This was a game that the Sox could have very easily lost. The Carmines jumped out to an early lead and I know I expected the "Sox Sunday Lineup" ® to putter out for the rest of the game. However, every Sox starter outside of Carl Everett and Willie Harris with a hit. We even saw Ross Gload back in action.
For anyone that did not watch the game, Jon Garland and Bobby Jenks stood out with masterful pitching performances. Jon worked out of jams in the fifth in sixth innings with runners in scoring position...instances in which pre-2005 Jon would have crumbled. I was a bit miffed, as to why Ozzie would send Jon back out for the seventh, with 103 pitches and a 7-run lead, but he must have been concerned that the bullpen would be shorthanded after Vizcaino's "performance" last nite.
Jenks came in in the eighth with a runner on and was flat out nasty. Anyone who knows anything about Jenks knows that he's coming with either the fastball or the curve, but the Red Sox batters could not do anything about it. That curve has some nasty bite.
Dustin Hermanson came in for a non-save opportunity and promptly gave up a homerun. Jenks could have likely worked the ninth, but Dustin was most likely using this apperance to see if he was 100%.
Lost in the violent ups-and-downs (already) of the post All-Star Break portion of the season is the offensive breakout of Aaron Rowand ( 15-33, .455).
Did you care? The White Sox, thru yesterday's game, had 4 pitchers in the top 17 for BAA in the AL, led, of course, by Jose Contreras. The top five? Barry Zito, Roy Halladay, Contreras, Daniel Cabrera, Johan Santana. Which name doesn't seem to fit?
Shingo Watch: The White Sox have 6 days remaining to make a move with Shingo Takatsu, or try to pass him through waivers.
Update [2005-7-22 23:22:31 by Heads22]: Just so you guys know, I'm one of the guys filling in for the Cheat while he is away.
Placed on temporarily inactive list:
The Cheat
Called up from the minors:
Heads22
CWSKeith
I would much appreciate any comments or any topic of focus that I could look at. Thanks!
Update [2005-7-22 23:35:31 by Heads22]:Check below the fold for Jermaine Dye's status and a new name on the Sox trade front...
The AP Wire (Trib actually) mentions that Dye was in the hospital for twelve hours, tending to his bug bites.
Dye revealed he was hooked up to an IV and the infected areas were squeezed and drained. He was awaiting test results to determine what type of insect bit him.
"It was pretty nasty," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "I thought that thing happened only in my country (Venezuela). It happens everywhere."
There was also this interesting nugget about the Sox possibly trading for Javier Vazquez....
But the chances of Arizona trading Vazquez are extremely slim, considering they have an outside chance at winning the weak National League West.
The chances of Vazquez coming to Chicago certainly seem somewhere between slim and none. I've become a bigger and bigger proponet of trading for AJ Burnett, but I don't like the idea of getting near anything coming out of the NL West this season.