The scoreboard in right field read KC - 6, MIN - 0. John Danks was pitching well enough, and the Sox clung to a slim 4-3 lead. The door was open for the Sox to step right back into control of the AL Central race. But a tough start to the 5th inning for John Danks, and a bullpen that refuses to provide any relief slammed the door shut.

John Danks wasn't great Friday, but he wasn't nearly as bad as the box score makes him appear. His biggest crime was walking Ben Francisco in one of those How Was That A Walk at-bats immediately following a Don Cooper mound visit. Danks followed his no-out walk to load the bases with single to Shin-Soo Choo, finishing his night down 5-4.

Ozzie was forced to turn to the bullpen, which turned in a performance that would have to make even Jose Paniagua cringe. DJ Carrasco started the reliever roulette by throwing 5 straight pitches outside the strike zone to load the bases and put himself in a Here Comes A Grooved Fastball situation. Ryan Garko, homered off Danks in the 4th, welcomed Carrasco's center-cut fastball by sending it just over the outstretched glove of a wall-climbing Brian Anderson in center field.

Following the grand slam, Carrasco hit Franklin Gutierrez with a pitch. A clearly disgusted Guillen chased Carrasco from the mound and handed the ball to Mike MacDougal, of all people, in search of somebody, anybody, who could throw strikes and get a batter out. MacDougal promptly hit the first batter he saw, and fell behind the second 3-0.

Boos rained down from the crowd even before Carrasco allowed the grand slam, and though they had grown larger now that the Indians had sent 9 men to the plate and had yet to make an out, it was almost as if the sellout crowd was enjoying unloading their frustrations on the terrible display from the bullpen. Finally a strike. A huge Bronx cheer rolled through the crowd, thirsty for even the slightest display of competence.

MacDougal retired the next three batters in order to stop the bleeding, but walked the bases loaded in the next inning before being pulled. Ehren Wasserman added to the parade with a 4-pitch walk of his own to force in a run. And eventually Horacio Ramirez saw action, adding a run onto his historically bad record with the Sox.

If the Sox weren't essentially in a dead-heat in the Central with just 2+ games to play, it might be comical. But it's not. There's nothing funny about Octavio Dotel finding his dominant stuff when the game has been decided, but serving up longballs anytime the game is in doubt. There's nothing funny about a game which features double-barreled suck, while Nessie remains only a legend, an old wives tale you hear from section 160 season ticket holders. There's nothing funny about watching the season go down the tubes in the weakest AL Central division since 2000.

It says a lot about the game as a whole that when I go searching for something nice to say, I turn to a couple good effort, close but no cigar plays by Nick Swisher and Brian Anderson attempting to bring back homerun balls.

I've made no secret my disdain for Horacio Ramirez. When the Sox acquired him, I simply stated that he "sucks." I didn't think the acquisition needed much more than that extemporaneous analysis. It's not like he was going to stick around. He was just a temporary fix to a problem that would surely be temporary. It's not like he was going to see much action; right?

And yet, here we are, a month later. Ramirez has appeared 15 games, allowing a baserunner in 14 of those outings. He's universally horrible. Lefties hit him well; so do righties and switch hitters. He can't strike anyone out; only 2 of the 65 batters he's faced have gone down via the strikeout. He hasn't carried over his control from Kansas City; 8 of the 65 batters he's faced have reached base via the walk. He's a pitcher with zero redeeming qualities.

That headline is not an exaggeration. There have been a total of 15 players in baseball history to pitch in 15 or more games in a season while posting a WHIP of 2.5 or greater. Horacio Ramirez just pitched in his 15th game with the White Sox; he has pitched 11.1 innings and allowed 30 baserunners, for a WHIP of 2.65.

Congrats, Horacio. You're #16.

In all of baseball history there have been only 15 other pitchers so inept, so putrid. In all honesty, I'm was surprised there wasn't more. But the truth is, if you've proven yourself this horrible over the span of 15 games, you get your walking papers. And yet, there is Ramirez, still on the team, a team fighting for a playoff spot, getting higher-leverage work than half the bullpen, hiding the occasionally useful Adam Russell. It's time we blow the horn on this joke. There's no reason we should ever see this guy on the mound again.

There was a small silver lining to be found from Sunday's loss to the Angels. John Danks appeared to have worked through his dead arm period, lost release point, whatever he had going on, to put together a nice (though not "quality") start. Danks still found himself leaving his changeup high in the zone in his last two innings of work, but the change was down in innings 1-4. Plus, he seemed to have both better control and the ability to more readily put hitters away, as evidenced by his 7:1 K/BB ratio.

Danks was pulled in the 6th after he allowed his first run of the game following back-to-back-to-back hard hit balls over the span of just 5 pitches. His quick exit was determined more by base and out situation and the scoreboard than it was by pitch count, but with his change losing effectiveness late I'd say he was getting a bit tired. Still, Danks as an 80-90 pitch pitcher is better than the Danks we saw doing 5th starter impersonations in the last few outings. If I was Ozzie, I'd keep Danks at or around 90 pitches for the remainder of the regular season.

Offensively, the Sox managed just two solo-shots (one each by Paul Konerko and Toby Hall) against Joe Saunders. Ozzie went with a rare all-right-handed batting order, subbing in Brian Anderson and Josh Fields (combined 0-6) in addition to Hall. Individually, all of the subs could be defended, but I don't like seeing 3 subs in any one so-called Sunday lineup and I would have liked to have seen at least one left-hander breaking up the parade of righties.

The Angels scored the eventual winning run following a couple of questionable choices. First, Horacio Ramirez entered a tied game. As if that wasn't bad enough, Ozzie called up Ehren Wasserman with the go-ahead run 90 feet from home and nobody out. After Wasserman coaxed a first-pitch ground out from Vlad Guerrero, Ozzie called for the intentional IBB of Torii Hunter to load the bases, which seemed odd to me with Juan Rivera on deck, almost assuredly to be replaced by the left-handed Garrett Anderson. Sure enough, Anderson came on as a pinch-hitter, and lifted a deep fly ball down the right field line. Jermaine Dye caught the ball in foul territory, just a step or two from the wall, which allowed Guerrero to score easily from 3rd.

I questioned the IBB, but if you're going to play for the double play, if your intent is to increase the likelihood of allowing no runs in the inning at the expense of increasing the odds of a big inning, why catch a ball in foul territory that results in a sure run? Wasn't the all-or-nothing directive set by the walking of right-handed batter to load the bases for what eventually turned into left-handed batter? I don't fault Dye for catching the ball. It just seems to me that the two plays came from opposite ends of the run-prevention playbook. But baseball players probably don't think that way, and certainly not as they're running toward the line to make a catch just a few feet in front of a low wall.

Where Was That Pitch?

For once, Hawk's constant whining about balls and strikes was warranted. Just take a look at this chart. See those 7 or 8 little green squares in the lower right side of the zone? Those are called balls for White Sox pitching. Notice all those red triangles around that area? Those are essentially the same pitches thrown by Anaheim pitchers, but they were called strikes. One or two of those pitches going uncalled is unfortunate, 7 or more is a pattern. That pattern really seemed to get accentuated after Ozzie Guillen gave home plate ump Eric Cooper an earful from the dugout when he awarded timeout to an Angels batter for the second time after Danks had started his motion.

I'm not saying. I'm just saying...

Make no mistake about it, the Sox did not lose Sunday's game because of Cooper's divergent strike zones. But there's no question that those strikes-called-balls changed the outcome of at-bats, which in turn changed the shape of an inning, and thus influenced the outcome of the game.

Bigger Picture

For a weekend that started out about as poorly as imaginable, with the loss of the unicorn-riding, stuff-you-liking, homer-hittin' Carlos Quentin, and ended with the Sox blowing a 2-run lead, I'm feeling pretty good about the weekend in general. I quickly processed the loss of Quentin, with a little Al Davisism "Just win, baby."

The Sox and Twins are both flawed teams. The Sox are an offensively old, slow team and don't really know what they're going to get from any of their 5 starters on any given night. While the Twins offense is powered by 2 superstars surrounded by a merry band of role players, but their bullpen, which is usually a strength, has let them down. One of these two teams, flaws included, has to make the post-season. Might as well be the Sox.

If you had told me on Friday, in that woe-is-me happy hour after we found out Q! had passed on but before first pitch, that the Sox would have taken 2-out-of-3 from the first place, playoff-bound Angels, I would have been happy. If you would have told me that the Twins were gonna drop 2-out-of-3 to the Tigers in the Metrodome, blowing leads in both losses, I wouldn't have believed you. Picking up a game on the Twins, while simultaneously taking 3 home games off their remaining schedule is a big win for the Sox.

All-in-all, the weekend turned out about as well as you could have reasonably expected.

The Sox had plenty of opportunities to score early in Friday's contest, but were unable to capitalize on any of them. In the second, third, and fourth innings the Sox had a runner on second base with nobody out, yet failed to score in each inning.

I wrote that statement nearly three months ago following a loss to these same Rays, and it rang true again this Friday, though the innings are slightly off. The Sox pounded Edwin Jackson for 7 hits and 5 walks in the first 5 innings, but only managed 2 runs. Yet again, the Sox managed just 1 hit with a runner in scoring position (which failed to plate General Soreness) and struggled with fundamentals on the basepaths.

On the last trip to Tampa Bay, the Sox couldn't properly execute a rundown. Friday night, they couldn't throw out a runner they had picked off and handed two straight outs to the Rays when it appeared Maddon's crew was reading Ozzie's mail. First, Juan Uribe was throw out on hit-and-run when the Rays called for a pitch out. Then just a couple pitches later, on the first pitch after Orlando Cabrera reached base, Tampa called for another pitch-out to catch Cabrera on what appeared to be a straight steal, properly executing the rundown, of course.

John Danks pitched well enough, helping his own cause with a great defensive play to cut down a run at the plate--the first of two in the second inning--but faltered in the 7th. Where have I heard that before? Matt Thornton was able to clean up his mess, but things got ugly when the pen was asked to hold it the rest of the way.

• Octavio Dotel faced 205 batters from Opening Day until July 30th, during which he allowed 4 HR (1.95 % of Batters Faced) and struck out 69 (33.65% of BF). Since July 31st, however--Hooray for selective endpoints--he seems to have lost both of those skills. Dotel has struck out 7 of the last 37 batters he faced (18.9% of BF) and allowed an astonishing 6 HR (16.2% of BF).

• Horacio Ramirez walked a batter, thus ending his brief impersonation of an effective pitcher.

I said last night that I'd likely end up penning a mea culpa in apology of my earlier write-up of the Griffey trade.  Well, reading it again, I still like what I wrote.  In the comments at the time (though annoyingly not in the post), I said there should be about a two week cushion at which point we could expect Griffey's routine to have more or less become clear.  To quote myself:

If any of the parties in question care about winning more than they care about anything else, Griffey will end up where he should.

What that implies, I hope, is that merely watching him play should make it obvious what he can and cannot do and that through the simple mechanism of trial and error, his proper place on the team would be found.  Having seen what happened last night on a couple critical plays in center that in the very least changed the course of the game, I have to suspect that these are the kinds of plays that everyone on the team noticed, Ozzie, Kenny, and Junior included.  In the original post, it's fairly clear that I expected that it was Junior's ego that was the largest factor in play here.  What I've seen so far puts the matter in the hands of the bosses.  Whether it's Kenny's ego or Ozzie's mad whims that are on the hook, the fact is The Kid can't play center.

On the other hand, Kenny has been criticized by certain factions of the SSS faithful for having failed to find pitching help.  With Jose Contreras done for the year, a fifth starter certainly fits the bill.  But to my knowledge, there were all of two seeming possibilities: Paul Byrd and Jarrod Washburn.  The former was nabbed by the Red Sox and was likely never a possibility to begin with.  It is extremely doubtful the Indians would be willing to help the White Sox get back to the playoffs.  Mr. Washburn pitches for the Seattle Mariners, perhaps the most dysfunctionally managed club in all of Major League Baseball.  Getting him for less than Aaron Poreda and the Additional Pieces also appears doubtful.  Considering the cost and the available "talent," it looks to me like Kenny's shrewd judgment in the trade market is paying off again.

All that's left now is to bicker about a bullpen.  From highest leverage usage to lowest:

1. Bobby Jenks
2. Octavio Dotel
3. Matt Thornton
4. Horacio Ramirez
5. Adam Russell
6. Lance Broadway

The top 3 + LOOGY looks fine to me.  It would obviously be preferable to have Scott Linebrink back, but there's 4 arms available for games where we're ahead or tied and 2 for games that we're trying to finish out with minimal damage to pitchers that matter.  The competence of each group seems certain to me.  We'll be able to rapidly add an arm since it appears that Dwayne Wise is readily disposable at this point.  The only problem is that we can't add anyone better than Scott Linebrink either internally or externally. The same is true with Contreras.  The annoying fact of baseball is dealing with the unexpected.  Shoulder soreness, ruptured achilles, or a bunch of tiny fish with sharp pointy teeth that just will not go the hell away.  But hey, who thought we'd be here in the first place?

Jose Contreras was in top form for an inning and two-thirds Saturday night. His fastball was in the mid-90's. His forkball was dancing. He even ditched the sidearm delivery that so often gets him in trouble.

Then he had to run to cover first base.

With 2 outs in the second, Jacoby Ellsbury hit a groundball to Nick Swisher at first. Contreras took a bit of circuitous route to cover and take the flip. He stumbled as he got close to the base line, missed the flip from Swisher, and crumbled to the ground as he crossed the bag. He stayed down for a couple of minutes, and needed help to get off the field, the victim of a ruptured achilles tendon.

We have probably seen Contreras throw his last pitch in a White Sox uniform, possibly ever. With Contreras' age and the long recovery time for an injury of this type, I'd be surprised if we ever see him throw another pitch as meaningful as his last one. Contreras' career as a major leaguer might have ended in a heap just a few feet beyond first base.

For the White Sox, the obvious question is who replaces Contreras? Unfortunately, there are no easy answers, and the complicated answers are probably less than satisfactory as well. The Sox have three routes they can take to replace Contreras in the rotation:

1. Give the job to Carrasco -- DJ Carrasco has made two excellent extended relief outings this season, including the 4.1 innings of 1-run ball Saturday night. Unfortunately, with Scott Linebrink on the shelf, Carrasco has taken on more high-leverage work in the bullpen. Moving him to the rotation would mean extra high-leverage work for Dotel, Russell, and whomever is called upon to replace Carrasco.

2. Dip into the minor league well -- The Sox have already gone this route once before with dubious results. Clayton Richard showed what it looks like when you bring up an unheralded pitcher who started the season in A-ball, a lot like '06 Boone Logan, who I'll get to later. Aside from Richard, who I assume has been removed as an option following his last two lackluster performances, the only realistic options in the Sox minor leagues are Jack Egbert, who I jinxed with a mention last week, and 2007 first rounder, Aaron Poreda, whose last three starts in AA have been spectacular.

3. Scour the waiver wire -- Jarrod Washburn has already cleared waivers, and if Paul Byrd hasn't already, he'll easily slip through in the near future. But there's an obvious reason those two will be available; they're not very good. They'll give you consistently poor outings with a few good ones sprinkled in there just to keep you intrigued. And if the Sox have to give up actual talent, or take on actual salary, they're hardly of any interest to me.

While the Sox obviously have to replace Contreras, there's another member of the pitching staff who's overdue being replaced, Boone Logan. In his last 12 outings, he's allowed 20 runs in just, including 4 Saturday, and he's only pitched 8 innings. He's allowed 20 runs in his last 24 outs. There's little reason to keep a guy going through a stretch like that on even the worst team, let alone one trying to win a division crown.

So, assuming the Sox chose option 1 or 2, and I suggest they should, they'll need to be looking at both Egbert and Poreda either way. Whether it's Poreda getting a baptism by fire in the rotation or as a left-handed reliever, they'll need to drop to the minors to pick up two pitchers either way.

[Note by The Cheat, 08/09/08 10:04 PM CDT ]: As I wrote this entry, Buehrleman commented that 670 the Score has reported the Sox have already chosen option 3. They've traded Paulo Orlando, who sucks, and was probably one of the prospects Wilder used to skim money from the Sox, for Kansas City's Horacio Ramirez, who also sucks, but has found success by throwing junk in the strike zone out of the Kansas City pen. Also on the move, though yet to be confirmed, Boone Logan and Josh Fields appear headed to Charlotte. No word on who will be replacing them on the roster, though an infielder would figure to replace Fields; Chris Getz, anyone?

[Uptade by The Cheat, 08/09/08 11:15 PM CDT]: Dave Van Dyck confirms everything we wrote in the previous paragraph.