In early June the White Sox were in disarray. Now they're back into contention in the AL Central with a marvelous interleague run fueled by a starting rotation that is hard to beat.
Mark Beuhrle and the rest of the White Sox starting rotation have lifted Chicago back into the middle of the AL Central race.CINCINNATI -- If the White Sox catch the Tigers and Twins in the AL Central, they might want to send a thank-you card to the Indians' pitching staff.
On June 6, the Indians were about to complete a three-game sweep of Chicago. GM Ken Williams and manager Ozzie Guillen were fussing and fuming at each other even more than usual. A.J. Pierzynski was hitting .224 and getting ready to be traded. Carlos Quentin was hitting .202.
The White Sox went into the game at 23-32, nine games under .500 and 9 1/2 games behind first-place Minnesota. There was already talk of breaking up the roster.
Three innings in, the Indians had a 6-2 lead and Mark Buehrle, the Chicago ace, was in the shower after giving up a three-run homer to since-demoted catcher Lou Marson. But Jake Westbrook couldn't hold the lead, allowing six runs in 4 2/3 innings. In the seventh, Tony Sipp and Jensen Lewis, another demoted Indian, gave up a run each and the White Sox rallied for an 8-7 victory. They have been the best team in baseball since.
Through Friday they won 10 straight and 15 of their last 17 games. They have gone from 23-32 to 38-34. After beating the rival Cubs on Friday, they were 1 1/2 games off the pace in the AL Central.
No player in the majors has been hotter or more inspirational to his team than sweet-swinging Josh Hamilton for the Texas Rangers.HOT CORNER
Mind over matter: The Rangers are in bankruptcy off the field, but on it they can do little wrong. They’ve won 12 straight and own a five-game lead in the AL West entering Saturday night.
Josh Hamilton is helping stoke the engine. He has a 18-game hitting streak and is batting .474 (45-for-95) with eight homers and 27 RBI in June.
“It’s got a lot to do with mental,” Hamilton told the Associated Press. “I can get up there and swing all I want, but if I don’t have the right approach and right situations they won’t do me any good.”
Brush of perfection: The price of perfection, or near perfection, can be high.
Oakland’s Dallas Braden threw a perfect game on May 9. He’s gone 0-5 since with a 4.31 ERA in eight starts.
Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay threw a perfect game May 19. He’s gone 1-3 with a 3.72 ERA since.
Detroit’s Armando Galarraga was denied a perfect game on June 2 by an umpire’s blown call on what should have been the 27th and final out. He settled for a one-hitter against the Indians. Galarraga is 1-0 with a 4.70 ERA in four starts since.
Tough run: Things haven’t gone well for good guy Mark DeRosa since he left Cleveland for St. Louis on June 27, 2009 in a trade for Chris Perez and Jess Todd. He had 13 homers and 57 RBI with the Indians, but in the last two seasons, he’s hit 11 homers and 38 RBI for the Cardinals and Giants.
DeRosa underwent surgery on his left wrist after last season with St. Louis. Then he signed a two-year, $12 million deal with the Giants, but the wrist wasn’t sound. Last week it was announced he’ll undergo season-ending surgery on the same wrist.
THE RANT
The Indians used to dominate interleague play. They didn’t live to play little ball, but moving into the land of the double switch never bothered them. They had enough power to out-hit their mistakes and enough speed, pitching and defense to stay with and beat the best the NL had to offer.
As the Indians’ talent has been eroded by trades and free-agent defections, their performance in interleague play has suffered. They were 5-13 last year and over the last three years are 5-20 playing in National League parks without the DH.
This season, especially, has exposed every weaknesses on this rebuilding team. They can’t field a bunt, their bullpen wilts in tight games and if the opposition has speed — which most National League teams have in abundance — they have no clue how to defend it. Twice in a five-game span, a runner from the Mets (Jose Reyes) and the Pirates (Andrew McCutchen) scored from second base on a ball that never left the infield. Call me crazy, but if that happens more than once every three or four seasons, there should be an internal investigation.
Every American League team is at a disadvantage, especially on the road, in interleague play. They can’t use the DH and their pitchers have to hit. In the Indians’ case, they are also without two of their key players in shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera and center fielder Grady Sizemore because of injuries. Yet if this latest rebuilding project is going to work, this team needs more speed, better athletes and a DH who can do more than swing the bat.
-- Paul Hoynes
"We went through tough times and we took it like a man," Guillen told the Chicago Tribune. "When we were down, we helped each other out. I never had doubts this team would turn it around."
The starting rotation that had scouts and opposing general managers drooling in spring training is finally pitching as predicted. Said one scout, "I just got done watching the White Sox and all I saw were zeroes."
Since Buehrle's three-inning performance on June 6, Chicago starters are 12-1 with a 1.90 ERA. They've turned in 15 quality starts.
Jake Peavy, the former Cy Young Award winner who put Williams on the hot seat last year when he arrived from San Diego unable to pitch because of injury, is 3-0 with a 0.78 ERA (three earned runs in 23 innings) during the streak. He's struck out 21, walked five and is riding a string of 21 consecutive scoreless innings.
Freddy Garcia, the supposed weak link in the rotation, is 3-0 with a 4.58 ERA in his last three starts. He's 8-3 overall with the eight wins coming in his last nine starts.
John Danks is 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA (five earned runs in 22 innings) over his last three starts.
Buehrle has rebounded. He's 3-0 in his last four starts with as 3.91 ERA (10 earned runs in 23 innings) and with 20 strikeouts and five walks.
Gavin Floyd has pitched as well, if not better, than his teammates, but doesn't have much to show for it. Floyd is 0-1 with a 0.93 ERA (three earned runs in 29 innings) in four starts. He's struck out 31 and walked seven. The White Sox are 2-2 in those four starts.
Closer Bobby Jenks is rolling as well. He's 9-for-9 in save opportunities during the run. He thrown nine scoreless innings, striking out 10 and walking one.
Pierzynski, lost at the plate for the first two months of the season, is hitting .320 (16-for-50) during the streak with two homers and six RBI. His average has gone from .224 to .245. Quentin is giving a meager offense another power source to team with Paul Konerko. He's hitting .316 (18-for-57) with five homers and 17 RBI during the surge. He has 12 homers and 46 RBI overall.
"This is the way we thought we would play at the beginning of the year," Pierzynski told the Tribune. "Obviously not this well, but it's great. We all want to come to the park."
Chicago has done most of its good work against the National League. They're 12-1 in interleague play during the streak, and are 14-2 overall.
They will determine if this is more than a hot streak when they return to AL play Monday against division foe Kansas City. Chicago is 12-15 in the AL Central this year.