After a successful 6-3 West Coast road trip, the White Sox returned to U.S. Cellular Field, where the resumed their mission of crushing the spirit of everybody who pays for the product.
Aside from 3 2/3 innings of effective damage control by the bullpen's lesser half, there was nothing to like, and it all started with tonight's starter, Edwin Jackson.
Not only was Jackson off, and not only did he need a ton of pitches, but he worked slowly, so I'm sure the fans sitting in the wind chill (yes, that term is back) really appreciated it. Hawk Harrelson sounded especially bored from the get-go.
Jackson had a jam to escape every inning. With assistance from the battery's inability to stop the running game (the Rangers were 3-for-3 stealing bases), he didn't have an inning without a runner in scoring position.
Basically, nothing was easy. And in a fun twist, the inning that looked the easiest hurt Jackson the most. He was on his way to working around a leadoff single and stolen base in the third by recording back-to-back strikeouts. Then the Rangers came back with a double, a single and a walk for a 2-0 lead.
Guillen removed Jackson after a similar series in the sixth -- a bunt single, a real single, a wild pitch, and another single doubled the deficit and ended Jackson's night. He threw 111 pitches, mainly because he could only throw strike one to 15 of 30 hitters.
Colby Lewis, on the other hand, needed just 110 pitches to go the distance. He carried a no-hitter into the fifth, before A.J. Pierzynski broke it up with a one-out single to right. He then provided the offense's highlight when he screened Chris Davis on a grounder to first. Instead of a 3-6-3 double play, Omar Vizquel had himself a single.
That would be it for the fun. The White Sox only had four at-bats all night with a runner in scoring position, and they went 0-for-4. The other 27 at-bats consisted mostly of strikeouts and pop-ups. The Sox were shut out for the fifth time on the year, and the first of Lewis' career.
Record: 17-25 | Box score | Play-by-play