145

If you were paying attention to yesterday's Update, you know that the White Sox don't do well when they score three or fewer runs in a game -- which they did last night in a 12-3 loss to the Yankees, and which they have done in 13 of their last 14 games.  The team's overall record in that situation is now 2-13, or a .133 winning percentage.  Duh, even Charlie Sheen has a higher winning percentage than that!  And more importantly, so do the other major league teams, which are a combined 63-313 when scoring three or fewer, or a .201 winning percentage.  That's about 50% higher than the Pale Hose's pace.

But even scoring 11 runs wouldn't have done it last night.  Edwin Jackson was about as effective as Michael Jackson would have been, and the King of Pop was no baseball pitcher.  The bullpen -- Tony Pena, Will Ohman, and Jeff Gray -- was no better, with each reliever giving up runs and a total of six overall.  All in all, the team sucked yesterday.

Now, the Sox get to come home and put this 3-8 road trip behind them.  Hopefully, there'll be some fans who still want to watch.  Reinsdorf may be all in, but I doubt the fans will be when the team is playing so poorly.  That doesn't bode well for later in the season when, hopefully -- there's that word again -- the Sox need to pick up someone at the trading deadline.  But that's a worry I'd love to have.  Go Sox!

145

The White Sox wasted a Quality Start from Mark Buehrle last night, falling to the Yankees, 3-1, the victims of a stellar performance by Bartolo Colon.  Bartolo Colon?  Really?  Yep.  The same guy who's been out of the big leagues since failing to complete the 2009 season with the Sox -- he was 3-6 with a 4.19 ERA in 12 starts -- lasted 8.0 innings and gave up just one run on seven hits to earn the win.

Carlos Quentin (3 for 3), Paul Konerko (1 for 4), and Adam Dunn (2 for 4) were almost the entire offense for the Sox.  Despite the rest of the lineup going 1 for 21, the Sox managed to outhit the Yanks, as Buehrle allowed just six hits and reliever Jesse Crain permitted none.  Usually, that's a pretty good sign that the Sox are going to get the W.  Before last night, the Good Guys were 8-3 in games where they outhit the opposition (and only 1-11 when the enemy outhit them).  Of course, the team's record when scoring fewer than four runs is 2-12, and 0-5 when scoring just one run, so it's really not that big of a surprise.

The only ray of sunshine is that last year after 25 games, the Sox had the same 10-15 record they have this year and they came back to spend a considerable amount of time in first place.  Let's hope they've got it in them again to climb out of the hole they've dug.  Go Sox!

145

Last night, only the Justice League of America had more heroes than the White Sox, as the Good Guys defeated the Evil Empire in Yankee Stadium last night, 3-2.  Yeah, that's a bit of an overstatement, but after the dismal news we've had to report over the last two weeks, a little hyperbole is in order when things take a turn for the better.

Let's start with Brent Lillibridge, who for the second consecutive night, entered the game as a pinch-runner for Carlos Quentin and stayed in to play right field.  Trailing by a run in the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees' Derek Jeter weakly grounded to third-baseman Omar Vizquel, who barehanded the ball but couldn't throw out the Bronx Bomber captain.  Matt Thornton relieved starter Gavin Floyd, and after retiring Curtis Granderson, walked Mark Teixeira.  With the right-handed A-Rod coming to bat, Ozzie went to his new closer and right-hander, Sergio Santos -- he of the 0.00 ERA.  A-Rod was late on a pitch and sent a shot to the wall in right field for what looked like a sure double that would at least score Jeter from second with the tying run, if not speedy pinch-runner Eduardo Nunez from first with the game winner.  But Lillibridge, primarily an infielder who made the team because he also can play the outfield, sped to his left, caught the ball, and hung on after smashing into the right-field wall.  That brought the always-dangerous Robinson Cano to the plate, and Cano smashed a sinking liner to right.  This time, Lillibridge hustled in on the ball, dove, and snared it just before it hit the ground, preserving the second win in a row for the Sox over New York.

But if it weren't for Paul Konerko, there wouldn't have even been a bottom of the ninth for those heroics to play out.  In the eighth-inning, Paulie smashed his sixth home run of the season, plating pinch-runner Lillibridge ahead of him and seizing a 3-2 lead that proved to be the winning margin.  The big question about Konerko was whether he would be able to duplicate his stellar 2010 season and justify his big new contract.  So far, the answer is "yes."  Paulie's slash line is .319/.376/.549, which over a career gets you into the Hall of Fame.

Of course, neither Lillibridge nor Konerko would have had the chance to be a hero if not for Gavin Floyd's performance.  The Barber limited the high-scoring New Yorkers to just two runs on four hits and a walk while striking out 10.  Not surprisingly, those last two figures are good indicators that you're going to win the game.  Since 1919, teams whose pitchers have struck out at least 10 while giving up fewer than two walks have won 3,132 games and lost only 986, for a .760 winning percentage.  For the Sox, the figures are even more telling: 110 wins and 21 losses for a .840 winning percentage.  Most important, the Good Guys got the win last night.

The Sox remain in last and gained no ground on first place yesterday, as Cleveland also won to remain 5.0 games ahead of the South Siders.  But the Sox are now only 2.5 games out of second and have an actual winning streak.  (By the way, Jerry Reinsdorf's other team finished off their first round opponent.  Congrats, Bulls.  Unfortunately, the Hawks fell in overtime to the Canucks.  Nice comeback last night and in the series, though.)  Go Sox!

146

At least for today, I'm renaming this blog the White Sox Magic Humber Update.  Phil Humber, who'd never lasted beyond the sixth inning in any of his 29 prior major league starts, pitched 7.0 innings of shutout ball to earn the win against the first-place Yankees.  Magic Humber had a no-hitter through 6.1 innings and wound up allowing only one hit (and two walks) on the night, while striking out five. 

Thankfully, the bullpen didn't waste Humber's fine effort.  Chris Sale gave up no runs, hits or walks in his 0.2 innings to earn his first hold.  Sergio Santos notched his first save, pitching 1.1 innings without allowing a run.  Astute readers will remember that I nominated Santos for the closer position just the other day.  I guess Ozzie must be reading The Update again.

Adam Dunn drove in the first run with a grounder to the right of second base that the shifted-over Derek Jeter fielded and tossed to first.  That plated Carlos Quentin, who had doubled and been moved over to third.  The second run was something of a gift.  Alexei Ramirez popped up, but with the infield playing back and Rafael Soriano pointing up at the ball instead of fielding it, the horsehide dropped in for a single.  After Q forced Alexei, Brent Lillibridge pinch ran and stole second, and then scored on a Paul Konerko single.  By the way, there was a good article on Paulie in the New York Times yesterday, talking about what an intelligent hitter he is.

So how many games do the Sox win when scoring just two runs.  Not many.  Since the 1919 season when Baseball-Reference.com's stat tool starts, the Good Guys have come out on top only 494 times when they've scored twice in a game.  That's an average of just over five games per season.  So savor this, and thank Phil Humber.

By the way, our crack research department has turned up some interesting facts about Humber.  He drives a Hummer, snacks on hummus, doesn't sing but hums, favors Humpty Dumpty as a nursery rhyme, likes the rock group Humble Pie, and says that Hubert Humphrey was his favorite politician.  If you know additional tidbits, we humbly request that you add to the list by using The Update's comment feature.  Go Sox!

147

Weekends like this make me wonder why I'm writing this blog.  From Friday through Sunday, the White Sox looked nothing like a team that prompts a discussion of Magic Numbers.  In fact, they looked nothing like a major league team.

Let's start with the batters.  Notice I didn't call them hitters.  That's because they barely got any.  Sixteen hits in three games averages out to 5.33 hits per game.  Hardly the stuff that winning baseball is made of.

All that "hitting" produced three runs and none over the last 20 innings.  Even the most arithmetically challenged among you can do this math: three runs divided by three games equals one run per game.  Since the Sox average about one game per season that they win 1-0, this kind of production ain't going to get it done.  (I know, they did get three runs in one of those games, but their record when scoring three runs is pretty poor too -- only 29 wins in the five-plus seasons since the team won the World Series.)

And the pitching hasn't been much better.  While John Danks, Sunday's loser, is eligible to sue for lack of support, the rest of the staff is as guilty as the offense.  Even including Danks's Quality Start on Sunday (6.0 innings; three runs), the Sox pitchers allowed the Tigers 21 runs on 36 hits.  That's an average of seven runs and 12 hits per game.  During that same 2006 to the present period, the Good Guys have won just two games where they've given up exactly seven runs and 12 hits and have won only 20 games where they've given up at least those number of runs and hits.  In other words, it's not a formula for success.

Nor is playing the first-place Yankees in New York.  But that's what the Sox have to do now.  Maybe the team can revert to playing like it did at the start of the season -- remember, before losing 10 of the last 11, the Sox were 7-4.  But they need to revert soon.  They're in last place in the division, 5.5 games behind the Indians, and it's only that close because the Tribe has lost three in a row.  Go Sox! and Go Now!

149

Finally.  The White Sox won a game Thursday, beating the Rays, 9-2, to end a seven-game losing streak.  The offense came alive and the pitching did the job, two things that haven't happened much lately, and rarely together.

Juan Pierre got everything started in the first inning with a bunt single and a forced throwing error that led to the Sox first run -- and the team's first lead in forever.  Pierre laid down another bunt for a hit in the third inning when the Sox scored four.  Omar Vizquel, who took over second base and the second spot in the order, chipped in a pair of hits.  In fact, the first four in the lineup were a combined 8 for 17, with Carlos Quentin going 1 for 3 (with a walk) and Paul Konerko adding a 3 for 5 performance.  The rest of the team was a pathetic 2 for 19, but that's to be expected when you remove the best four hitters in a game.  For example, subtracting the Rays' top four, who were 5 for 12, leaves you with an ugly 3 for 20.  It's kind of like skimming the cream off the top and being left with milk.  Well, not exactly, since milk isn't necessarily sour, but you get the idea.

Gavin Floyd turned in a Quality Start -- 6.0 innings, two runs, seven hits, seven strikeouts, and two walks -- and for once wasn't betrayed by the bullpen.  Will Ohman, Sergio Santos, and everybody's favorite, Jeff Gray, each tossed an inning of scoreless relief to secure Floyd's second win of the season.
The win drops the Magic Number to 149 -- the team spent two weeks in the 150s, which is an eternity in Magic Number time.  It also moves the Sox back to 5.0 games behind the first-place Indians, who lost last night.  Next, it's on to Detroit to try to beat up on a division foe. Go Sox!

151

Oh, thank heaven, the White Sox are 7-11, after dropping their seventh consecutive game last night.  This one was a 4-1 loss to the Rays on the road. 

The problem again was hitting, or more precisely, the lack of it.  The Sox collected only six safeties, one of which was a home run by Carlos Quentin, which accounted for their only run.  Aside from Q, who is batting .309, only Paul Konerko at .300 and Mark Teahen at .304 (among those who came to the plate for the Sox) are north of .300.  Adam Dunn (.175 after getting a hit), Alex Rios (.183), and seldom-used Ramon Castro (.167) are last night's Sox hitters -- and I use that term generously -- that are below the Mendoza Line.

The pitching would have had to have been great to win with just one run, and of course, it wasn't.  Phil Humber gave up four runs on six hits in 5.1 innings.  The bullpen did manage to shut down the Rays the rest of the way, but it wasn't exactly a high-leverage situation, trailing by three runs.

The loss, combined with Cleveland's win (who are those guys?), dropped the Sox to 6.0 games out of the lead.  The only good news is that Minnesota lost too, so the Sox managed to hang on to fourth place in the Central, one game ahead of the Twins.  Let's mix it up in terms of endings since "Go Sox!" doesn't seem to be working:  Just Win, Baby!

151

Finally.  The Magic Number drops for the first time in a week.  No, the White Sox didn't win -- they dropped their sixth in a row, 2-1 to the Rays.  But the first-place Indians lost.  So the Sox remain 5.0 games behind, ahead of only the Twins in the division race.

Last night's loss was a little better than most in the streak.  John Danks lasted 7.0 innings and gave up only two runs on seven hits and no walks, while striking out five.  Jesse Crain pitched a perfect inning in relief.  No one made an error.

It was the recently anemic offense that was the culprit.  The Sox amassed a grand total of four hits and Adam Dunn and Paul Konerko left the tieing run on second base in the ninth.  The Tribune reports that the Sox have a .205 batting average over the last 10 games and have scored a meager 12 runs during the losing streak.

Look, we know they're going to get better.  The question is when.  It's hard to stay interested when a losing streak happens.  And I doubt this will do attendance any good.  Oh, yeah, Jake Peavy had to be pulled from his most recent rehab start because of soreness in his surgically repaired shoulder, so that's more bad news.  Only one thing left to say: Go Sox! 

152

Hey, if the White Sox aren't going to live up to their end of the bargain, I'm not going to live up to mine.  No more penetrating analysis or wry humor from me until the Sox break out of this losing streak, which reached five games yesterday with a 5-0 loss to the Rays in St. Pete.

I'll count down the Magic Number, because Magic Number is our middle name -- literally.  But not a whole lot more than that until there's something fun to write about.  Anyway, we're stuck on 152, but slipping in the standings.  Cleveland -- yes, Cleveland -- leads the division at 12-4, while the Sox are 5.0 games back at 7-9.  We're ahead of the Twins, but now we're even behind the Tigers. 

It's too early to panic, but I've never been one to put things off, so I'm starting to get worried.  Now it's not just the bullpen and defense that's causing us to lose; the hitting and starters are in the toilet as well. 

On that happy note, I'll end with the usual: Go Sox!

152

Crunched at work and the White Sox stunk the place up over the weekend, so this is going to be VERY short.

Angels sweep of the Sox + Indians sweep of the Orioles =  No gain for Sox in the Magic Number + 4.0 games behind in Central Division race.  Not exactly the equation we were hoping for.

Tonight is the first Seder, so here's a link to our Passover songs for those who celebrate the holiday: one in the text + a link to three more.

Go Sox!  Do better. 

152

This is beyond ridiculous.  The White Sox bullpen wasted another sterling pitching performance by a starter -- this time John Danks, who limited the A's to one run on five hits over eight innings -- giving up three runs in the ninth inning and another three in the tenth.  Chris Sale, who shouldn't have even been in the game after toiling for two innings the night before, gave up the three runs that allowed Oakland to tie it up.  Matt Thornton, who at least was rested, gave up the three runs that allowed the A's to win it.  Thornton has now had four save opportunities this season and four blown saves.  Not exactly the kind of stats you want from your supposed "closer." 

If this keeps up, it's going to be a long and disappointing season.  I'm not a manager.  I don't play one on TV.  I didn't even sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night.  But I'd give Sergio Santos the closer job until he shows he can't handle it.  The guy hasn't given up a run this season.  Hell, just giving up one per game would still qualify him over Sale and Thornton lately.  And if he doesn't work out, maybe Kenny can sign Kyra Sedgwick to fill the role.* 

The Indians' loss allowed the Sox to remain 1.0 games behind the Central Division leader and shaved a game off of the Magic Number, which now sits at 152.

* Pop culture reference: Kyra Sedgwick is the star of TNT's crime drama "The Closer." **

** I think that may have been the first footnote in Update history.

153

The White Sox evened their record in extra-innings games yesterday when Alexei Ramirez hit the first walkoff home run of his career to give the Sox a 6-5 win over visiting Oakland.  The Good Guys had dropped their only other extended affair the night before -- I apologize to those of you trying to forget Monday's debacle for bringing that up -- against these same A's.  The Missile's blast was his second of the game; his first staked Edwin Jackson to a 4-1 lead in the second inning that Jackson couldn't hold.

Actually, both teams had a hard time staying ahead as the lead changed hands five times during the game.  The only one that matters of course is the last time.  Besides Ramirez, we have Sergio Santos and Chris Sale to thank for that.  Each of them threw 2.0 innings of shutout ball.  Santos struck out three and allowed no hits or walks.  Sale, who got the win, struck out two, while allowing a hit and a walk.  (Side note about Santos:  I just read an article that says because of his long stride and reach Santos releases the ball 6'10'' in front of the rubber, which is second only to Dave Robertson's 7'0".  That shortens the flight time of his pitches so that his fastball's average speed of 96 MPH is effectively increased to 98 MPH.)

Anyway, at 1-1 in extra-inning games, the Sox are playing like they did last year, when they finished 9-9 when the game went past regulation.  They won all nine games where they scored, and lost all nine games where they allowed the other team to do so.  That's the way it usually works, but every once in a while both teams could score an equal number of runs in an inning.  Actually, that's happened only 3 times in the last five years for the Sox.  Remember, the game against the Red Sox on July 9, 2006, where the Sox won 6-5 in 19 innings on Tad Iguchi's walkoff single?  I do.  I was there with son Jeff and Update subscribers and cousins Howard and Brad Silverman and Judy and Tom Deutsche, and sat briefly with Update subscribers Mike Sehr and Lisa Pildes.  Well, both teams scored two runs in the 11th inning that day.  For a complete report, click here.

Yesterday's win puts the Sox back in second, 1.0 behind the Indians -- who finally lost to someone other than the Sox.  We're still 2.5 ahead of the Twins and 3.0 in front of the Tigers.  Go Sox!

155

You're not going to win many games when you score only one run (only five 1-0 wins over the last five seasons for the White Sox) but the Sox had a great chance to do precisely that last night against the A's.  Unfortunately, they blew it.

Mark Buehrle faced off against fellow perfect-game pitcher, Dallas Braden, and out-pitched him.  Buehrle threw 8.0 innings of shutout ball, allowing just two hits and a walk.  With a 1-0 lead courtesy of a Brent Lillibridge home run, maybe Ozzie should have sent Buhrle out to the mound in the ninth, but instead Matt Thornton -- who had blown two and saved none up to that point -- took the hill. 

Thornton served up a leadoff double and then watched in horror as Juan Pierre dropped a fly ball -- for the second time this young season.  Oakland tied the game and then won it in the tenth inning when Sox newcomer Jesse Crain gave up a home run and the lead.  The Sox couldn't muster a run, let alone two, so what should have been a win turned into an extra-inning loss.

The defeat dropped the Sox to 6-4 on the year and into third place, 2.0 games behind Cleveland, with Kansas City sandwiched in between.  By the way, the Sox are the only team to have beaten the Tribe this year, so the Good Guys are not getting any help from the rest of the league.  The only good news is that the Twins and Tigers still trail, and they're the teams that the Sox need to worry about long term.  Go Sox!

155
The weather was hot (83 degrees) on Sunday and so were the White Sox, as they completed their four-game series with the Rays by winning their third game of the set.  And they should have won all four.  The Update already reported on Thursday's victory, so let's focus on what happened over the weekend.

On Friday, the Good Guys gave the game away.  Despite reaching double digits in hits again, and despite holding a three-run lead in the ninth inning, the Sox allowed Tampa Bay to rally for five runs -- all of them unearned -- and notch their first win of the season.  Alexei (he should have won the Gold Glove last year, but not on Friday) Ramirez committed a throwing error, Juan Pierre dropped a fly ball, and Matt (I'm not sure I like this closer job) Thornton gave up a three-run homer in a debacle of major proportions.  John Danks wasn't so hot either, allowing four runs on six hits in six innings, but home runs by Mark Teahen and Gordon Beckham led an attack that was good enough to win.

On Saturday, the Sox bounced back.  Phil Humber, starting in place of Jake Peavy contributed a Quality Start by giving up only one run (and four hits) in his six-inning stint.  There's talk of keeping Humber in the rotation even after Peavy comes back by going to a six-man rotation, at least on a short-term basis.  Let's see how quickly Peavy makes it back to the Sox -- his next start is for Triple A Charlotte on Wednesday -- before we evaluate this possibility.  Anyway, A.J. Pierzynski drove in a couple of runs, and Morel and Becks had one each.  Hits were relatively scarce, as the Sox got only seven of them, far below their usual offensive (I mean that in a good way) output.

The finale on Sunday was a masterpiece by Gavin Floyd.  The Barber continued to be effective, so Ozzie kept him in for eight innings.  Floyd scattered four hits and allowed only one unearned run (due to his own throwing error).  Tony Pena tossed a four-pitch, no hits, no runs. ninth inning to preserve the win.  Paul Konerko paved the way for Floyd by clubbing two solo home runs -- Don't look now, but Paulie is actually earning that big new contract.  I wouldn't have thought he'd be close to matching last year's MVP-caliber performance, but so far, so good.  Let's keep an eye on his stats in 2011.  Becks added another dinger, and Morel doubled home Mark Teahen and Juan Pierre singled home Morel.  

The Sox are heading into a series with the A's, who are the next team to visit the Cell.  You readers in Chicago, go to a game, will ya?  The Sox are playing good ball and the weather was great, but the attendance was only 23,436 on Sunday.  Reinsdorf spent the cash to put a good product on the field; let's show our appreciation by actually going to some games.  Hey, the Good Guys are tied for second place with the Royals, only a game behind the Indians and three games ahead of the Tigers and Twins.  And they're 6-1 in day games this season, after leading the majors with a 6-1 record in day games (they were the best in baseball last year when the vampires were asleep -- 31-18).  The other thing you've got to look forward to is the Sox being ahead sometime during the game -- they've had the lead in every game they've played this season.  Go Sox!  Don't stop now, boys!

157

Back in first, baby!  The White Sox crept back into a tie for the Central Division lead with a 5-1 victory over the Royals in yesterday's sold-out (38,579) home opener.  Edwin Jackson continued to impress, tossing 8 innings of 4-hit, 1-run ball.  Most impressive was his strikeout-to-walk ratio: 13:1.  Since 1919 (as far back as Baseball-Reference.com's stats go), there have been only 345 games in which a pitcher has whiffed more than 12 batters while handing out fewer than 2 free passes -- on average, not even 4 times per season.  Looks like E.J.'s high-level performance last year wasn't just a flash in the pan.

But the most impressive thing so far this season has been the offense.  Yesterday's lineup (which did not include Adam Dunn, who was recovering from an appendectomy) featured 7 players hitting above .291.  The Good Guys have put up double-digit hit totals in 5 of their 6 games so far, which projects to 135 for the season, and are just shy of averaging 13 per game.  This seems highly unlikely to continue, given that last year, the team had only 67 games with 10 or more hits.  So enjoy these stats while you can:  The Sox lead the Major Leagues in runs, hits, RBI, batting average, and hit batsmen.  They lead the American League in all those categories (duh!) plus on base percentage.  Looks like the South Side Hitmen 2.0.

By the way, the Sox have done all this largely against the 2 teams that are tied with them for first place in the division -- the Indians and the Royals.  The 2 teams Sox fans fear the most -- the Twins and Tigers -- are 2 games back of the leaders in last place, which is just where we like them.  The Sox continue their home-opening series against Tampa Bay, which has yet to win this year, so let's keep it that way.  Go Sox!

160

The White Sox are back and so is the Update.  Yep, we're here to count down the Good Guys' progress towards clinching the A.L. Central.  And the Sox are off to a good start, having Meat Loafed the Indians, taking the first game 15-10 and the second 8-3 before losing the finale 7-1.  That's good for a one game lead over the Twins, Tigers, and Indians, each of which stands at 1-2.  The Sox trail the Royals, the team the Sox visit starting Tuesday, by one-half game.

While the opener was something of a cakewalk, historically, it was no sure thing.  Since the 1919 season, the Sox have played 285 games in which the opponent has scored at least 10 runs and racked up 17 hits, as the Tribe did on Friday -- and they've lost 265 of them, with only 19 wins (a 0.067 winning percentage) and one tie.  So, it's a good thing the South Siders scored 15 (on 18 hits).

The offensive production of the first two games has left most of the team with some pretty gaudy batting averages.  Eight players are hitting at or over .333 -- Mark Teahen (1.000), Omar Vizquel (. 667), Carlos Quentin (.545), Gordon Beckham (.455), Adam Dunn (.400), A.J. Pierzynski (.385), Paul Konerko (.364), and Brent Morel (.333).  On the other hand, Alex Rios, Ramon Castro, and Brent Lillibridge are all 0 for the season, and Alexei Ramirez is off to his usual slow start (.154) and has hit into a triple play on a failed bunt attempt. 

On the pitching front, the key members of the bullpen -- Matt Thornton, Chris Sale, and Sergio Santos -- have not given up an earned run, and starters John Danks and Edwin Jackson have ERAs of 3.00.  The rest of the bullpen has been a bit funky though, with Will Ohman's ERA at a stratospheric 27.00, Tony Pena's at a better, but still horrible 18.00, and newcomer Jesse Crain's at 9.00.  Mark Buehrle won his record ninth Opening Day start, but has an ERA of 6.00 -- nothing to write home about, or even an Update post about.

But hey, it's early and none of these stats matters at this point in the season.  What matters is the Sox have won their first series, while the Twins and Tigers were losing theirs.  Go Sox, beat K.C.!