Sox stick it to the Twins

July 26th, 2012 Bill Mahoney Posted in Main, News, Opinions

After a mostly east coast trip the White Sox came home and took care of business, and the Minnesota Twins. For 3 games the Sox looked every bit of a playoff team. Clutch offense, good defense and timely pitching.

Lets go with the offense. The last time I wrote I pointed out that Paul Konerko’s extra base hits were limited over the past month and a half. Obviously the Captain was listening as he went 8-11, with 2 of his hitting leaving the yard while the other was a 2-bagger.

Those extra base knocks were more than his July total up to this point. I know Alex Rios is having a better RBI season, but when Konerko hits, the White Sox win, it’s that simple. Konerko is actually having a great season, so I may have unrealistic expectations for the guy.

I think Adam Dunn is happy to be home. Dunn went 5-13 with 2 home runs, number 29 & 30, and added 6 RBI. Dunn now has a two home run lead over his nearest competitor.


I think Dayan Viciedo may be the Sox secret weapon. You never know when he’s gonna bust out, but when he does, watch out. Viciedo has been relatively quiet since May, but against the Twins he was back on point. The Tank even went deep for the first time in 11 games, and for only the second time this month. For those of you wondering, that was Viciedo’s first home run he has hit at home against an A.L. opponent since June 2nd. So have many decisions to make at the end of this year, none bigger than they one they will be forced to make on Tank.

Sox poured it on in the 3 games, and they did it without Pierzynski for 2 games and Youkilis for part of one. Youk left with a sprained ankle on Wednesday, while Pierzynski is battling an oblique strain. Or for you non-doctors, like me, a side muscle.

Tyler Flowers received his first back to back starts this year, and they weren’t bad. 2-8 for the backup catcher. I wouldn’t count him out so quickly if I were fans of the Sox.

The Sox management has to be a a bit concerned about Gordon Beckham. While the rest of the Sox were pummeling the Twins, Beckham could only manage 1 hit.

I will go to me grave believing that his bat will one day catch up to his golden glove.

If you are like me, then you have read that the Sox are looking to get rid of Gavin Floyd. It almost seems like they want nothing more than a bag of balls.

I know he hasn’t been as consistant as he was when he won 17 for the Sox a few years back, but the guy isn’t as bad as he is made to seem. He’s also only 29, still in his prime.

Floyd was coming back from a little elbow inflammation, and he looked a tad rusty, as he walked 6 guys. That is not good, but only one scored, and that came on a De Aza error. Coming off the DL and allowing only 2 earned runs in 6 innings is a good start to me. I hope hope the Sox hang on to the guy. I know I may be in a minority, but I do.

Every time I watch Jose Quintana pitch, I am always thinking that this is the start that he’ll finally pitch like a rookie. He has yet to do that. He did give up a pair of home runs to Josh Willingham on Tuesday, but that man is quietly having a monster of a season.

If he keeps pitching like he has, he’ll eventually find himself in the top 10 in ERA. Mike Trout is the runaway Rookie of the Year, but Quintana should get a few votes.

For only the 2nd time in 2 months the Sox welcomed Jake Peavy back to the win column. Peavy stifled the Twins on Wednesday for his 8th win of the season. That’s the most wins for the guy since 2008. He should have 12 or more, but spotty Sox offensive have denied him of this extra 4 or maybe 5 wins.

I’m happy that the Sox swept the Twins, but I don’t get too excited as the Twins are just playing out the string. The next big test comes this weekend when the Sox get another look at the West leading Rangers, who they swept not that long ago. Texas is gonna want some payback. Sox need 2 of the 3.

After finishing up in Cleveland, the Tiger go to Toronto to battle the fading Blue Jays. Sox and Tigers are tied for 1st with 64 games left.

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Sox are now in 2nd after being swept in Detroit

July 22nd, 2012 Bill Mahoney Posted in Main, Opinions, Trades

You all excited about the Brett Myers deal? It was a shrewd move by GM Ken Williams. The guys he gave up to get Myers may, or may not, make an impression in the bigs.

What we do know is Myers is a legitimate big league pitcher. Myers fills a gaping hole that right now is filled with talented, but inexperienced kids. A friend of mine even brought up the possibility of Myers going into the Sox rotation. That would be interesting, wouldn’t it?

Now to the Tigers den.

Ah oh. I was hoping the Sox would make some kind of statement this weekend in Detroit. Unfortunately, it was the Tigers who spoke loud and clear, while carrying some really big sticks.

Jake Peavy, Chris Sale and Phil Humber took the bump for the Sox, and they all got bruised. Well, it wasn’t like the first 2 were pounded, but it was when they were hit that was so hard to take.

Take Peavy, who struck out 5 of the first 6 Tigers he faced on Friday. Things looked great for him, and then the 3rd inning happened. Going into the bottom of the inning with a 2-0 lead, but the Tigers preceded to collect 5 hits, and 3 runs.

Peavy only allowed 8 hits in his 7 innings of work, more than half of those came in the that inning.

Same thing the next night. Chris Sale was sailing, only giving up one infield single through 4 innings. Top of the 5th, Sox push a run across to take the lead.

Things look good. Not so fast, as the Tigers strung together 3 straight hits to take the lead and never looked back.

Sunday was just a Humber beat down.

Good, make that great teams, know when to respond. The Tigers, as of July 22nd are beginning to look like a great team.

No, I am not counting the Sox out, but this series, this road trip wasn’t good at all. Certain individual players played well, but as a team they haven’t meshed since the series in KC.

I’m sure the drama in Boston had a lot to do with it, but Kevin Youkilis finally came back to earth. Youk hit just .189 in the 9 games he played, including a whopping 13 strike outs. The greek god of walks only had 6 of them through the same amount of games.

Expanding a little more on Youkilis. He hit .416 in the series versus his old team, with a home run and 3 RBI. In the other 6 games he hit .080 with a home run and RBI.

Paul Konerko had 3 hits in the Detroit series, but none went for extra bases. Since June 1st, Konerko has only has 6 extra base hits. Konerko is a true games, but I wonder how much he’s hurting.

I don’t mean to pour salt in the Sox wounds, but only only regular hit better than .280 in the 3 games. You know who it is, it’s Alex Rios. Rios would get my vote for comeback player, even over Dunn.

The bright spots for the Sox come from their pitching staff, or should I say the bullpen. The Tigers scored zero runs off any of the Sox relievers in the 3 games. They did get 2 off Dylan Axelrod, but that’s to be expected since it’s not Yankee Stadium of Fenway Park.

Did you know that was the first time this year the Sox have been swept? That’s impressive, it’s just too bad it had to come against the Tigers.

It’s been tough sledding for the Sox in Detroit, who have lost 12 of their past 15 games at Comerica Park.

Sox started this road trip with a 3.5 game lead over Detroit, but they are now a game 1.5 back. That’s what a 3-7 trip will do for a team.

Sox come home to face the Twins. I would say a sweep is in order, but 2 of 3 will do just fine.

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Youkilis return is a success, but that’s about it

July 19th, 2012 Bill Mahoney Posted in Game Stories, Main, Opinions

The Sox-Red Sox series began as a coming home party for Kevin Youkilis, but ended as a coming out celebration for Cody Ross. That’s not a good thing for the Sox, which dropped 3 of 4 in Boston, and now lead the fast charging Tigers by just a game-and-a-half.

A little hamstring tweak kept Youkilis out of the finale, but he didn’t disappoint in the first 3 games. 5-12, including the game winning home run in the 2nd game.

It was great to see the crowd react to Youkilis, a favorite son to the bean-towners since he arrived in 2004.

In the 4 games the Sox faced Aaron Cook, Jon Lester, Felix Doubront and Clay Buchholz. I would’ve figured the Sox would beat 2 of the first 3, with Lester being the guy that couldn’t get past. Instead they were controlled by Cook and Doubront, but hit around Lester. There is just no way to figure out baseball.

Against the starters in games 1 and 3, the Sox managed 9 hits and 1 earned run. It really wasn’t the best of series for the Sox batsmen. Take away the 7 runs in game 2, and the Sox could only push across 3 earned runs in 27 innings.

Who were the main culprits? Alex Rios was doused with cold water (or is it tea?) in Boston. Rios had only 2 hits in the 4 games, and they each came in game 2. Wasn’t much better for Adam Dunn, who had only 1 hit, and that coincidentally came in game 2.

Let’s just remove game 2 from the equation. Messers Pierzynski, De Aza, Viciedo, Ramirez and Beckham went a combined 9-49 in the other 3 games. Gulp!

At least Paul Konerko looks to be coming out of his slump. The Captain went 5-12, but doesn’t have any power as 4 of those hits were singles.

Konerko is beat up right now, but the Sox can ill afford to sit him down, and he wouldn’t even if they wanted to. He looks a little like the guy last year, the one after he took a pitch off his calf against Boston’s Andrew Miller.

Too bad, because the Sox pitching was good enough to win 3 of the 4 games. Evidently Dylan Axelrod needs to pitch in front of the biggest audiences. Case in point, in road games against the Yankees and Red Sox, Axlerod has pitched 13.2 innings, and only gave up 3 earned runs.

That’s a 2.04 ERA. In his other 3 starts against Milwaukee, Texas and Toronto he has thrown 14 innings and given up 16 earned runs. That’s an ERA of 10.28. These stats are configured from June 23rd till now. His next start, which will be at the Cell, someone needs to tell him to picture a Green Monster or The Monuments.

Nice to see the good Phil Humber back.

Though I didn’t think he would make it out of the 1st inning on Tuesday. Humber gave up 3 hits and 2 runs in the opening stanza, and 3 hits the rest of his outing covering 6 innings. If the Sox are gonna hold off the Tigers they need more of this Humber.

Let’s see…Southpaw Chris Sale–Success! South Paw Hector Santiago–Success! Southpaw Joe Quintana–Success! I think the Sox went to the left-handed well one time to many. Southpaw Pedro Hernandez–crash and burn. The poor kid, making his MLB debut had to have quite a case of the butterflies, and it showed. 12 hits and 8 earned runs given up by the kid in 4 innings.

He was sent to Charlotte right after the game, and that flight couldn’t have been easy. That had to be tough making a debut against the Red Sox in Fenway. No pressure there.

Jose Quintana handled the pressure without a glitch. Quintana had the Sox tied in knots in the finale.

8 innings of masterful pitching, which included pitching out of a bases loaded jam in the 7th inning. Youkilis replacement at 3rd, Will Middlebrooks bouncing into the inning ending double play.

I wonder what the Sox scouting report says about Cody Ross. Ross beat the Sox all by himself in the final 2 games. 3 home runs and 9 RBI, including the game winner on Thursday. Some guys don’t put up those stats in a month. Ross is used to playing on the big stage, as he was one of the big reasons the Giants won the World Series a couple seasons ago.


Maybe when these 2 meet again in the playoffs the Sox will have a better idea how to get the guy out.

Yes, I said it..PLAYOFFS!

To reach that goal, the Sox need to send a statement to the Tigers this weekend. Jake Peavy gets the ball on Friday, followed by Sale on Saturday. I said the Sox need to win 5 on this 10 game trip, right now they have won 3.

I realize it’s not even August, but they have to find a way to cool off the Tigers right now.

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Sox do what they were supposed to do in KC

July 15th, 2012 Bill Mahoney Posted in Main, Opinions

We learned quite a bit about the Sox in the 3 games PASB (post all-star break).

Adam Dunn brought his hitting shoes to Kansas City. That’ll show Ron Washington for not giving him an at bat in the mid-season classic. Dunn went yard 3 times in the 3 games, and now sits atop all of baseball with 28. Dunn also hit close to .400, and that doesn’t include the 4 walks he received.

Like I said my in my last post, in his big home run years, Dunn has averaged 15 home runs in the 2nd half. Not a bad way to start the second half.

Nice to see the Sox knock around Bruce Chen. The Royal left-hander owned the Sox last year, going 3-1 with an ERA less than 2. He also hit 5 guys in his 5 starts, so I was wondering how he’d fare this year. That’s taking into account that the Sox have a bunch of new coaches that have sworn to take swift action if a pitcher continually finds Sox players with the ball.

Chen looked like the guy who has bounced around for most of his career, allowing 6 earned runs in less than 5 innings. And whatdaya know, he also found his control not hitting one batter.

It’s only been one start, but Chris Sale looks primed to a possible Cy Young 2nd half. The lefty was nasty in Sunday’s game. Yes he allowed 10 hits in 8 innings, but only allowed one run which proves that even without his best stuff, he can pitch out of jams. I read where the Sox are hoping to keep Sale’s innings around the 160-170 range. He has now thrown just over 110, which means in his final 14-15 starts he can throw about 4 innings each start.

I am sure with all the aging players on the Sox, that if they get close they’ll just shut the one guy down who up to this point hasn’t lost a game since May 12th. BTW, that loss was to the Royals. Don’t see that happening so here’s welcome Sale to the 200 inning club.

The ASB didn’t cool off Alex Rios stick. Rios hit close to .400 with a home run, a couple walks and quite a few nice plays in left field.

A.J. Pierzynski was still steaming from his exclusion from the ASG, and he took it out on the Royals. It seemed to me that Pierzynski hit the ball hard each and every at bat.

What do you all think, is this A.J’s last go ’round, or is he just getting warmed up as his 36th birthday approaches? I am partial to thinking it’s the former.

Games like Friday frustrate me to no end. They led 3-0, 6-5 and 8-7 before finally putting the Royals away in the 14th. The Sox and Royals combined to use 18 pitchers, including a starter for each team.

Kevin Youkilis did drive in the winning run again.

Who knew that 2012 would be the year that Alcides Escobar would find his hitting shoes? In previous years, Escobar was more of a Punch and Judy hitter. Not this year as the guy his hitting .308, with a little power mixed in.

I would have bet the house that he would never hit 2 over the wall against Jake Peavy, but he did just that on Saturday.

Sox should be worried about their staff. Innings for Sale and Peavy, and now Gavin Floyd is out with tendonitis in his forearm and elbow. It is only one start, but it is not a good sign for a team that was gonna rely heavily on the right hander in the 2nd half.

Dylan Axelrod to the rescue, I guess. If Axelrod wants to prove that he belongs in the rotation, the time is now. He can’t afford any more of the 3 home run effort like he gave up in his last start.

The next few days should be interesting as the Sox now head to Boston. I hope he hits the hell out of the ball, especially after Bobby Valentine stirred the pot again. Valentine blamed Youkilis for the poor relationship between the two. I hope Valentine doesn’t destroy the team before he is gone in about 2 years. It used to be that managers took the high-road in disputes with players, but not Valentine, who wants to poke the bear, I guess. Who knows, maybe Youk will suck in his return to Beantown, and Valentine will be internally chuckling. Youkilis is coming in having gone 0-8 in his past 2 games.

Sox go into Boston with a 3.5 game lead over Detroit, who jumped the Indians over the weekend.

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Question marks remain as the Sox begin the 2nd half

July 12th, 2012 Bill Mahoney Posted in Main, Opinions

The 2nd half of the season, or the stretch run begins with the Sox on the road. They get 3 games in Kansas City, 4 in Boston, finishing with 3 in Detroit. It’s not a make or break trip, but the Sox need to at least win 5 of these games.

The Sox ended the 1st half on a positive note, winning 7 of their last 10 games, to lead the Central by 3 games over Cleveland.

There are a number of question marks on the team.

Pitching:

Jake Peavy has thrown 120 innings, the most for him since 2008. How will his arm respond in the 2nd half? He has won just six 2nd half games over the past 3 years.

Who knows how Chris Sale and Jose Quintana will react to pitching in a pennant race. They have never been in the type of pressurized situations the final 77 games will bring.

Who is Gavin Floyd? Is he the guy who last about 5 innings, while giving up 5, and sometimes 6 runs? Or is he the guy with the devastating curveball, who can shut a team down any day of the week? He may be an enigma wrapped in a riddle.

The jury is out on John Danks and Phil Humber. Danks has yet to begin a rehab assignment, while Humber has made 2 in Charlotte. Depending on what you think of rehab results you can say that his 4.86 ERA in 6 innings is him just working to get back to the Sox, or you could say that he’ll be in trouble when he does return.

The bullpen has a lot of kids, 5 of them to be exact. The only veterans are Matt Thornton and the injured Jesse Crain. Addison Reed has found his niche as a closer, and Hector Santiago appears to have ironed out his control problems, but there is no book on the Omogrosso, Septimo, and Jones. How they perform down the stretch could determine if the Sox get back to the post-season.

Offense:

Paul Konerko. Since June 1st the Captain is hitting just .245. He is the one threat the Sox have to have at the top of his game.

Adam Dunn usually slows his home run pace in the 2nd half, if you consider 15 bombs a slow down. That’s the average amount of home runs hit by Dunn in his big season between 2003-2010.

Dayan Viciedo has gone into a cave, and can’t seem to find his way out. The Tank is hitting a meager .196 since June 1st, with 3 home runs and 11 RBI. Konerko only has 3 home runs and 9 RBI’s, so it’s not like he has been much better.

A.J. Pierzynski, who admittedly should have been upset at his All-Star snub, has 49 RBI, along with 16 bombs. He is on pace to set career highs in both of those categories.


Alex Rios has been the Sox best hitter in the 1st half. Rios has hits in 15 of his last 17 games. In that time he is batting .426 with 4 home runs and 14 RBI.

Kevin Youkilis has been a godsend. He is playing amazing at 3rd, while showing the clutch offensive ability he showed for so many years in Boston.

If Beckham and Ramirez keep doing what they are doing, especially on the defensive end, the Sox will be fine with their limited offensive production.

My biggest question mark has to do with the age of the team. The pitching staff skews young, while the position players skews old. At least the ones that matter.

Konerko is 36
Pierzynski is 35
Youkilis is 33
Dunn is 32
Rios is 31

This could be the last stand for the Sox for awhile, but Ken Williams is crafty, so you never know what he has up his sleeve.

Games left for the Sox:

Kansas City 15
Detroit 10
Cleveland 6
Minnesota 12

Yankees 3
Red Sox 4
Blue Jays 4
Orioles 4
Rays 4

Rangers 3
Angels 6
Mariners 3
A’s 3

77 games left, very few against teams with losing records. They do play Minnesota a lot, but the Twins will be pesky in the 2nd half, especially when the recall their entire farm system in August.

47 games against Central opponents. Saying they win 25 of them, that gives them 72 victories. Splitting the final 34, gives the, 88 wins. I think the division winner will need about 92. So, to me, the Sox have to find a way to win 4 of the games I have them losing.

Can Robin Ventura and his staff do it? The short answer is yes. The long answer is we’ll all know in just over 2 months.

It’s gonna be a fun ride.

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The Sox head into the All-Star break in 1st place

July 8th, 2012 Bill Mahoney Posted in Main, Opinions

The White Sox go into the All-Star break with a 47-38 record, and in first place in the Central Division. They lead the Indians by 3 games, and 3.5 over the favorite Detroit Tigers. Through 85 games this season has gone better than even the most optimistic White Fans could have expected.

The Sox even got better news during Sunday’s finale against the Blue Jays. Jake Peavy, who missed out on the ASG when he lost the Final Vote to Texas’ Yu Darvish, is going to his first A.L. All-Star game.

In a stroke of luck, CJ Wilson will miss the ASG due to a blister on his pinky finger, so Peavy was chosen to replace him. Peavy will have 4 days rest going into Tuesday’s game.

He’ll also have a good taste in his mouth, because he won for the first time since the 7th of June. Peavy controlled the Jays for 7 innings to pick up his 7th win of the year.

With any run support he would have had 10 or 11 wins. The ASG is a culmination of all the hard work he has put in over the past 2 years to get back to the guy we all you to see in San Diego. Sox won game one, 4-2.

One guy who needs to step up, and at least over 2 of his past 3 starts has, is Gavin Floyd. Floyd is a maddening pitcher. Each and every time out he can lock up an opponent, but as we’ve seen this year those times have been few and far between.

Saturday, he was the guy every Sox fan wants to see. pitching into the 8th, then watching his guys put away the Blue Jays. Sox win game 2, 2-0.

Sox have to be hoping that John Danks and/or Phil Humber come back quickly, and pitch like they can. They can’t afford too many performances like Sunday. Dylan Axelrod gave up 3, 2-run home runs in 3 innings of work.

I like Axelrod, but he is a long reliever, to me. He wasn’t the only one ready for the All-Star break to begin, as the rest of the young pitchers not named Hector Santiago didn’t bring their good stuff either.

Brian Omogrosso, Leyson Septimo and Nate Jones all had issues on Sunday.

I believe GM Ken Williams will shore up the rotation, and bullpen in the next month, or two. Getting a healthy Jesse Crain might be the boost the Sox need. I’m reaching here, but I could picture Zach Greinke in a Sox uniform in August.

Is Kevin Youkilis really this good? And if he is, the Red Sox had to be crazy to give him away. The man has played in 13 games, and has 13 RBI’s, including 3 game winners, that includes Saturday’s game winning home run. Youkilis is hitting .346 with 3 bombs with the Sox.


And the defense has been nothing short of spectacular. He is making plays I didn’t think he could make. Mind you, I didn’t watch him every day.

I know A.J. Pierzynski has been up in arms about being left off the All-Star team, but there is amother guy who also has a beef, but hasn’t said a word. I am talking about Alex Rios.

Rios torched his former mates to the tune of .363. His 3-run blast on Sunday got the Sox back in the game after they were down 4-0 in the 1st inning. Rios is just doing his job, and what a job he is doing. I know there are still 77 games to be played, but he was amazing in the first half.

His first half exploits got him into the ASG, but Adam Dunn can’t be happy with how the 1st half ended. 1-15 with 8 strike outs for the Big Donkey over his last 4 games. I know most harp on Dunn’s paltry .208 average, but he has also walked 68 times. Dunn has 61 hits in 293 at bats. If you added 34 to his hits and at bats, he would be hitting .290. .290 with 25 home runs and 61 RBI would make most happy. Amazing how walks, which aren’t included in one’s BA, do make a difference.

By taking 2 of 3 from Toronto, the Sox finish the 1st half by winning 7 of their final 10 games.

Sox need a break. Let’s hope everyone comes out healthy for the 2nd half because the Sox begin 10 game road swing taking them through Kansas City, Boston and Detroit.

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You-k can do it……….still

July 6th, 2012 Bill Mahoney Posted in Main, Opinions, Roster Moves

Was there anyone who thought Yu Darvish wasn’t going to pitch in the All-Star game? If you’ve ever been to spring training in either Florida or Arizona you know the Japanese media doesn’t miss a photo OP by anyone from their country. If the media is that rabid for the players, the fans must be double that. They showed their love by making him the final A.L. player named to the AST. Jake Peavy finished second, but he should be going to the game.

The thing I love about baseball, and society in general, is how quickly we count people out. Kevin Youkilis was a All-Star last year. He fell out of favor with Manager Bobby Valentine, who was trying to send a message to the team that he’s in control. He did that by ostracizing a guy who has been integral to the success of the Red Sox over the past 8 years. The Red Sox gave him to the White Sox for spare parts, an action seen by some as a sure sign Youkilis’ best days are in the past. They very well might be, but right now he’s playing like a spry rookie.

Youk has played 10 games with the Sox, and is hitting .307 with 2 home runs and 10 RBI. His coming out party at the Cell was a thing of beauty. The guy mashed the ball all 3 days versus the Rangers. He also was quite efficient on the field, making a number of beautiful plays. Did I mention he mashed the ball? On Tuesday, he drove in 4 runs, while batting .500.

All he did on Wednesday and Thursday was knock home the game winning RBI’s. His at bat against Mike Adams was what wily veterans do, fouling off a number of quality pitches before finally singling home the game winner.

On Thursday, his 2nd round-tripper as a member of the White Sox won the game. I guess his obit as a player was written a tad too soon.

How many times have you ever seen the Sox, or any team for that matter, build a 19-0 lead? The Sox beat up the Western Division leading Rangers like a used rug. Welcome to the A.L. Roy Oswalt. 8 Sox players had 2 hits or more.

The only player who didn’t get in on the fun was Gordon Beckham, who went 0-3. Beckham likes the team success since Youkilis arrival, but he can’t be happy on a personal level. Since his arrival Beckham is hitting .161. Take away his 3 hit game at the Yankees last week, and Beckham is hitting .076. He did ge a hit out of the leadoff spot in the finale.

The guy on a tear is Alex Rios, who could be an All-Star himself. Rios has a 10-game hitting streak, and has multiple hits in 8 of them.

His batting average since last Monday’s opener in Minnesota has gone from .294 to a season high .316. A scorching .526 will do that to an average. He also has 3 home runs and 9 RBI’s in that 10 game span.

Adam Dunn connected for his 25th home run. Be honest, how many of you expected this type of season from the big man? I did, since I bet money on him to lead the league in home runs.

Great to see Alexei Ramirez reunited with his parents.

I couldn’t imagine not being able to see my parents for 5 years. His dad even got to throw out the first pitch on Wednesday. Ramirez celebrated his parents arrival by hitting .461 in the three games.

It wouldn’t be complete if there wasn’t an A.J. Pierzynski sighting. The Sox catcher bowled into Mike Napoli to score a run in game 2.

And what else can I say about the Sox staff. Chris Sale won’t start the ASG, but should. Even with a 19-0 lead, Sale buckled down to hold the Rangers to 1 earned run.

10 wins before the break! Nobody, and I mean nobody expected that. I did expect Brian Omogrosso to give up runs when he pitched, and he did.

Jose Quintana is matching Sale pitch for pitch. After a rough outing in the Bronx he came back to baffle the Rangers for 8 innings.

2 hits and 8 strike outs against a Texas team that can, and has, beat up many a pitcher this year. His 2.04 ERA isn’t too shabby either.

And then there’s Dylan Axelrod, who wasn’t as sharp as he was in New York, but still kept his team in the game.

The only negative to come out of the series was Jesse Crain headed back to the DL. Duente Heath is headed to the big club. Heath has a 1.70 ERA bouncing between the pen and starting this year in Charlotte.

With their sweep of the Rangers, the Sox boast a 5-2 record in their last 7 games, against the East leading Yankees, and the West leading Rangers. Impressive.

The Sox finish up the 1st half with a series against the Jays. They hold a 2 game lead over the Indians in the Central Division.

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All-Star rosters announced, and not everyone should be happy

July 1st, 2012 Bill Mahoney Posted in Main, News

All-Star selections, minus one were announced today, and I don’t think there were any huge surprises as far as the Sox are concerned.

Chris Sale made the team, but that was a given as he leads the A.L. with a 2.27 ERA. I think Paul Konerko and Adam Dunn were also locks.

The Captain has had a great 1st half. He has tailed off of late, but he is still hitting .335, which is good for 2nd in the A.L.

Dunn is the redemption story of the year. Last year he was in sucksville.

This year he is taking revenge on any, and all pitchers. 24 home runs and 58 RBI for the Big Donkey. He is 3rd in the A.L. in home runs and 5th in RBI.

Jake Peavy is part of the final vote. His competition is Kansas City’s Jonathan Broxton, Texas’ Yu Darvish, Baltimore’s Jason Hammel, and Los Angeles’ Ernesto Frieri. My money is on Darvish. I think the entire nation of Japan will vote over 50 million times.

Peavy is deserving of a spot though. If it wasn’t for bad luck, and no support, he could easily have 10, or maybe even 11 victories. His 2.96 ERA is good enough. I think he is a great story, but a part of me is glad he isn’t going. I would rather see him get a little rest before starting the 2nd half, than pitch in the mid-season classic.

And who knows, depending on witch pitchers, pitch when, Peavy may very well make the team

The guy who has a beef is catcher A.J. Pierzynski.

A.J. trails Joe Mauer in average, but leads all other catchers in every other major offensive category, including hits, home runs and RBI. There is no reason that Matt Wieters should have been picked ahead of Pierzynski.

Life isn’t fair sometimes.

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