White Sox: Seven in a Row

Twenty innings of baseball in two days and two losses to show for it.  For the second time in as many nights, the Indians lost by one run in the tenth.  One word sums up this series as well as the season : frustrating.  Really, other words sum it up, but that was the only one I felt comfortable typing.  6-5 was the score, and 12 ½ is the division lead the Sox now possess over the Indians.

In two days, the White Sox handled the best pitching Cleveland had to offer: Cliff Lee and C.C. Sabathia.  If you’re a White Sox fan, life is looking great on the coat-tails of a seven game win streak.  If you’re a Tribe fan, you wonder if Cliff Lee will be starting the All Star game.  Why?  Because basically that is all you have to hope for at the moment.

The Indians started off with an opportunity to tag Jose Contreras heavy.  Up 1-0 and having the bases loaded with two out, up walked David Dellucci.  All I could think of was “Is it too early to bring on a pinch hitter?”  Apparently not, as Dellucci whiffed and let the White Sox off the hook for a big inning.

A.J. Pierzynski and Jermaine Dye tagged-teamed home runs off Sabathia in the bottom of the first and you knew it would be a long game.

Both teams traded runs in the second.  The Indians got theirs on a single by Ryan Garko, Kelly Shoppach on first after an error, both moving up on a fly ball by Grady Sizemore, and a groundout by Jamey Carroll scoring Shoppach.

The White Sox run came on a double by Ozuna and a single by Nick Swisher that scored Ozuna.

The Indians chipped away in the fifth and the sixth, scoring a run each inning and garnishing their first lead of the game.

The White Sox took back the lead on a pair of runs in the seventh, and things looked grim for the Tribe.

Grady Sizemore saved the day by homering in the ninth, sending the game into extra frames.

A.J. Pierzynski decided in the bottom of the tenth he would join the list of White Sox who’d multi-homered the Tribe this season by knocking the first pitch he saw out of the park, sending the White Sox fans home happy.

The White Sox take on Oakland Thursday, while the Indians have a day off to think about it.  The Tribe will head to Minnesota to take on the Minnesota Twins, Byrd vs. Hernandez.  Gametime is 7:10.