I know a lot of you didn't get a chance to see today's game. Truth is, I didn't pay much attention either. Once I saw the lineup, I was resigned to the eventual outcome.
Shaftr was so moved by the lineup, he went back through the boxscores and figured out our record with, and without, multiple substitutions.
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Ross Gload must have killed Ozzie's dog. -- For the first time this season, one of the Thome-Konerko tandem had the day off, yet Ozzie didn't see this as an opportunity to get Gload some at bats. Instead he elected to go with Alex Cintron at DH, who rewarded him by leaving 7 men on base.
Cintron was not alone. The White Sox, as a team, left 28 men on base in the two game series.
- Mark Buehrle struggled with his control early, but battled into the 5th while keeping the Sox in the game. He should have escaped the 5th without surrendering a run, but a blown call at the plate and two 2-out hits allowed two runs to score.
He was extremely hittable, and once again wasn't fooling anyone. The 13 hits allowed were a career high. It's the second straight game that Buehrle has sent me sifting through his game log for dubious reasons.
- As if the lineup and score weren't bad enough, the Sox got bit by the injury bug too. Jermaine Dye left the game after a few innings with his recurring calf injury. (I was actually surprised he was in the lineup. I expected Mackowiak to get the start in RF. In fact, I would have preferred giving Dye the day off just to be cautious.)
Chris Widger got hit with a bat that slipped out of Ronnie Belliard's hands on the follow-through of one of his swings. I didn't think it looked that bad, more like the bat scared him more than anything else, but he left the game with dizziness and nausea. I'm no doctor, but that sure sounds like a concussion to me.
- I don't know how to feel regarding Boone Logan's dominating relief appearance. He was throwing strikes and missing bats, so that's a positive. But it was in a blowout in the rain when both teams were playing like they had flights to catch. Also, solid outings like this, and the Hold he earned yesterday could mean more high-leverage work for the rookie. I'm not sure I'm ready for that just yet. He's still gotta pitch more innings in mop-up and lower leverage situations for me to know that he's gotten over the rookie yips.
- The Sox signed Jeff Nelson to a minor league contract and assigned him to extended spring training. He's probably got a better chance of seeing playing time with the Sox this season than does Dustin Hermanson.
- Jose Contreras was named AL Pitcher of the Month. It was the second straight month that Jose has won the award, and the 4th time in the last 7 (baseball) months that a White Sox pitcher has won it.