Yikes.
Two straight losses to the Royals and suddenly a happy-go-lucky weekend when baseball is back has turned into the day before the apocalypse.
In a tight division race that got a little tighter this weekend, the Sox could ill afford to lose a game to the Royals (the fucking Royals!), but to lose the series is completely unacceptable. Did I mention these games were at U.S. Cellular Field, were the Sox had taken something in the range of 60 of the last 70 against Kansas City, and had a 32-13 record (winning percentage .711... I wonder if they can bleed any sponsorship money out of that, too) during the first half of the season?
What makes these losses particularly painful is that the Sox's pitching staff, the rock that carried this team through a prolonged offensive slump early in the year, looked particularly bad. The fucking Royals! A team averaging less runs per game than anybody in the American League except for fellow cellar-dwellers Toronto and Seattle tagged the Sox for 9 runs yesterday and 8 today.
Gavin Floyd took the loss yesterday but he didn't look particularly bad but fell victim of a disease many White Sox pitchers know, the medical term being lackofrunsupportitis. Mark Buehrle has battled with this terrible affliction for the better part of the last few years and John Danks has developed it since being traded from Texas. Symptoms include, but are not limited to, a noticeable lack of wins despite a healthy ERA and going Ed Farmer Crazy. It's a terrible, terrible illness that needs your support to make donations, please call 1-800-SCOR-MOR.
Saturday's Recaps: B-R Box Score/Play-by-Play | Tribune | Sun-Times | MLB.com | Soxmachine.com
Of course, when the Sox pound out 7 runs in support of Danks, he has to go and pitch like crap. He gave up 6 runs in 4 innings on 9 hits and a pair of walks, ballooning his ERA to 3.03 (that's up almost 1/2 run from where it was at the start of today's game). Give credit to D.J. Carrasco, who was recently called back up from Charlotte (we'll talk about that later), who pitched well in extended relief of Danks, kept the Sox in the game, and was even in line for the win when he departed after the 7th inning (which would have been his first win in the Majors since July 24, 2005). Instead, it was all undone by a bullpen which looked very shaky both today and yesterday. Matt Thornton allowed a 2-out, 2-run double to Esteban German that put the Royals up 8-7, though Octavio Dotel was responsible for one of those runs, as he got the first 2 outs of the inning but hit Jose Guillen with a pitch. Thornton was called to pitch to Ross Gload for the lefty-lefty matchup (because we should all be intimidated by the bat of Ross Gload), but he blew that deal by walking Gload and without Scott Linebrink (who was out again... we'll talk about that a little further down), or let Bobby Jenks go for the 4-out save, Thornton was allowed to pitch to German who finished the day 3-3 with 2 doubles, a walk, run, and 2 RBI.
Sunday's Recaps: BR Box Score/Play-by-Play | Tribune | Sun-Times | MLB.com | Soxmachine.com
So where do we stand right now, Sox fans? I think Joe Cowley put it best:
Jose Contreras now on the DL, Gavin Floyd shaky and the Twins closing... It might be time for Kenny "Dee" Williams to do what he does best.Speaking of that, yes, Jose Contreras was placed on the 15-Day Disabled List before Sunday's loss, and recalled DJ Carrasco from Charlotte. That would explain how Carrasco was able to to pitch and nearly win today's game despite being optioned to Charlotte about a week ago. And, if you recall, at the time the Sox were debating whether to send Carrasco or Adam Russell back to AAA, and ultimately decided on Russell. Well, here we are a week later and Carrasco is back in Chicago while Russell was sent back to Charlotte today and recalled starter, former Michigan backup quarterback, and future Olympian Clayton Richard was called up.
Around the Central, the Twins finally lost, dropping their series finale with Texas, 1-0, to remain ½
And in even more health-related news, Jermaine Dye was helped off the field today, after being drilled by Horacio Ramirez, a once promising pitcher for the Braves earlier this decade whose career has fizzled to the point that he's throwing out of Kansas City's bullpen. Dye was hit in the knee and was in obvious pain, but thankfully X-Rays were negative and Dye is listed as day-to-day. Ozzie said he doesn't expect Dye back for a few days. Hopefully the worst that will come of all this is I'll have to listen to Ed Farmer's corny "aren't we all day-to-day?" joke for the better part of this upcoming week, but JD should be fine. The Sox are blessed with a deep and versatile outfield so expect to see Nick Swisher at one of the corners and a platoon of Brian Anderson and DeWayne Wise in center.
And in even further health-related news, you may have noticed Scott Linebrink hasn't pitched in a while. Linebrink has been suffering from what he's calling arm fatigue and tendonitis. Though Ozzie and the Sox were hopeful he'd be ready to go again this weekend, its obvious he's still not there, as he would have obviously faced the right-handed Esteban German in the 8th inning after Matt Thornton walked lefty Ross Gload to put the go-ahead run on base. I don't know when Linebrink is expected to return, but I'll pass it along when I find out. If you must blame someone for Linebrink's continued absence, you may try the Tribune's Dave van Dyck who published this report on Scott's medical woes and the cures he's found in Eastern medication.
Very suddenly, one of the Sox's strengths in their good first-half run, their health, has crept up as a very large question mark. Though Bobby Jenks pitched a perfect 9th (and was reportedly throwing the ball great and in the upper-90's by Steve Stone), suddenly a starter is on the Disabled List, the Sox's primetime setup man hasn't pitched in a few weeks, and their All-Star caliber right fielder is being headhunted by prospects-turned-Royals.
Reportedly, the White Sox are looking for more bullpen help. The Sox have been linked to both Huston Street of the Oakland A's and former Sox farmhand Jon Rauch, now of the Washington Nationals. Hard to tell right now if the Sox are more concerned with the health of Scott Linebrink than they're letting on or if the general bullpen anti-productivity as of late is getting to Williams and the Sox brass.
Finally, Pablo Ozuna has been signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Good luck, Pablo.
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