That one didn't go well, either

Wake pitched today after missing a start, and pitched well, just not well enough. He allowed 3 runs in the 1st inning, but settled down to throw 4 scoreless frames before allowing 1 more in the 6th. He struck out 4 and 3 walked. No WP's or PB's, either. Martinez seems to be handling the knuckleball. Not a bad performance given that he was just injured again, but the big news was Chicago's Gavin Floyd had not just a no-no, but a perfecto through 5 innings. Nick Green broke that up with a single in the 6th. None of this perfect game BS against the Red Sox. They've never suffered through a perfect game and weren't about to let one in the books today. Floyd struck out 11 and didn't walk a single batter. Jason Bay hit a home run for the lonesome Red Sox run, and second of only 3 hits they could manage.

The damn Yankees are on a roll, beating Toronto today (grrrrr...........) The only good news today is that the Rangers lost and remain 2 GB the Red Sox in the wild card race.

Red Sox lose 1-5 BOX SCORE

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Wake's back! Papi, two!

Tim Wakefield pitched a great game tonight, his first since July 8th, but unfortunately did not get the win. Wake went 7 strong innings, allowing 6 hits and 1 run, walking 1 and striking 3 White Sox out. This was the first time Martinez had ever caught a knuckleballer in a game. He had caught a couple of Wake’s bullpen sessions under the supervision of Gary Tuck, the bullpen coach. There were no wild pitches in tonight’s game, and while Martinez did have an error, it was on a throw, not a passed ball.

Wake allowed a run in the 1st, but David ‘Big Papi’ Ortiz homered in the bottom of the 2nd to even things up. Alex Gonzalez, of slight power and average, hit his 5th HR of the season to give the Sox the go ahead run in the 5th. He went 2/3 for the night, raising his average to .219. Ramon Ramirez gave up a HR in the top of the 8th for only his 3rd BS of the season. Enter Big Papi in the bottom of the 9th as we hark back to 2004 and the days of seemingly endless Big Papi walk-off HR’s and other greatest hits. He launched his 2nd HR of the night around the Pesky Pole, giving him 22 HR’s and 77 RBI’s so far in the 2009 campaign.

Sox Win 3-2 BOX SCORE

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
White Sox	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	7	0
Red Sox	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	3	7	1

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Q & A with White Sox Beat Writer Mark Gonzales

We checked in with Mark Gonzales, White Sox beat writer for the Chicago Tribune, to see what has been happening on the South Side this summer.


FW: Why do you think Mark Buehrle has struggled since his perfect game?


Mark Gonzales: There's a lot of scrutiny on Mark since the perfect game. He doesn't throw hard, and opponents are sitting on his off-speed pitches with greater frequency.


FW: What is it like to cover Ozzie Guillen as a reporter?

Mark Gonzales: I feel like a cornerback in man-to-man coverage when covering Ozzie. This is not a bad thing, as Ozzie respects a beat writer's job more than any other manager I've covered. He'll rarely dodges a question.

You just never know what he's going to say.


FW: Will Jake Peavy be able to help the White Sox this season?


Mark Gonzales: If Peavy isn't ready by Labor Day, I think it's going to be awfully tough for him to make a considerable contribution this season.

The sense of urgency on the part of the White Sox hasn't been nearly as high as I thought it would be - which speaks to the severity of the injury and rehab.


FW: Do you think the White Sox can win the Central and go anywhere in the playoffs?


Mark Gonzales: Getting to the playoffs. Is the toughest part for the Sox, assuming Peavy is ready. Their bench depth improved with Kotsay, as well as a mix of left-handed and right-handed options.

But unlike the past four years, Detroit has handled the White Sox very well, and the final three games of the regular season are in Detroit.


FW: What is your prediction for the outcome of this series with the Red Sox?

Mark Gonzales: Despite Boston's starting pitching problems, their offensive production with two outs has been very impressive. The White Sox have been lacking with runners in scoring position, and the starting pitchers have little or no margin for error. Unless things change, I see Boston winning this series.

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Chuckle of the Day

This is from “Eight Men Out”, by Eliot Asinof, the story of the 1919 Chicago White Sox who threw the World Series that year.

Ring Lardner was writing in a different vein: “As for today’s game, they was a scribe downtown this AM saying that 2 men asked who was going to pitch today and the scribe said Cicotte and 1 of the men said you are crazy as Cicotte has such a sore arm that he can’t wash the back of his neck. So when we come out to the park this scribe told me about it and I said they wasn’t nothing in the rules of today’s game that required Cicotte to wash the back of his neck.

Eddie Cicotte & Babe Ruth

‘Well,’ said the other expert, ‘the man was just speaking figurative and meant that Eddie had a sore arm.’ ‘Well,’ I said, ‘if he has only one sore arm he can still wash the back of his neck as I only use 1 even when I am going to a party.’
‘The back of your neck looks like it,’ said the other expert. ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘But what is the different or not about Cicotte only having 1 sore arm as he only pitches with 1 arm.’ ‘Yes, you bum, but that is the arm the man said was sore.’

[sic],[sic], [sic], & [sic]

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