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Let's start with the Good:
- Jose Abreu hit his 28th Home Run of the year.
- Not sure where this power surge is coming from, but Conor Gillaspie hit his 3rd Home Run of the season and 2nd in consecutive days.
- Chris Sale was his awesome self: 7 2/3 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 6 K's, 0 BB.
The Bad:
- More splendid base running by Alejandro De Aza. Here is video of him getting thrown out at home. It seemed like he hesitated rounding third, as the NESN team commented that he almost collided with third base coach Joe McEwing.
- Dayan Viciedo went 0-4 with 3 K's. The one time he didn't strike out he hit a hard grounder through the 5 hole on Mike Napoli. The error allowed Gillaspie to score, but Christian Vazquez threw out Viciedo at 2nd.
- Gordon Beckham went 0-4, and is 18 for 104 in the last 30 days (.173 BA). All-Star Alexei Ramirez was also 0-4 and is cooling off too, as he is 22 for 107 in the last 30 days (.206 BA).
The Ugly:
- Bullpen
- Bullpen
- Bullpen
Just when you start to believe that the ship is righting its course, the team gets another meltdown performance. This time from Jake Petricka, who came into the game with an 11 IP scoreless streak, suddenly losing the ability to get anyone out (He actually didn't get anyone out: 0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER). Javy Guerra in his last 11 IP only gave up 1 ER, was able to get some guys out, but he ultimately got the loss as he gave up 3 ER to earn the loss.
Its the 11th blown save of the year for the White Sox, in which the bullpen is converting save opportunities at a clip of 63%. Even though it feels like this is the worst bullpen in the MLB, believe it or not there are teams who are having a tough time closing games. One of those teams, is the Oakland A's, who have 13 blown saves and converting save opportunities at 62%.
All in all, its another game that got away from the White Sox, just like this past Saturday's contest against the Seattle Mariners. Instead of talking about a 7 game winning streak, this is the second time in the past week the bullpen has ruined a terrific outing from the starting staff with their inability to close out games in the 9th inning.