The Sox came in to this rubber match against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim seeking the series win after going to extra innings in the first two. Starters Francisco Liriano and Dan Haren flew through the first four innings, for the most part. Haren had only let up 2 hits, both off the bat of Paul Konerko, and Liriano was flying through the Angels’ lineup, too.
It became apparent at that point that it’d be a pitchers’ duel and likely come down to how those starters faired in the later innings, in addition to both clubs’ bullpens.
Liriano finished with a line of 5 IP, 1 ER before leaving with an injury. Credit: Whitesox.com
The first run of the game came in the top of the 5th inning after small-ball showcase by the Angels. Macier Izturis led off with an infield single, Peter Bourjous followed with a bunt single, then a Bobby Wilson sacrifice led to Mike Trout’s RBI sac fly. It was a good job by Liriano to get out of the inning only letting up the one run, and that obviously didn’t even come until after a somewhat-unlucky series of events.
The White Sox responded in the bottom of the 6th when Kevin Youkilis led off with a line-drive home run into the bullpen in left field, finally getting the south siders on the board. Right after Haren faced Youk, Adam Dunn nearly hit one out to right field, Konerko drilled a liner right at the third baseman, and he passed the century mark in pitches. With Nate Jones already in the game replacing Liriano (quad contusion, stay tuned for details), the ball game was to be soon entirely in the hands of the bullpen, as it was in games 1 and 2 of the series; an exciting finish was sure to follow.
The Angels took back the lead not long after in the top of the 7th when Torii Hunter drove in Bourjous with two outs after Jones walked him to lead off the inning. So yet again, the Sox needed to respond. And respond, they did.
Promptly in the bottom of the 7th A.J. Pierzynski hit a pinch-hit 2-run home run to give the Sox the lead, 3-2. It was his 21st of the year and the 5th straight game in which he’s went yard. There will be more to come on A.J.’s current hot streak later on GSB!
You can’t see the ball much better than AJ is right now. Credit: Getty Images
Brett Myers, still yet to allow an earned run while a member of the White Sox came in and pitched a nice 8th before the Sox added an insurance run in the bottom half of that inning on an Alexei Ramirez triple. Addison Reed walked the leadoff hitter in the 9th but retired the next 3 hitters to earn the save and give the rubber match to the Sox, as they took the series from the loaded Angels.
This current 9-game homestand is a big one, as it’s important for the team to take care of business at home in front of the growing crowds that have been coming to US Cellular Field. They started off well winning the first of the three series at home.
The Sox face Kansas City at The Cell in a 3-game set starting tomorrow, with Chris Sale on the bump. Manager Robin Ventura and pitching coach Don Cooper have given him 9 days of rest between this upcoming start and his last, so he should be well-rested an ready-to-go, even if the velocity is still down a tad. For the Royals it’ll be Luis Mendoza, who has been darn near dominant in his two outings against the Sox in 2012. It’s bound to be a very good matchup, as the Sox look to keep the good times rolling.
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Over in Detroit, the Tigers looked to sweep the Indians, and toward the end of a back-and-forth game, the two Sox’ rivals were knotted at 5 in the bottom of the 9th when Austin Jackson led off the inning with a triple. The rest of the inning went like this: Omar Infante strike out/Miguel Cabrera IBB/Prince Fielder IBB/Quintin Berry GIDP; the Indians somehow escaped and headed to extras with the Tigers at Comerica.
In the top of the 10th, the Indians scored 3 runs and closer Chris Perez came in to close out the game. He then let up 5 quick runs, all with 2 outs, as the Tigers won in dramatic fashion and remained 1.5 games behind the Sox. The Tribe is now 9.5 games back in the division. You can’t make this stuff up, people … it really was a crazy game.
“I can’t believe I really just did that!” Credit: USA Today
But keep your focus on the Sox game, as winning the series does have potential to be a momentum builder.
Until tomorrow, Sox fans.