Friday, Aug. 27, 2010
Updated 12:03 AM
By Brett Ballantini
CSNChicago.com
Thursday night, the White Sox battered the worst of the AL East with a doleful drubbing of the Baltimore Orioles, 8-0. On Friday, Chicago likewise beat down the best of the East, the New York Yankees, 9-4.
As it happened in the whitewash of Baltimore, so it went vs. the Yankeesand it must have been difficult for the Pale Hose to tell a difference between the two.
The White Sox answered a lone tally by the Yankees in the first with four in the bottom half, setting the stage for a rout, and easing Freddy Garcia to his 11th win.
We jumped out early, and that helps Freddy, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. We blew a couple of games for him, but when he gets a three- or four-run lead, he can relax a little. He can throw that breaking pitch at 3-2.
Garcia, quite unlike K-collector Edwin Jackson before him, nonetheless hurled a superb game against the Bronx Bombers. The veteran spun seven innings of five-hit, two-run ball, striking out three while walking just one.
MLB
Freddy was great, catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. He made pitches when he had to. He was on.
Garcia settled in and did exactly what he should do, and the guys made plays behind him, first baseman Paul Konerko added.
On the flip side, Yankees starter A.J. Burnett was determined to outpace the Chicago starterby way of the plate hopping around and relentless, deliberate pauses between pitches. Burnett was devoured by the chippy Chisox offense to the tune of nine runs on eight hits in just 3 13 innings. The flatulent effort left Burnett winless in both June and August 2010.
Chicago didnt just put a crooked number up in the first but added another four-spot in the fourth. The biggest blow of the game was a two-run double by Pierzynski to close scoring in the first. In the fourth, the White Sox tallied mainly via a series of keystone cop tosses and fumbles by New Yorks cheesecloth defense.
Im very pleased at how the guys went out and played, Guillen said. Weve had some recent games that have broken our hearts, but the guys keep coming back out and playing hard.
As usual, Pierzynski was self-deprecating when evaluating his performance on the night.
I was so bad for so long, said the backstop. I didnt think I could continue to be that bad.
Only Alexei Ramirez and Gordon Beckham failed to record a hit in the game, while Juan Pierre and Omar Vizquel tapped out two apiecewith Vizquel adding some air drums in support of Bon Jovi at the seventh-inning stretch to boot. Vizquel's night also included a pair of RBIs, two runs scored and a stolen base.
A typical drawback to White Sox games these days once again reared its head, as reliever Erick Threets left the game in the ninth after pitching a scoreless eighth in support of Garcia. Threets felt his left throwing elbow lock up on a pitch to Mark Teixeira, and he was removed as a precaution. Initial X-rays were negative, and the lefty is scheduled to have an MRI on Saturday.
Nick Swisher trotted off a garbage-time, two-run shot in the ninth off of reliever Scott Linebrink to end the scoring.
With their last two triumphs, the White Sox appear poised to sprint through their next 30-odd games.
Were going to try to win all 30, Pierzynski said.
Were just going to play each game as hard as we can, go about it the right way, Konerko added.
And its the sparkplug who started off the convincing rally in the bottom of the first that gets the last word in on this game.
Weve still got a lot of work to do in this last month and hopefully keep it going as a team, Pierre said. But it looks like were getting back to our winning ways.
Brett Ballantini is CSNChicago.coms White Sox Insider. Follow him @CSNChi_Beatnik on Twitter for up-to-the-minute Sox information.