasn't looked much better at the plate either. Could we start seeing Juan Uribe and Alexei Ramirez starting at shortstop on occasion?
• Toby Hall sucks. Good signing...in theory.
• Boone Logan, Scott Linebrink, and Bobby Jenks. 3 IP, 0 R. Gave up three hits and Jenks was a little off in the ninth, but there's nothing to be worried about yet. Logan still looks good against lefties and Linebrink is still looking worth the money. Hard to say much after five games, but it's still a hell of a lot more encouraging to see them start out hot.

The Sox go for the sweep tomorrow night on ESPN2, as Mark Buehrle faces Justin Verlander on Sunday Night baseball. Smart money says that Mark won't be quite as bad as he was in Cleveland on Opening Day. We may even see Brian Anderson tomorrow as part of the Sunday Getaway Lineup®, since there are rumors around the Sox clubhouse that he does in fact exist.

 

The White Sox opening day roster became much clearer thanks to series developments on Tuesday, which made for an interesting day and a good demonstration of our new FanShot feature.

• Following the extended morning meetings to discuss the roster, Toby Hall was called in for at least one meeting, if not two. It initially appeared like Hall was on his way off the opening day roster, but at the end of the day, He and A.J. Pierzynski were the only catchers left on the spring roster.
• Josh Fields was officially optioned to Charlotte, making Joe Crede the starter with Pablo Ozuna and Juan Uribe as his back-ups. Doesn't that sound familiar?
• Juan Uribe has won the second base job, but Ozzie warned that he'll have a quick hook.

  "If Uribe doesn't do what we think he can do, he will be replaced. I'm not going to put pressure on him. He knows he has people around him who can play that position.

  "But the way he played in spring training, and the way he went about his business, I think he earned that spot."

• Finally, Jerry Owens went in for an MRI which reveal he has a slight tear of an abductor. He will be put on the DL retroactive to Monday, and will be eligible to be back for the home opener April 7th. That's the same injury Scott Podsednik has had each of the last two seasons. In fact, Pods battled it last spring, but made the opening day roster before re-injuring the groin and missing the next 2 months.

I'm going to be honest. Sending Fields to AAA doesn't bug me that much, or at least not as much as many of you. I want the Sox to put the best team on the field, and Fields hasn't yet convinced me that his 2008 skill set is greater than that of 2008 Joe Crede. Obviously, that argument would be a whole lot easier to make if Crede were having a more productive spring.

Ultimately, I don't think there is enough evidence on either player's side to get too worked up over the third base situation. There are valid arguments on both side of the ledger, and I'm not convinced that there is an obvious, hard and fast right answer. Fields is obviously the long term choice, and as such, he would have received my vote, but I just can't muster the ire to get worked up over this one.

Were I making the decisions, things would be different. I'd find a way to get Fields on the roster, probably platooning with Thome at DH and occasionally at 3B as many of you have suggested. And truthfully, I would have parted with Crede for whatever meager returns I could have obtained in the last two weeks.

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Jerry Owens' trip to the DL is good news for Brian Anderson and Carlos Quentin, who will both open the season on the roster. Anderson, in particular, has the opportunity to earn himself some major playing time in Owens' absence. He'll share center field duties with Alexei Ramirez in the first week of the season, during which the Sox are scheduled to face a number of lefthanders. In addition to C.C. Sabathia on opening day, the Sox should face Detroit's Nate Robertson and Dontrelle Willis before Owens is eligble to come off the DL.

* * * * *

Maybe the worst news of the day was that there was no resolution (or at least no reported news) to what should be a no-brainer in the battle for the final bullpen spot. I can only hope that we haven't heard anything because they don't want to remove the minute amount of trade value that Nick Masset may have by declaring Ehren Wasserman the winner of the final bullpen slot.