Results tagged ‘ Cubs ’
White Sox Win Series at Wrigley, Go for Sweep and 5th Triumph in a Row on Sunday Night
It was a sight to behold–and I’m not referring to the young woman above. I’m talking about Mark Buehrle returning as the Buehrle we know and love and Paul Konerko continuing his red-hot hitting by driving in both runs today in the 2-1 White Sox victory at Wrigley against the North Side Media Darlings. With a sweep in their sights, the South Siders enter tomorrow’s finale with the series already won.
Buehrle, in winning his fourth game of the year, pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings while scattering eight hits with seven strikeouts and no walks. The most impressive part of his performance was his ability to get out of jam after jam.
Following yesterday’s 2 for 5, two RBI day, Paulie was 3 for 4 today with the pair of runs batted in. He raised his BA to .296 and increased his RBI total to 46.
We can’t help but be encouraged with the streak now at four and the last two victories against you know who.
White Sox Explode at Wrigley, North Side Media Darlings Are No Match
Just another day at the old ballpark for the opener of the Crosstown Series at Wrigley Field.
Cubs manager Lou Piniella ripped Steve Stone for criticizing the skipper. Ozzie admitted there is friction between he and Kenny Williams. And the White Sox scored 10 runs on 16 hits with three homers as Jake Peavy claimed his 100th major league victory in the 10-5 thrashing of the North Side Media Darlings. Furthermore, it was the South Siders’ third straight win–only the second time in 2010 they’ve won as many games in a row.
Since we’ve been starved for offense all season, allow me the luxury of examining today’s box score:
–Alex Rios, who has been terrific all season, went 4 for 4 with a homer, three runs scored and two runs batted in. He now has 13 homers, 31 RBI and is batting .322.
--A.J. Pierzynski, whose bat seems to be coming around after a horrid start, went 4 for 5 with a homer and three RBI.
–Paul Konerko, along with Rios the team’s most consistent offensive threat, went 2 for 5 with two runs scored and two RBI. His BA is up to .287 along with 44 RBI.
–Alexei Ramirez, whose average is now at a respectable .263, seems to be turning the corner. He pounded out two hits with two runs scored and an RBI.
–Rounding out the highlights: Carlos Quentin hit a pinch homer–his eighth roundtripper of the season–and even Brent Lillibridge got a hit. He’s now hitting .667 in his brief big league stint this year.
Sox Win Second in a Row, Those North Side Media Darlings Are Up Next
John Danks (seven scoreless innings), Omar Vizquel (a home run and two RBI), A.J. Pierzynski (a homer) and Sergio Santos‘ clutch K of Miguel Cabrera led the way today as the White Sox shut out the Tigers, 3-0, to win the three-game series against Detroit after dropping the opener.
The Sox have won three straight games only once this season so another victory tomorrow will encouraging. And, of course, it takes on even more importance because it will be the first of three at Wrigley against their “we haven’t won a World Series in 102 years” crosstown rivals.
Both clubs have been disappointing this year so the two regular season series aren’t as attractive as in years past–but it’s still Sox vs. Cubs. And if both teams continue to struggle, how they fare against each other will be a high point in their respective seasons.
But always keep this in mind: No matter how bad the Sox play, the Cubs are always worse. The 102-year famine proves it.
The Springtime Ritual of Predicting the Winners
We all know that preseason predictions mean nothing–nada, zilch, zero. And while we shouldn’t take them seriously, it’s still a lot of fun–especially when the so-called experts pick your team to win.
Historically, it’s very rare when the baseball media elite pick the White Sox to win their division, let alone the AL pennant or World Series. It’s not that much different this year as the Twins seem to be the most common pick to conquer the AL Central. That said, there are a few “big name” media types among those who have picked the South Siders:
* Hall of Fame electee Bill Madden of the New York Daily News and author of the forthcoming bio of George Steinbrenner.
* Fox Sports‘ Ken Rosenthal, who somewhat tongue-in-cheek picked the Sox to win the World Series while referring to them “Team Wacko.” Think that had anything to do with our Ozzie?
* ESPN‘s Tim Kurkjian, who doesn’t exactly wear a Sox jersey on the weekends.
* Jon Heyman, he of SI, SI.com and the MLB Network.
Since I’m drinking the prediction Kool-Aid, I might as well add my two cents. Here are my divisional picks for 2010:
AL CENTRAL
1. White Sox
2. Twins
3. Tigers
4. Royals
5. Indians
AL EAST
1. Rays
2. Red Sox
3. Yankees
4. Orioles
5. Blue Jays
AL WEST
1. Angels
2. Mariners
3. Rangers
4. A’s
NL EAST
1. Phillies
2. Braves
3. Marlins
4. Mets
5. Nationals
NL CENTRAL
1. Cardinals
2. Reds
3. Brewers
4. Cubs
5. Pirates
6. Astros
NL WEST
1. Rockies
2. Dodgers
3. Giants
4. Padres
5. Diamondbacks
Sox-Cubs Rained Out
It’s a pretty unusual occurrence, but rain did indeed wash away the Sox-Cubs rematch this afternoon in Glendale.
Jake Peavy, who was set to make his first spring start, will have to settle for working two or three simulated innings to keep him on schedule.
Sox host the much-improved Mariners at Camelback Ranch tomorrow.
There’s Nothing Like a “B” Game to Lift My Spirits
It’s been a long, cold, snowy winter in the New York area. Add being laid up with swollen right foot and you get the picture. But here are two things to make a guy look at the glass half-full.
I’m a blogger and a Facebook guy, but I don’t see the point of tweeting. That said, I’m grateful that my friend Scott Reifert, White Sox communications czar, tweets regularly with nugget after nugget of inside Sox info. For instance, he tweeted the Sox lineup for tomorrow’s “B” game against the Dodgers, which features a look at a number of exciting prospects :
Jared Mitchell, LF
Jordan Danks, CF
Tyler Flowers, C
Dayan Viciedo,1B
Josh Kroeger, DH
Jayson Nix, 2B
Brett Lillibridge, SS
Brent Morel, 3B
Alejandro DeAza, RF
If the thought of tomorrow’s first real competitive action of the spring doesn’t lift the old spirits, the news that WGN will televise both Sox-Cubs games on Saturday and Sunday afternoons at 3 p.m. ET certainly will. I don’t know about you, but my weekend is now booked. And I’m less than two weeks ago from my trip to Glendale.
Who are the White Sox? Well, Wally, a Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
From a recent blog by the Chicago Tribune‘s Paul Sullivan:
White Sox bashing never seems to go out of style at the Cubs Convention.
This
year’s biggest blow was delivered not by a fan, but by new marketing
chief Wally Hayward, during Saturday’s business management seminar.
When
someone mentioned the South Side team during a question-and-answer
session, Hayward started off his answer by saying: “”First of all, who
are the White Sox?”
The response drew loud cheers.
Wally, you probably won’t recognize the scene, but these are the White Sox and their fans celebrating their World Series victory with a parade in downtown Chicago. Had one lately?
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