Results tagged ‘ Omar Vizquel ’
Sox Sale to 7th Straight, A.J. Drives in 3 and Manny’s Hit Key to Victory in Extras
The White Sox did it again this afternoon in a 5-4 victory over the Tigers in 10 innings. Coming from behind on three separate occasions, including tying the score 4-4 in the eighth and scoring the winning run in the 10th, the South Siders won their seventh straight without a loss on this road trip.
Chris Sale, in relief of Edwin Jackson with one out in the eighth, pitched 2 2/3 perfect innings to record his first major league win. A.J. Pierzynski, who has seemingly found his groove, collected two hits and three RBIs. As for Manny Ramirez, he pounded out three singles, including what represented the winning run. Alejandro De Aza, who came in to pinch-run for Manny, actually scored the 10th inning tally on Pierzynski’s single to left, which put The Good Guys over the top for good.
The Sox showed a great deal of versatility in the win. Pulling out all stops, a group of non-starters–De Aza, Brent Lillibridge, Alex Rios and Alexei Ramirez–all saw action and five players found themselves in multiple roles–Omar Vizquel (SS-3B), De Aza (PR-DH), Mark Teahen (3B-1B), Lillibridge (PR-CF), Rios (PH-CF), A. Ramirez (PH-SS).
Same Old Story: The Sox win…and so do the Twins. What else is new? Despite the winning streak, the Pale Hose still remain 3 1/2 games behind Minnesota.
The “Cojones Kids” Do it Again
Time will tell whether or not the White Sox will overtake the Twins and go to the postseason. Regardless of the outcome, it’s been a treat to watch this team from the point in early June that they made their move.These guys just won’t quit. Because of their extraordinary intestinal fortitude, maybe we should call them the Cojones Kids (please see a Spanish dictionary for details if you’re not familiar with the term).
On this road trip alone–where they now find themselves 6-0–there were a pair of late-inning three run-homers (A.J.Pierzynski and Paul Konerko) and a close-to-a-miracle 11th inning shot by Brent Lillibridge in Cleveland and the amazing comeback this afternoon in Boston. This, after the impressive doubleheader sweep yesterday.
Down 5-3 heading to the top of ninth today against the Red Sox’s Jonathan Papelbon, here’s what happened on a beautiful day in Beantown. Please note that all the scoring came after two were out.
--Omar Vizquel flied out to center.
–Alex Rios walked.
–Andruw Jones, batted for Konerko. With Jones at bat, Rios steals second. Jones called out on strikes.
–Carlos Quentin doubled to center, Rios scored. Red Sox, 5-4. Brent Lillibridge ran for Quentin.
–Ramon Castro singled to center, Lillibridge scored. Score tied at 5-5.
–Alexei Ramirez walked, Castro to second.
–Dustin Richardson replaced Papelbon for Boston.
–Mark Teahen walked, Castro to third, A. Ramirez to second. Robert Manuel replaced Richardson.
–Gordon Beckham walked, Teahen to second, A. Ramirez to third, Castro scored. White Sox lead 6-5.
–Juan Pierre walked. A. Ramirez scored, Beckham to second, Teahen to third. Sox, 7-5.
–Vizquel lined out, making his second out of the inning.
And Matt Thornton, in his first appearance since coming off of the DL, pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning for the save as the Pale Hose remain 3 1/2 games behind the Twins, who finished the sweep at home vs. Texas.
What a day–and now on to Detroit for four.
The Quentin Factor: There were many heroes in today’s glorious comeback win. Count Quentin as one of the biggest ones, as he went 3 for 5 with a pair of RBIs including a key one during the ninth inning uprising. CQ is beginnning to heat up and that can mean only good things for the South Siders.
Note of the Day: The Good Guys were a huge threat on the basepaths today with a total of six stolen bases, paced by Rios whose three thefts gives him 32 on the season. Only Pierre, with a league-leading 54, has more this season in a White Sox uniform.
The Morel of the Story: Sox Promote 3B of Future
Brent Morel, who won the Arizona Fall League batting title in 2009, is now a major leaguer. He has been called up from Charlotte and will join the White Sox this weekend in Boston.
Having impressed the Sox brass in spring training, Morel hit .320 with eight homers and 34 RBIs in 81 games at Charlotte after being promoted earlier in the season from Birmingham.
In addition to the fact he has proven to be an outstanding gap hitter, Morel is a major league third baseman defensively right now. The hope is that he can contribute with that exceptional glove down the stretch.
While Gordon Beckham appears ready to play after the injury, who knows how he will perform. That would mean Omar Vizquel would see some action at second with Mark Teahen and Dayan Viciedo, who won’t be confused with Brooks Robinson and Mike Schmidt in the field, as the existing options at third.
Welcome, Mr. Morel.
Pale Hose Survive Jenks Meltdown, Beckham Wrist Injury Just a Bruise as We Breath a Sigh of Relief
It was deja vu for Bobby Jenks as the husky one gave up three runs in the ninth, allowing the Tribe to tie the score at 6. But the resilient Hose scored four in the 11th (including a two-out, nobody-on Brent Lillibridge homer), Scott Linebrink hurled zeroes in the two extra frames and we rallied to beat the Indians,10-6.
The South Siders pounded out 21 hits. Alex Rios led the parade with five, including a homer and four RBIs. Mark Kotsay had three and five players–Omar Vizquel, Paul Konerko, A.J. Pierzynski, Alexei Ramirez and Gordon Beckham collected two hits apiece. Konerko added three RBIs to give him 95 for the season.
Speaking of Beckham, Gordo left the game in the seventh after getting hit in the wrist by Indian reiiever Frank Herrmann (pictured above). SoxWorld held their collective breath until it was announced at the end of the game that it was just a bruise and he’s day to day. Take it from me, it looked a whole lot worse at the time and I had visions of losing our red-hot second baseman for the rest of the season.
With the Twins idle, we narrowed their lead to four–with Manny Ramirez expected to be in the lineup tomorrow night.
Pale Hose Draw First Blood in Series vs. Yanks
With the White Sox hoping to win at least two of three in the weekend series vs. the World Champions to keep pace with the Twins and C.C. Sabathia on the mound tomorrow night, tonight’s convincing 9-4 Sox triumph was a welcome sight.The combination of outstanding pitching by Freddy Garcia, clutch hitting, another poor performance by the Yankees’ A.J. Burnett and a number of Bomber mistakes, proved to be the difference.
Among the Sox heroes was the ageless Omar Vizquel, who has been a marvel all season. He went 2 for 4 with two runs scored, two RBIs and a stolen base.
Pale Hose Notes of Note: The win tonight was the 70th of the season for the South Siders and the 11th for Garcia…The last thing the Sox needed was another injury to a reliever, but that’s exactly what happened. Lefty Erick Threets, after a scoreless eighth inning, was removed for Scott Linebrink after going 3-2 against Mark Teixiera. No word as to how serious it is…Is it my imagination or does Linebrink cough up a homer every time he appears in a game? He did it again tonight as he surrendered a two-run shot to Nick Swisher…With the Sox having claimed Manny Ramirez on waivers from the Dodgers, it’s now a waiting game to see what happens. The two clubs can either work out a deal or L.A, suddenly in contention for a wild card spot, can pull him back. Manny has a no-trade clause, but word is that he’ll agree to the deal.
Paulie, Buehrle & Friends Right the Ship
All the frustration from two weeks of blown leads, walkoff homers and the loss of a division lead came to an abrupt halt last night as the White Sox exploded with the 11-0 victory over the Twins.
When any team in this situation is badly in need of a win, they look to their leaders. The Sox are no exception and theirs came through big-time with a whole lot of help from the troops as The Good Guys hurled a shutout and pounded out 21 hits.
The leaders–three grizzled vets from the 2005 champs–rose to occasion in a huge way. Paul Konerko, enjoying a monster season, went 5 for 5 with his 31st homer and four RBI; Mark Buehrle pitched seven innings of scoreless, five-hit ball; and A.J. Pierzynski, struggling through an offensive season he’d like to forget, added two hits and two RBI.
Adding to the barrage were three-hit nights from Juan Pierre, Omar Vizquel, Alexei Ramirez and Mark Teahen. And, by the way, check out these averages: Pierre is hovering around .280 while Vizquel and Ramirez are both in the .290 neighborhood. A far cry from earlier in the season.
As I live and die with the Pale Hose on a daily basis, it’s always good to get a reality check from one of the guys in my Sox posse. Here’s some wisdom from Tim Clodjeaux, a former Sox PR guru:
“Keep in mind that this ‘meltdown’ is not as bad on paper as it has been to watch. Since the break the Sox are 17-17. Playing .500 ball will not win you many pennants, but it is far from a collapse. It just looks bad because of the nine losses in 12 games prior to tonight–and the way we lost many of those nine. And the Twins, on the other hand, are now 24-9 since the break. So while the Sox have stumbled, the Twins have deservedly made their move to the top of the standings.”
Forget Dunn and Berkman, is Teahen the Answer?
I don’t think my White Sox posse is much different than most Sox fans. We’ve been pretty hard on Mark Teahen. First, he got off to a terrible start in spring training and then unpleasantly surprised us with his subpar defense at third base with an offensive game that was nothing to brag about.Perhaps the biggest indictment of all is that he went on the DL with the bum finger at the same time the South Siders began their run to the top of the A.L. Central. Coincidence or not, when Omar Vizquel became the Sox regular third baseman the Hose began to roll.
So it’s been a running joke with us that the Twins will get Justin Morneau back from the DL and we get Teahen. Kind of a consolation prize. When somebody went for the laugh last night via e-mail, I responded by saying, “Wouldn’t it be funny if he made a huge impact down the stretch?”
Well, he’s off to a good start. In his first game back, the Rodney Dangerfield of Sox players batted fifth, played right field and went 2 for 4 with a homer, two RBIs and two runs scored in the 8-4 Sox victory over the Tigers.
Kenny Williams pursued Adam Dunn, had Lance Berkman in the fold until the then-Astro nixed the deal and surely looked at others. I don’t want to overreact to one game, but maybe we had that lefthanded hitter we coveted all along. He was just on the DL.
And maybe the joke’s on us.
Random Sox Thoughts on a Wednesday Morning
Things I’m thinking about…
* After the 12-2 win over the Tigers in the opener I would have loved a doubleheader sweep last night, but as one of the members of my Sox posse e-mailed after the second game: “It’s baseball. You don’t win them all. We split two games and gained one-half game. I’ll take it.” And we all know how difficult it is to sweep a twinbill.
* You’d be hard-pressed to find a better story than that of 43-year-old future Hall of Famer Omar Vizquel (above). Having taken over the third base job after Mark Teahen‘s injury, he’s now hitting .293 with numerous clutch hits and superb defense. Remarkable.
* Has anybody noticed that Alexei Ramirez is hovering around the .300 mark at .296? And, oh, that defense.
* Less than two months ago Chris Sale was the club’s No. 1 draft choice out of Florida Gulf Coast University. Is he now headed to Chicago? After four games with Class A Winston-Salem, he was promoted to AAA Charlotte and has struck out 15 in 6 1/3 innings over seven relief appearances. With Carlos Torres shipped back to Charlotte after last night’s start and Erick Threets on the DL, speculation is that Sale might be joining the big club as the second lefty in the pen.
* I wonder how the hapless Orioles will respond to new manager Buck Showalter, who Ozzie sarcastically has referred to as “Mr. Baseball.” If they improve, I hope they start after we leave town next Monday night.
* I’m eager to see Edwin Jackson face his former teammates in Detroit tonight. Would love to see a lights-out performance.
* A big thank you to the Rays, now on top of the A.L. East, for taking the first two games against the Twins.
Danks Outduels King Felix as Sox Remain in First
We knew that tonight’s game, with Felix Hernandez on the mound for the Mariners, would be a tough one for the White Sox to win. But we also know these 2010 Sox and their ability to bounce back from losses.
Last night John Danks led the way in the 6-1 dismantling of Seattle in the South Siders’ triumphant return home after the 4-6 road trip. Paul Konerko smashed his 22nd homer of the season and Juan Pierre (2), Omar Vizquel, Alexei Ramirez and A.J. Pierzynski added RBIs. Pierre and Ramirez had three hits apiece.
To me, when Danks is on his game there’s nobody I’d rather watch pitch– and he was certainly on tonight, hurling eight innings and allowing only six hits in winning his 11th contest of the season.
After the tough road swing, this was an awfully welcome win as the Sox hold on to their one-game division lead over the Twins. And beating King Felix made it even sweeter.
Speaking of Heroes, Don’t Forget Omar and Alexei
When the White Sox acquired Omar Vizquel in the offseason, the hope was that he could be a veteran utility presence in the infield and a steadying influence on Alexei Ramirez.
As we sit here today, 3 1/2 games ahead of the Tigers and Twins, I don’t know where we would be without Omar. With Mark Teahen out of the lineup, he has provided a huge upgrade defensively and has been a key contributor to the offense as well. As of this morning he’s hitting .277, more than we could have reasonably expected.
Alexei? Whether it’s been Vizquel’s influence or not, he is on fire, both at the plate where his average is up to .284, and at short where he has been as good as anyone in the league.
There have been many heroes in the Sox revitalization. Vizquel, Ramirez and their buddy Gordon Beckham (all pictured above) are right at the top of the list.
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