Jose Contreras pitched a nice game after a tough first inning. He looked alright through the first three batters of the game, even though he had given up two hits. But with runners on first and second and Travis Hafner at the plate, he reverted to pre-All-Star break Count for the remainder of the inning. From there until he was lifted after 6 innings pitched, however, he looked great.
Paul Konerko looks like absolute garbage right now (.210 OPS). He's had plenty of opportunities to drive in runs, but he's pulling everything. And with Jim Thome on base as much as he is, that's a recipe for disaster. Until he starts trying to go to right field, he's going to continue on a record breaking GIDP pace.
Brandon McCarthy came in from the pen again today, and looked great. His curveball was filthy, which made up for a changeup that seemed to be floating up there today. He looked so good, that I just assumed that Ozzie would run him back out there for the 8th inning. Sort of like how Mike Scioscia uses Scot Shields.
Wrong. Ozzie's going to have a lot to answer for today in his post-game press conference.
Why is Boone Logan pitching to Hafner in the 8th inning of a 1-run game?
If you needed a lefty, why not Cotts? It's the 8th inning after all.
Why bat Cintron for Ozuna in the 8th? Cintron is a .265/.305/.396 hitter from the left side. I'm not a big fan of Pablo Ozuna as it is, and he was just .248/.288/.305 against righties last year, but he's got better bat control and the go-ahead run was just 90 feet from home.
Where was the squeeze play? You preach about playing the game the right way. Why, when your only options are two guys who can hardly get on base, do you allow one of them to swing away?
Why not bring in Gload? What does he have to do to get off the bench? Do we only care if Mackowiak, Ozuna, and Cintron sit too much?
Bobby Jenks did not inspire much confidence in me when he relieved Neal Cotts in the 11th. WGN didn't have a gun on him, but he didn't look like he was popping the mitt hard at all. Maybe more importantly, his control sucked.
