94
Over his last three games, Gavin "Pink" Floyd had pitched superbly -- 22 innings while allowing only 13 hits, three earned runs, and six walks, and striking out 22 batters. And what did he have to show for it? Nothing. Actually, less than nothing, since he was 0-1. Well, last night Floyd was even better, shutting out the Atlanta Braves for seven innings on two hits, a walk, and 9 strikeouts, but still didn't add a W to his personal record.
That accomplishment went to J.J. Putz, who's on a great roll himself -- 15 scoreless appearances in a row. Putz blanked the Braves in the top of the eighth inning and was the pitcher of record when Paul "I'm in my contract year, again" Konerko smacked his 18th home run -- a two-run blast -- to provide all the scoring in a 2-0 Sox victory. Bobby Jenks preserved the shutout while converting his 11th straight save opportunity, to earn his 17th save.
Getting back to Floyd, let's compare his performance over his last four games with that of Stephen Strasburg, who has four starts in the major leagues. Floyd has lasted more innings, 29 to Strasburg's 25.1, but to be fair, the Nats have imposed an innings and pitch count limit on their rookie. Floyd has given up 15 hits to Strasburg's 19, and 3 earned runs (0.93 ERA) to Strasburg's 5 (1.78 ERA). Strasburg has the edge in strikeouts, 41 to 31, walks given up, 5 to 7, and record, 2-1 to 0-1. Aside from the Ks, where Strasburg has set a major-league record for most strikeouts in the first four games of a career, The Update thinks that Floyd has out-pitched the Phenom.
The important thing, though, is the White Sox are winning. Their third consecutive sweep of a National League team gave the Sox a nine-game winning streak. It moved the Good Guys to a season-high two games over .500. And it narrowed the gap to 2.5 games behind the first-place Twins. The Sox are back in the pennant race. Now, they face the Cubs, whom they Meat Loafed in Wrigley, but this time in the Cell. We don't want to jinx anything, so we'll just say Go Sox!
That accomplishment went to J.J. Putz, who's on a great roll himself -- 15 scoreless appearances in a row. Putz blanked the Braves in the top of the eighth inning and was the pitcher of record when Paul "I'm in my contract year, again" Konerko smacked his 18th home run -- a two-run blast -- to provide all the scoring in a 2-0 Sox victory. Bobby Jenks preserved the shutout while converting his 11th straight save opportunity, to earn his 17th save.
Getting back to Floyd, let's compare his performance over his last four games with that of Stephen Strasburg, who has four starts in the major leagues. Floyd has lasted more innings, 29 to Strasburg's 25.1, but to be fair, the Nats have imposed an innings and pitch count limit on their rookie. Floyd has given up 15 hits to Strasburg's 19, and 3 earned runs (0.93 ERA) to Strasburg's 5 (1.78 ERA). Strasburg has the edge in strikeouts, 41 to 31, walks given up, 5 to 7, and record, 2-1 to 0-1. Aside from the Ks, where Strasburg has set a major-league record for most strikeouts in the first four games of a career, The Update thinks that Floyd has out-pitched the Phenom.
The important thing, though, is the White Sox are winning. Their third consecutive sweep of a National League team gave the Sox a nine-game winning streak. It moved the Good Guys to a season-high two games over .500. And it narrowed the gap to 2.5 games behind the first-place Twins. The Sox are back in the pennant race. Now, they face the Cubs, whom they Meat Loafed in Wrigley, but this time in the Cell. We don't want to jinx anything, so we'll just say Go Sox!
posted by Sherm Lollar at 8:23 AM
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