Sunday evening’s game was one of those that moves quickly but feels oh so slow. Not much happened, as us Sox fans sat frustrated in the team’s inability to take advantage of Texas’ worst starter, Scott Feldman, who came into the game with a 4.90 ERA.
So on a hot evening at the hitter-friendly Ballpark in Arlington, it’s understandable that Sox fans are disappointed with the lack of “umph” we saw from the south sider’s lineup. But taking a step back, there were many positives from this game, and certainly from the series as a whole.
Feldman dazzled through 8 scoreless innings. Credit: Star Telegram (online)
Gavin Floyd stranded 8 Ranger runners through the first 3 innings, but in that 3rd inning, Alexei Ramirez bobbled a slow chopper off the bat of Mike Napoli, allowing the first run to score. In the 5th, Michael Young hit a soft dribbler in front of home plate and when Floyd came in to field it, he did not look at Nelson Cruz, the runner on 3rd base before throwing to 1st, and Cruz was able to race home to extend the lead to 2-0.
Leyson Septimo recorded the final out in the 7th and Hector Santiago pitched a scoreless 8th inning. Septimo will likely be demoted to AAA to make room for Liriano on the 25-man roster before Monday’s game.
I know I differ with a lot of Sox fans here, but I was impressed by Gavin’s outing. Against that lineup in that ballpark, it’s hard to pitch lights out. Only letting up 1 ER (which was debatably unearned, too) through 6.2 IP is definitely a good result, especially when you don’t have your good stuff or control, which Floyd definitely did not.
Gavin Floyd has been a good, solid #3 guy in the rotation of late, and if he keeps that up, we’ll win more times than not when he takes the mound. No matter how frustrating he may be at times, he has been effective this year more outings than not. Most fans fail to realize that cold, hard fact.
Rumors are that Floyd is on the trade block, but with only about a day and a half left before Tuesday’s deadline arrives, we probably shouldn’t be expecting him to leave. A six man rotation, which is what the team currently has after the Francisco Liriano acquisition on Saturday evening, could certainly be beneficial down the stretch.
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As far as the offense goes, well, let’s just throw this one out. They’ve been sufficient of late, and it seems that Feldman had his good stuff and just owned the Sox tonight, plain and simple. I’m sure they’ll come around soon, especially with A.J. Pierzynski returning on Monday (according to manager Robin Ventura) and Alejandro De Aza following not long after. And hey, they certainly gave Joe Nathan a run for his money in the 9th, despite it being a 1-2-3 inning.
Just for good measure, it was nice to see Jordan Danks look good at the plate; he may be our first bat off the bench throughout the last couple months of the season, barring a trade.
Danks picked up 2 hits in the loss. Credit: DayLife.com
A series win in Texas is definitely a positive for the ball club. That’s something that’s very hard to come by. I know losing the last game of any series always makes the situation seem worse than it is, so I get the initial frustration. But coming off of getting swept in Detroit with a 5-1 record for the week is certainly something to be happy about.
The White Sox now stand 1.5 games in front of the Detroit Tigers and 5.5 ahead of the Cleveland Indians, who were just swept by the Minnesota Twins, the Sox next opponent.
See you in Minnesota, everybody. Well, I’ll likely be seeing you at your home where you are now via the internet…but you get the idea. Until then, Sox fans.