SB Nation - Alexei Ramirez

Omar Vizquel is Official

The Cheat — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:23:29 -0000

I held off on commenting on the long-rumored Omar Vizquel signing for two reasons; one, it's pretty tough to get excited about the signing of a back-up shortstop, even if he happens to be one of the best defenders in the history of the game; and two, I wasn't going to waste the energy on a deal that wasn't official. Well now the deal is official.

It seems the only hangup was getting Omar hooked up with some Sox gear, rounding up Luis Aparicio, and putting together a press conference focusing on the White Sox Venezuelan tradition.

So what's left to say? The Sox picked up a veteran who took to the role of part-time backup and full-time mentor to Elvis Andrus, and he'll presumably fall into that same role here with a pair of green middle infielders in Alexei Ramirez and Gordon Beckham. Though Ozzie Guillen is never content to let our assumptions go uncontradicted, saying that Vizquel isn't here as a coach and will get lots of time thanks to Alexei's annual pre-Memorial Day siesta at the plate.

"I don't want him to be a coach,'' manager Ozzie Guillen said of the signing. "That's the last thing I want. Omar is so professional handling something he had to do for the first time in his life. I think the job he did with the kids in Texas [last season] was outstanding.

"His presence with the team is very important. He's a guy that knows how to play the game, he's a Hall of Famer. The kids can take advantage, especially Gordon [Beckham] and [Alexei] Ramirez. We will try and find him a lot of playing time, especially early in the year because everyone knows Ramirez struggles early either because of the weather or over-training."

White Sox close in on shortstop Omar Vizquel

Eli Greenspan — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:21:41 -0000

More photos » by Paul Battaglia - AP

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The White Sox are closing in on a deal with free agent shortstop Omar Vizquel, FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal is reporting. Vizquel gives the White Sox a solid back up at second, short, and third, where the White Sox are expected to have Gordon Beckham, Alexei Ramirez, and Mark Teahen start.

Despite hitting .266 this past season, Vizquel is still one of the top fielders in the league and the White Sox will certainly benefit from his presence.

White Sox Make "News" at GM Meetings

The Cheat — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:38:00 -0000

More photos » by M. Spencer Green - AP

Kenny Williams: The Newsmaker

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Not much happens at the GM meetings. But this year those meetings are taking place in Chicago -- an unnamed hotel near O'hare, actually -- which means the local Chicago rags can afford to send their writers to cover the relative non-event. So we've got a lot to link to for a week after the World Series ended:

There was a reason I refused to put Scott Podsednik in the See Ya Later group and called him a cock-a-roach (in my best Tony Montana voice) on Facebook, he's not going to go away that easily. Those talks that seemed to be dead last week, have, according to the ubiquitous sources, "heated up."
One player who will be gone, is Jermaine Dye. Some speculated that he might be brought back on the cheap to play DH, but JD, while not specifically ruling out the Sox, insists on ruining some as-yet-to-be-determined team's defense.

"There are a number of teams I've heard already that would love to have me,'' Dye said. "I know one thing, I will not be DHing. You can put that down. If a team wants to try me out at first base on an every day basis I'll do that. That's something I feel will be easy to learn. But as far as DHing that's not for me. Teams shouldn't call if that's their plan.''
Bruce Levine seems to think the Sox are going to hang on to Bobby Jenks, and gets the Chicago GMs on the record about instant replay.
Kenny Williams echoed my sentiment about Alexei Ramirez:

"I personally thought it was terribly unfair, the criticism (Ramirez) got," Williams said. "Of course, the lapses are somewhat frustrating, but I expect those as a young player. I expect those coming from young players. That's part of the development."
Williams also joined in raising concerns about the leaking of players names who've been placed on the waiver wire.
And Joe Crede still wants to play for half a season.

White Sox Show Their Hand With Teahen Trade

The Cheat — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 06:35:43 -0000

More photos » by Pat Sullivan - AP

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Two days ago, as the Yankees marched on to yet another purchased World Series title, the White Sox appeared like they could take any number of routes to fill out their '10 lineup. I had planned on writing an SSS Official Off-Season Plan as I have in the past -- quick synopsis: upgrade IF defense by negotiating with the devil. Buy Adrian Beltre, shift the left side of the infield one space right. Find a cheap scrapheap corner outfielder. I was thinking Xavier Nady (also a Boras client) and re-up with Jim Thome -- but Kenny Williams had other ideas, wasting no time in reshaping the '10 roster.

Jettisoned (for sure): Jermaine Dye, Josh Fields, Chris Getz; (maybe): Scott Podsednik (I'm never going to write off his return)

Returning: Mark Kotsay

Newcomer: Mark Teahen

We basically knew all those moves Thursday morning, but it still wasn't apparent how the Sox would use Teahen. My own thought was that it would mean an end to our years of having a lumbering, full-time DH on the roster. In that scenario, Teahen would have played 3B/OF and Pods probably would have been back as well, rotating with any number of players through the DH spot. But Kenny erased that notion by naming Teahen the White Sox 3rd baseman of the immediate future.

What does it all mean for the '10 roster?

The moves leave the Sox with two obvious holes at Designated Hitter and a corner outfield spot. DH is unlikely to be filled anytime soon, as the Sox don't have much to spend and the bottom has fallen out of the defensively-challenged hitter market in recent years. It's likely that the Sox will go bargain hunting as the calendar turns to February, with Williams not ruling out bringing back Jim Thome or even Dye.

"I don't think you can rule it out because it's a long offseason," said Williams, adding he might not fill the designated hitter role until the latter part of the winter. "We just got started. Everyone knows I think the world of this guy."

The remaining corner outfield spot is a bit trickier. The Sox stand with about $90M committed to their players making above the league minimum (arbitration figures estimated), and an operating budget that figures to come in under $100M. It's unlikely that they can bring in adequate talent at those two premium offensive positions on the open market for less than $10M. This means a trade, of course, is on the horizon; and Bobby Jenks seems like the most likely to leave.

Phil Rogers seems eager to remove Paul Konerko's $12M contract, though he never provides a team willing to take on that contract, or how the Sox will replace his production.

No, I suspect Jenks-for-an-outfielder will be the rumor of the off-season; and it's already started courtesy Joe Cowley with a Jenks and Jordan Danks for Carl Crawford postulation on 670 the score. We'll have plenty of time to discuss these rumors over the winter.

For now, let's take a look at what it means for the Sox as they stand currently:

Beckham moves to 2nd -- In my unpublished off-season plan, I wanted to move Beckham off third not because I didn't think he could play there, but because I thought it was the best way to upgrade both offense and defense at the same time. I don't particularly care which infield spot he gets moved to. Alexei Ramirez committed a number of errors and short, yes; and he was a bit of an adventure turning the double play. But he was solid, and overall a reliable glove in the field.

I learned after the 2000 season not to get upset at an adequate shortstop who draws the ire of radio call-in guests with some high profile errors. Every shortstop makes errors, and most of them are of the 'bad' variety. Alexei is no different than any host of major league shortstops. He was the definition of average defensively. He was merely frustrating because he showed plus range and the ability to make some spectacular plays, but negated it by making the occasional annoyingly lackadaisical error, which he seemed to correct as the season wore on. (He was probably one of the top 5 defensive SS in baseball in the second half). I'll take my chances that he's more the second-half Alexei than first-half.

So Beckham moves to second base, a position that would seem to be more natural for him, and his predicted destination since being drafted in '08. He should have no trouble making the transition, as we saw him make considerable progress at 3B over the course of the season. My only complaint is that if the Sox had this in mind, there was no reason not to be playing Beckham at 2B over the last month of the season when the Sox were clearly out of the AL central race.

As for Teahen at third, um, yeah, that's another story. He's bad defensively. Not quite Josh Fields bad, but close enough that he shouldn't be considered a first option, and isn't the type of player who pushes a franchise player like Beckham to another position.

Offensively, Teahen is living off his reputation from a breakout '06 season when he put up and ISO of .225. In the three years since, he's averaged an ISO of about .135. He has the glove of Mark Reynolds, and the bat of Pedro Feliz.

Watching Teahen bat against the White Sox in recent years, you might get the impression that he was a speedy baserunner, as I seem to recall two separate inside-the-park homeruns. And while he did use Kauffman's expansive outfield to pile up 23 triples in his first 4 seasons, he managed only 1 last season. Diving into the Bill James Handbook, Teahen is listed as having a negative impact on the bases last year due to his ability to run into key outs. James also has a measure called Manufactured Runs Created, a measure of the little things (bunts, steals, sac flies, etc.) impact on creating runs. In this category, Teahen ranked among the Royals top 3 at 16 MRC. But the Royals ranked last in the league, and Teahen appears to be marginally above average here. (A full data set was not provided, and I'm not going to draw any conclusions based on a year of data.)

Teahen's only under contract for a year, and, thanks to the $2M from the Royals, should only cost the Sox about $2.5M. So maybe he's just a stop-gap, future utility guy, and the Sox have supreme confidence in their 3B depth (Retherford, Viciedo, Morel).

So what did the Sox gain by adding Teahen? Not much in my view. They didn't give up anything of value. Chris Getz is the best player they gave up, and he might be able to post some league average production at his peak (if he can stay healthy).

Overall, it was the right idea -- getting a 3B to move Beckham to a more natural position -- but Teahen is the wrong player to take the Sox to the next level.

Kenny Williams Wastes No Time

U-God — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:08:27 -0000

More photos » by Charlie Riedel - AP

Welcome to the team Mark. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

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Not even twelve hours into the off-season, Kenny Williams has made his first roster move. 2B Chris Getz and 3B Josh Fields were traded to the Kansas City Royals this morning for 3B/OF Mark Teahen. For those unfamiliar with Teahen, he is a 28 year old who bats lefty and owns a career .269/.331/.419/.749 line with an OPS+ of 97. For what it's worth, he has hit very well at the Cell. He becomes the second member of the infamous Oakland Athletics' Moneyball draft to join the White Sox. Here's hoping his tenure here is more enjoyable than the previous one was.

I'm not really sure how to feel about this trade. Fields' career with the Pale Hose was over, so I'm happy he gets to see a new organization. I don't like that Getz is gone. Teahen has been worth .4 WAR combined over the past two seasons and has seen his walk rate drop each year since 2007. If he can get back to drawing walks like he did in 2006 and 2007, he can be valuable again. Another sticking point is salary. Teahen made 3.75 mil last season and is arbitration eligible. We just added another 4 million to the team payroll with this trade. The thing I wonder about now is what is Kenny's next move? If Teahen really is starting in right, is Nix the new 2B? Are Gordon Beckham and Alexei Ramirez going to be shifted around the infield? At least we know it's going to be an interesting off-season.

Rosterbation-Mania!

U-God — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:18:10 -0000

More photos » by Ted S. Warren - AP

Raise your hand if you want to play for the White Sox next year. Esteban, please put your hand down. Seriously though, Esteban, you aren't welcome. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

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Over the past couple days, and inspired by the infamous U.S.S. Mariner post and the on-going reader input over at Sox Machine, I've been putting together my off-season plan. I tried to keep it as realistic as possible (no video game trades), especially in terms of payroll. Feel encouraged to leave your own roster plans in the comments section. U-God's 2010 plan lies after the jump.

Free Agent Acquistions:

DH- Nick Johnson, 1 year/5.5 mil

I love Jim Thome and always will. He is my back-up plan. With that being said, I would be thrilled if KW went out and got Nick Johnson. The 31 year old lefty has a career .849 OPS fueled largely by his .402 career OBP. Johnson also allows us to rotate Paul Konerko and Carlos Quentin in at DH as well. He does come with injury-risks, but using him mainly as a DH in combination with one of the premier medical staffs in baseball should counteract that. The injury risk combined with the down market should allow the Sox to grab him at a reasonable price for a year.

RF- Marlon Byrd, 1 year/4.5 mil

Byrd would be a very refreshing change of pace out in rightfield. He has posted an OPS above .800 each year since joining the American League and has been an above-average defender in right as well. His career high 20 homers last year will guarentee him a raise, though probably a modest one. Byrd also provides a nice stop-gap for our outfield prospects.

C- Brian Schneider, 1 year/1.5 mil

Schneider's days as a starter are over. He's a lefty-catcher who has had good success stopping opponent's run games (38 CS%). Being a backup drops his price tag and lowers his risk of getting hurt again.

1B/OF- Mark Kotsay, 1 year/1.5 mil

Bring him back. He was good after we traded for him and gives Ozzie more flexibility with his bench and lineups.

Contract Extension:

Offer John Danks the Jon Lester deal (5 years/30 mil). It's a back-loaded contract that buys out John's arbitration years and allows him to hit free agency at age 31. It may take more money to lock him up, but for simplicity's sake, I'm just going to use the Lester deal.

Batting Order:

DH- Nick Johnson, 3B- Gordon Beckham, LF- Carlos Quentin, 1B- Paul Konerko, C- A.J. Pierzynski, CF- Alex Rios, RF- Marlon Byrd, SS- Alexei Ramirez, 2B- Chris Getz.

That OBP in front of Beckham gives me dirty thoughts.

Bench:

C- Brian Schneider, 1B/OF- Mark Kotsay, UTIL- Jayson Nix, OF- Alejandro De Aza

Nix gives pop off the bench and De Aza gives Ozzie a speedy pinch-runner for late in the game.

Starting Rotation:

Jake Peavy-RHP, Mark Buehrle-LHP, Gavin Floyd-RHP, John Danks-LHP, Freddy Garcia-RHP

I like the idea of having Peavy and Garcia pitch back to back.

Bullpen:

Bobby Jenks-CL, Matt Thornton-LHP, Scott Linebrink-RHP, DJ Carrasco-RHP, Tony Peña-RHP, Jhonny Nuñez-RHP, Randy Williams-LHP

I wanted to trade Jenks, but his value is too low right now and I don't want a repeat of the Nick Swisher trade.

Other Costs:

$1 mil buy-out for Jermaine Dye

$.35 mil for Mike MacDougal, damn him

Team Payroll:

$96.65 mil, only .55 higher than last season's opening salary. All figures (except my FAs and arbitration guesstimates) taken from Cot's Baseball Contracts.

2010 Bill James Projections: White Sox Hitters

The Cheat — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:20:08 -0000

The good people at ACTA Sports provided me a sneak preview at the 2010 Bill James projections, which will be made available the public the the 2010 Bill James Handbook (available next week).

James tends to have the most optimistic projections of any of the major forecasters, specifically for young players (read: unestablished players, i.e. Flowers)

2010 Bill James' Projections

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
Gordon Beckham	155	567	93	166	44	1	21	96	59	89	10	5	.288	.360	.477
Jermaine Dye	152	571	85	149	30	1	30	92	57	123	2	1	.261	.333	.480
Tyler Flowers	67	243	40	75	17	1	12	32	32	85	2	1	.275	.353	.476
Chris Getz	99	364	49	98	16	2	4	33	36	55	20	6	.269	.340	.357
Paul Konerko	148	539	74	143	27	0	29	90	67	96	1	0	.265	.354	.477
Jayson Nix	90	247	33	60	13	0	8	27	21	49	9	3	.243	.307	.393
A.J. Pierzynski	140	527	61	149	28	1	14	62	24	64	1	1	.283	.323	.419
Scott Podsednik	110	324	45	89	17	2	3	26	29	50	17	8	.275	.340	.367
Carlos Quentin	146	542	92	147	36	2	30	97	59	77	5	2	.271	.356	.511
Alexei Ramirez	147	527	75	150	19	2	18	78	42	58	12	6	.285	.339	.431
Alex Rios	149	564	79	157	36	5	16	73	41	102	21	7	.278	.332	.445
Jim Thome	132	441	73	108	20	0	29	84	88	146	0	0	.245	.374	.488

The Sox will be in very good shape next year if they get that type of production from Quentin and Rios.

The Top 5 White Sox Games of 2009

U-God — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:49:39 -0000

More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP

The Savior wonders if his accomplishments will appear in the list of the season's best games. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

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While the White Sox didn't make the playoffs this year (or finish above .500 for that matter), it never really felt like a chore to watch (at least to me) like 2007 did. Once the season ended (and this lull between playoff rounds began), I started thinking about what games were the best ones from this season. Some caveats: I only went with games we won. I personally don't care much for losses and didn't feel like putting any close, but last second losses in my top 5. Also, this is a pretty subjective exercise, so I don't expect everyone to agree with my choices. Feel free to post your choices in the comments. With that being said, the top 5 games from the 2009 season are after the jump.

5. May 25, @LAA SOX: 17, LAA: 3

The main reason this game makes the cut is the 17 runs were the most the Sox had scored in a game since June 20, 2006. Every starter had a hit, with the Thome, Konerko, and Dye all going yard. The team scored 14 runs through the first five innings, and were only blanked in the sixth and the eighth. The only reason it isn't ranked higher is the game was over by the second inning.

4. April 7, vs. KC SOX: 4, KC:2

Ah, Opening Day. The holiest of all national holidays. We had to wait longer than usual due to a snowout, but the payoff was well worth it. Things looked pretty grim going into the eighth inning, when the worst manager in the AL Central brought in the beloved Kyle Farnsworth. Every now and then, you feel like the baseball game is scripted. When Jim Thome stepped up with two runners on and two outs, it felt like everyone watching knew what would happen next. The season had so much promise back then.

3. April 13, @ DET SOX: 10, DET: 6

While the game itself was fairly unspectacular, the second inning alone insured that it would appear on this list. Leading off, Jermaine Dye would take Zach Miner deep to left-center at 12:23 P.M. for his 300th career homerun. Exactly three minutes later, Paul Konerko would blast one past the left field fence for his 300th as well. This marked the first time in MLB history that two teammates had hit century milestone homeruns back to back. The White Sox even had 7,000 little commemerative figures with a base made to honor the accomplishment (number 4,036 sits proudly on my desk). A normal enough game, but the history makes it pretty special in my eyes.

2. June 27, vs. CHC SOX: 8, CHC: 7

The complete opposite of a pitcher's duel, but an incredibly fun back-and-forth battle throughout gets this game the number two spot on the list. The lead changed hands four times before the Pale Hose tied it up in the eighth on an Alexei Ramirez single. I still remember sitting in left field with my current roommate Dan and wanting the game to come down to Gordon Beckham. Whatever deities may be decided to answer my prayers. With Josh Fields on second and Jayson Nix on first, Gordon Beckham stepped in with two outs. Jose Ascanio's first pitch the the rookie would be crushed into the rightfield gap for our young savior's first walk off hit in the bigs. There was something magical about hearing "Your Love" played before any other victory song.

1. July 23, vs. TB SOX: 5, TB: 0

Was there ever any doubt what game was going to get number one? There have been better articles written than I could ever hope to create. Everything from Fields' grand slam to Wise's miracle catch was fantastic. Even typing this just give me chills. So I'll stop writing about it. Pictures do more justice than I ever could.

Indefensible: Cubs Defense And Managing Shoddy In 5-0 Loss To White Sox

Al — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 04:12:50 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

This kind of sums up the entire 2009 season.

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SOMEWHERE NEAR CLEVELAND -- Finally in for the evening after driving halfway to NYC from Chicago, before I recap the Cubs' 5-0 loss to the White Sox on Thursday, I wanted to say a few words about some of the behavior in the game threads.

We are all frustrated with the play of this team and particularly Alfonso Soriano, who's had a tough year while being injured and not really telling anyone for four months and trying to play through it.

Today's dropped fly ball really summed up not only his, but the Cubs' entire season. However, threatening him with death really isn't called for. This is baseball. It's a sport that's supposed to provide us with enjoyment, and perhaps one day the fulfillment of our dreams of a Cubs World Series. All I ask here is that you try to behave as you would around other people when you're on this site, particularly in the game threads, which I know can get kind of heated. Please keep it clean and don't make threats -- I know it doesn't feel very good to see losses like this. Just try to keep things in perspective. Thanks.

At this point in the season, with Soriano clearly still hurting -- it was impossible to tell, even sitting as close as I was to him in left field, whether his attempt to do his usual "hop" under A.J. Pierzynski's fly ball, or he just slipped on a piece of turf -- maybe it's time to shut him down. Soriano didn't make excuses:

"I slipped, and when I slipped I lost my balance," Soriano said. "I don't make an excuse, but that's the first time it happened -- that I slipped and missed the ball."

That wasn't the only problem, and in fact, as Aramis Ramirez went on to say:

"The last time I checked, we didn't score any runs," Aramis Ramirez said, "so even if [Soriano] makes that play, we lose, 1-0. Nobody wants to make a mistake on the field. 'Sori' doesn't want to make mistakes. Nobody wants to be embarrassed like that. We have to pick it up, that's the bottom line."

Ryan Dempster nearly matched Tom Seaver -- er, Carlos Torres, he just looked like Seaver out there Thursday afternoon -- by allowing no earned runs in seven-plus innings. Jake Fox's error on a routine pickoff throw allowed Chris Getz to go to second base in the second inning, where he scored on Alexei Ramirez's single. A 1-0 loss is tough enough to take, but then there was the managing problem.

When Fox led off the seventh inning, there was absolutely no excuse for him to still be on the bases. Your best bet defensively is to get him out of there in the next inning for Micah Hoffpauir, so why was he still running with nobody out? That is the one place, the ONE possible place, where Aaron Miles could have been useful. If Miles is running for Fox, he probably scores on Jeff Baker's single. Or maybe Mike Quade holds Fox (or Miles) at third base and there are runners on the corners with nobody out and then maybe Ozzie Guillen lifts Torres for Octavio Dotel. The Cubs have hit Dotel well since he signed with the White Sox -- and maybe then the whole game turns out differently.

Lou compounded his mistake of not using Miles in the one possible place where he could actually have been useful, by sending him up to pinch-hit in the last of the eighth for PH Mike Fontenot, who had already been announced to PH for Angel Guzman, when Ozzie called on lefthander Matt Thornton.

Now, think about this for a minute. Miles hasn't done anything useful all year. He's hitting .226 vs. LHP coming into this game, and .095 (2-for-23) as a pinch-hitter. Why on Earth would you put him in that situation at all, much less trailing 3-0 in the 8th inning? Send up Andres Blanco. Or Geovany Soto. Or even Carlos Zambrano, for heaven's sake. Miles grounded to short, which was utterly predictable.

Thanks, Lou. It wasn't all your fault, but it was yet another situation in which you used the wrong player in the wrong situation at the wrong time. Lou seems, again, disinterested and defeated, as noted in his postgame remarks, where he said about three sentences and didn't take questions. Maybe it's time for him to go.

It just wasn't the Cubs' day, and that started two hours before game time when a snafu resulted in anyone who had actually had their ticket scanned on June 16 (the original game date, and that included me) denied entry until the Cubs released those barcodes from their system (it took a few minutes before they figured it out, even though they had had two other postponed and rescheduled games earlier this year where no such problems occurred). Fortunately, they worked it out and everyone got in with a minimum of fuss.

And, the Rockies actually cooperated Thursday by losing, keeping the Cubs six games behind (five in the loss column) with 30 to go. It's still not an impossible task, but winning a few in a row right now would be the thing to do. Maybe starting in New York. Keep the faith. I'll report from Citi Field after Friday night's game.

Joe Nathan Blows the Sweep

Jesse — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 20:14:07 -0000

More photos » by Ann Heisenfelt - AP

3 months ago: Minnesota Twins relief pitcher Joe Nathan sits in the dugout after he was replaced by Matt Guerrier during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Minneapolis, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2009. Nathan gave up back-to-back home runs with two outs in the ninth inning in the Twins 4-2 loss. (AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt)

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Two outs, two strikes. Twice.

Somehow, knowing that the Twins won the series doesn't make me feel any better. In fact, I feel sick. I was ready to write headlines like "Twins Eliminate Sox" or "Punto Wins Game With Head-First Slide Into First Base" or "Twins Say Goodbye To Sox In Style". But NO.

For seven innings Brian Duensing was brilliant. He retired seven on stikes and allowed just ~~four~~ five hits, walking two. Nobody scored. The double plays came at the right time, the strikeouts were huge, and as good as Mark Buehrle was, Duensing was just better. Even when Michael Cuddyer made a catch against the baggy and the umpires played Make Believe, pretending to have seen the ball hit the wall, Brian was able to cowboy up, settle in and retire the White Sox without surrendering a run in a four-out inning.

Buehrle cruised for a while, blowing through five innings and picking up steam before the Twins got to him in the sixth. Jason Kubel picked up a pair of hits off Buehrle tonight, the biggest coming with two outs and the bases loaded in said frame to score Denard Span and Joe Mauer and give the Twins their 2-0 lead. And for a short time, it looked like that would be it.

Fast-forward through a third double play turned against the Sox and Jason Kubel throwing Carlos Quentin out as he tried to stretch a single into a double, through Jon Rauch and another double play, through Joe Mauer (did he stare down Randy "Oops that fastball got away from me" Williams?) getting plunked, through Mark Kotsay and Scott Podsednik (wow did he suck tonight, is anyone surprised?) in the ninth inning.

With two outs, Nathan worked ahead of Gordon friggin' Beckham 0-2 before throwing three consecutive balls and then watching an inside fastball somehow end up in the home run porch. Paul Konerko also saw a two-strike count as Nathan was clearly struggling, and on pitch number seven of the at-bat Nathan's slider ended up about two feet higher than Span could jump in left field. Tie game.

Fast-forward through Jermaine Dye and Quentin walking and Nathan getting pulled. Fast-forward through Alexei Ramirez and his single, through Span's good throw and Mike Redmond being unable to A) block the plate and B) hold onto the ball, through a wild pitch (passed ball?) that got by Redmond. 4-2 Sox, all runs coming with two out, the first three runs coming with two strikes.

I take no joy in the fact that the Sox are still dead in the water, and it's of little comfort that the Twins took two of three. It was the last time the Twins and White Sox would face off in the Dome, the sweep was ours for the taking, and it was blown by the guy who is arguably the best closer in the game.

Here's hoping the Indians can do us a solid and take out the Tigers tonight. After today's game, we could use a favor. Well, another favor.

Stars of the Game
#3: Denard Span (3-for-4, R, .040 WPA)
#2: Jason Kubel (2-for-3, 2 RBI, .257 WPA)
#1: Brian Duensing (7 IP, 4 5 H, 7 K, 2 BB, 0 R, .436 WPA)

Teeth Gnashig and Shredding of Clothes
#1: Joe Nathan (0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 HR, 2 BB, 4 R, 1 K, -.396 WPA)
#2: Matt Guerrier (0.1 IP, 1 H, -.429 WPA)
#3: Mike Redmond (0-for-3, ~~passed ball~~, dropped ball on play at the plate)