SB Nation - Carlos Quentin

My Maudlin' Career

the red baron — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:29:27 -0000

I didn't really realise it last week, but just the other day it sort of hit me when I looked at the date: I just celebrated two years of writing for this wonderful site. My very first front page post was on Halloween of 2007, and seeing as how we are now in the glorious month of November in Year of Our Lord 2009, that's two damned years I've been cluttering up the interwebs with my peculiar ramblings. And so, seeing as how I am the sort of person who simply cannot resist nostalgia or making lists of things, I thought I would go back through all the things I've written here at VEB and pick out my favourites. It also doesn't hurt, of course, that very little is actually going on in Cardinal land at this particular moment.

So I started rolling back through all my past posts, and something began to become apparent as I did: I'm sort of a depressing dude. Most of my stuff I think is really pretty good tends to be of the wistful, sad, and slightly bitter emotive variety. Don't get me wrong; the idea I am a bit of a bummer is not exactly news to me, as people have been telling me that my whole life. However, it was a bit surprising to see the proof staring me so clearly in the face.

Regardless, I am proud to bring you my personal Best Of collection out of sheer arrogance and hubris. (And also maybe a little because I was interested to see if I've gotten any better at this, but mostly the gigantic ego thing.) In reverse chronological order (I think):

Reflection -- recent post about the end of our season
Talk Talk Talk-- the very first chat I tried
Drafting a Masterpiece-- reviewing the first day of the 2009 draft
Swingin', and Not Just Dick-- there is, in fact, a toaster involved in this post
Life Lenses-- in which I discuss the departure of Adam Kennedy
God Bless Us, Every One -- Christmas 2008
The Team Stripped Bare By Its Suitors, Even-- an interesting hypothetical, and my favourite title
Good Bye, Halcyon Days -- mourning for last summer, and my second favourite title
Not With a Bang, but a Whimper-- Jason Isringhausen
Saturday Morning Coming Down-- a discussion of Mark McGwire and me forgetting how to spell the word rhythm

And, just for funsies, my first main page story, and the very first diary I ever put up here.

Hopefully you don't find this too very self-indulgent, though I'm certain it probably is.

As for the current news of the day:

I am of the belief the Yankees' strategy of using only three pitchers and throwing them on short rest is going to backfire on them. We already saw A.J. Burnett get crushed pitching on three days' rest, and I'm honestly expecting something similar from Pettitte tonight. I still expect the Yankees to win in seven, because I do believe CC Sabathia will roll pretty much no matter what and Cole Hamels seems a bit lost in the wilderness to me, but I also think New York has made the series much tougher than it needed to be. Historically we can see pitchers tend to struggle on short rest, regardless of the era in question (relatively speaking, of course; if a pitcher is usually going on three days' rest, then two days' rest hurts hime), and I think Girardi has weakened his team's position unnecessarily. What do all of you think? I know this concept of only needing three starters in the playoffs has been Fritz' pet peeve for a while now; we now get to see just how viable such a strategy really is.

I don't much care for the Iwamura deal from the Pirates' side of things; it just seems like they're still treading water. Dave Cameron disagrees with me, for whatever it's worth.(I also forgot Jack Wilson got traded to the Mariners; the perils of writing in a hurry, you know.) I do wish like hell whoever it was who started stumping for Ben Zobrist a couple years ago had more pull with the front office; the guy could have been had for a song as recently as last season, now he has to be considered untouchable. Interestingly enough, VEB has been right in wanting to acquire both Jayson Werth and Zobrist at various points in time before they broke out. I know there were some here last year (myself included), who would have liked to see Johnny Mo try to pick up Huston Street on the cheap while he was struggling. I remember the advocacy of several posters (again, myself included), for a deal that would have brought Cliff Lee to the Cards after his disastrous 2007 campaign. (In fact, Lee was one of my personal crusades that offseason.) I believe the idea was to move Scott Rolen for Lee and possibly try to get Jhonny Peralta involved somehow with other inducements going from St. Louis to Cleveland. I was a big fan of Carlos Quentin, and I know jillsinmo (who seems to have largely disappeared, sadly), stumped for him for awhile as well. My point? If you happen to work in the Cardinals' front office and are reading this (and I know you guys are), you may want to take a good hard look at any buy-low guys we come up with this offseason. Our track record is remarkably good.

Of course, if you had listened to us last year, we might very well have signed Ben Sheets for a lost season, so at least make sure you look at the X-rays first.

My predicition, guaranteed to be right, for Game 6 tonight: Phillies 7, Yankees 3. Pedro goes 5 inning, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits and a walk. JA Happ relieves him and holds the Yankees down. Pettitte gets knocked around, failing to get out of the third inning and giving up 5 runs.

Have a lovely day, everyone.

The Baron's Playlist for the 4th of November, 2009

"Lovelier Girl" -- Beach House

"Jesus Walking on the Water" -- Violent Femmes

"Mr. Tough" -- Yo La Tengo

"Pale Blue Eyes" -- The Velvet Underground

"These Days" -- Nico

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.

Don't Worry About Alex Rios, Greg Walker is on the case

The Cheat — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:53:52 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

Alex Rios is pulling off the ball just a tad...

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Alex Rios has $58.7M left on his contract, is coming off a season in which he hit .199/.229/.301 after joining the White Sox, and has, at times, appeared completely lost at the plate. But don't worry, Greg Walker is planning a special trip to Puerto Rico help turn Rios around.

As the Sox slipped further out of the race in September, Rios channeled '06 Brian Anderson and I plotted a post about the Sox most important off-season acquisition; a new hitting coach. You know, one that actually does something, makes obvious adjustments to struggling players instead of letting them 'hit their way out of it' and preaching on about the magical powers of the obverse side of a baseball card. My reasoning was simple; the Sox had roughly 60M reasons to find a hitting coach who would actually do something besides spout cliched baseball platitudes.

But I never expected Walker to be back, certainly not on a two-year deal. I severely underestimated the nepotism factor. You could say it's sticking with the Devil you know vs. the Devil you don't. Only now the Devil's got a plan, traveling camp Walker...

"Quentin and Rios are the two guys that we wanted to work with specifically. They are young middle of the order hitters and should be with us a long time. Q is a guy that watches a lot of video and is a bright guy. We're going to look at the good, bad and the ugly the last few years and come up with a gameplan. No swinging or anything like that. Just some time spent with him, mostly on the computer, come up with a plan.

"We want [Rios] to work on some things in the offseason with no pressure. I wanted to firm up that we're all on the same page."

So while I have to applaud Walker for finally taking a more visibly proactive approach, that little voice in the back of my mind dutifully reminds me; it's Greg Freakin' Walker. He's about as effective as ExtenZe.

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.

That Bunch of [Expletives] Won: White Sox 8, Tigers 4

Ian Casselberry — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:25:57 -0000

More photos » by Nam Y. Huh - AP

It was going so well for Edwin Jackson on Sunday afternoon... until the sixth inning.

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This whole season hasn't been easy for the Detroit Tigers, so why should its last week be any different?

With a chance to win two out of three in their final road series of the season, and the possibility of adding a game to their lead over the Twins in the AL Central, two of the Tigers' most dependable pitchers let them down. Edwin Jackson pitched well for five innings, allowing one run and two hits. And the Tigers' lineup twice gave him a narrow one-run lead.

But beginning in the sixth inning, Jackson left the ball up in the strike zone (perhaps a sign he was tiring out), and that got him in trouble. Alex Rios led off with a double, Scott Podsednik followed with a triple, and Gordon Beckham hit another double, resulting in two runs and the White Sox regaining the lead.

Jackson stayed in the game for one more inning, perhaps an attempt by Jim Leyland to see if the Tigers could at least tie the game and take Jackson off the hook for a loss. (Or Leyland didn't want to tap out the bullpen any further, after almost six innings of work last night.)

But he had to come out of the game eventually, and with Brandon Lyon pitching two innings on Saturday, Leyland had to use Fernando Rodney. (Rodney also needed the work, having not pitched since Thursday.) Using him in a non-save situation (as his 5.40 ERA under such circumstances indicates) is often playing with fire, and the Tigers got burned for it this time.

As was the case on Thursday, Rodney had trouble locating his fastball. When he did throw a strike with it, he left the pitch out over the plate and gave up singles to Mark Kotsay and Alexei Ramirez. But Carlos Quentin waited for a change-up, and when he got one low and away, Quentin took it opposite-field for a three-run homer. That put the ballgame out of reach. No expletives from Ozzie Guillen tonight.

Fortunately for the Tigers, the loss didn't cost them any of their first-place lead, as the Twins lost 4-1 to the Royals. (Atta boy, Zack Greinke!) That reduces Detroit's magic number to six, with Minnesota visiting Comerica Park for the next four games. The biggest series of the season begins tomorrow night.

Purr:

Curtis Granderson appears to be finding his stroke when the Tigers need him the most. Grandy went 3-for-4 today with a home run, giving him six hits in his last two games. Maybe the Tigers need to hypnotize him and convince Grandy he's playing in his hometown for the next four games. At least when he's at the plate.

Comment of the Day:

Be careful what you say when Rodney comes into the game...

If we're already losing and can't seem to put together any of our own runs.....

he can’t really make it worse.

by wepri31

Tigers Lose: Game 155 Shame

Ian Casselberry — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 20:54:04 -0000

I suppose the Gods of Sports Justice weren't going to allow both the Lions and the Tigers to win for Detroit on the same day. And really, the Lions beating the Redskins probably used up all the good juju in the bottle.

The White Sox took a 4-2 lead with a three-run sixth inning, but the game really got away from the Tigers in the eighth as Chicago tacked on another four runs. The big blow was a three-run homer by Carlos Quentin off Fernando Rodney. (You know what happens when he pitches in a non-save situation...)

So Detroit loses out on a chance to possibly gain a game on the Twins. (Minnesota is down 4-1 to the Royals heading into the ninth inning.) Only two games will separate the top two teams in the AL Central going into the biggest series of the season, a four-gamer beginning tomorrow at Comerica Park.

Tigers lose to the White Sox, 8-4. Full recap to come. But for now, there will be wallowing.

Miguel Olivo is Irish, The White Sox Are Lifeless

The Cheat — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 03:02:28 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

Look at this pale redheaded Master Flamer

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We can't even joke about the White Sox playoff hopes anymore. Ozzie has begun filling out lineup cards featuring a bench (instead of an outfield) of Jermaine Dye, Alex Rios and Carlos Quentin. Hawk spent the evening acting as if this game meant the Sox season. To which the Sox responded with a 3-hit barrage, including 1 that left the infield, extending their scoreless inning streak to 18.

The season is officially over; Luke Hochevar serving as coroner, Miguel Olivo as undertaker.

Next year starts tomorrow. Jake Peavy arrived just in time.

Angels Five Starters Superb Despite Disappearing Bats

Rev Halofan — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 17:00:17 -0000

More photos » by ED ZURGA - AP

2 months ago: Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher John Lackey throws in the first inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

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Here is how awesome the pitching has been for the Angels...

Monday night’s game was the only time thru the order in the past 15 games that inherited runners left by an Angels starting pitcher scored. What follows is all of the scoring that has occurred with an Angels starting pitcher on the mound in each of their past three starts (15 games, 3 starts each).

John Lackey

D. Barton scored on J. Lackey's throwing error
B. Butler singled to second, W. Bloomquist scored

Joe Saunders

B. Pena singled to shallow center, D. DeJesus scored
M. Olivo homered to deep left
J. Nix homered to deep left

Ervin Santana

M. Sweeney singled to shallow left, F. Gutierrez scored
M. Jacobs singled to shallow right, D. DeJesus scored
A. Callaspo singled to shallow right, M. Maier scored
B. Butler homered to deep left, M. Maier scored
B. Butler singled to shallow right, J. Anderson scored
G. Beckham homered to deep left center
S. Podsednik hit an inside the park homerun to deep right
M. Kotsay safe at first on right fielder B. Abreu's fielding error, G. Beckham scored

Scott Kazmir

B. Hall doubled to deep center, M. Sweeney scored
B. Hall scored on M. Napoli's throwing error
F. Gutierrez homered to deep center
C. Quentin singled to shallow left, G. Beckham and P. Konerko scored

Jered Weaver

A Callaspo tripled to deep right center, M. Jacobs scored
K. Johjima homered to deep left center
J. Lopez homered to deep left
N. Swisher homered to deep right
M. Teixeira tripled to deep center, N. Swisher and J. Damon scored

THE TOTALS FOR THE STARTING STAFF SINCE AUGUST 30:

Runs Allowed on…
ERRORS: 2
SINGLES: 7
DOUBLES: 1
TRIPLES: 2
HOMERS: 9
SOLO HOMERS: 8

Of 19 hits that have batted in a run, only 3 have brought more than 1 run across the plate, a Billy Butler 2-Run HR in KC (by Santana), a Carlos Quentin 2-Run single in Anaheim on Saturday (by Kazmir) and the Mark Teixeira 2-Run triple last night (by Weaver).

The Angels are 10-5 in this stretch and most of that is entirely due to a singles-hitting offense that peaked in mid-August with many betters on quick regressions, especially Mike Napoli, Juan Rivera, Chone Figgins, Bobby Abreu and our hero Kendry Morales.

On the plus side, the last time the bullpen allowed an inherited runner to score before last night was August 25, when Jason Bulger allowed a sac fly to score a runner on 3rd in the 7th inning of a home game against Detroit.

Joe Nathan Blows the Sweep

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

More photos » by Ann Heisenfelt - AP

2 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)

O's 5, White Sox 4: A Series Win, Finally.

Stacey — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 22:19:52 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

2 months ago: Baltimore Orioles' Nolan Reimold launches a two-run home run off Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Mark Buehrle, that also scored Nick Markakis during the third inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 23, 2009 in Chicago. Watching on the play is catcher Ramon Castro and umpire on Ron Kulpa. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

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The Orioles beat the White Sox 5-4 to win their first series since July 10-12 against the Blue Jays. Jason Berken battled through poor defense in the first inning and pitched 5.2 innings to earn his third win. Home runs by Felix Pie and Nolan Reimold and a 3 hit game from Brian Roberts fueled the offense, while Kam continued to be the man. Jim Johnson took a page out of Flat Breezy's book but in the end there was never a doubt as he earned his 6th save.

Jason Berken pitched one of his best games this year, although it didn't start out so well. In the first inning he induced a routine ground ball by Scott Podsednik that was booted by back up shortstop Robert Andino. That was followed by another routine ground ball by Gordon Beckham. Mora picked the ball cleanly but airmailed the throw into the camera well. Podsednik, who had stolen 2nd base, scored on the error and Beckham went to 2nd. Berken didn't get rattled as he retired the next three batters, but instead of getting out of the inning 3 up-3 down in 14 pitches, he had to get five outs on 22 pitches, and a run scored.

After the first inning, Berken went on to pitch the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th without any trouble or any defensive miscues. He retired the first two batters in the fifth, but then lost his control, walking the number 9 hitter Brent Lillibridge. Podsednik hit a double that bounced up into the stands to score Lillibridge and Beckham singled in the second run. He got out of the inning and came back to retire the first two hitters in the 6th before giving up a single to Carlos Quentin. That would be it for Berken, but he'd done enough to be in line for his 3rd win of the year. With his family making the trip down from Wisconsin to see him pitch, Berken came through.

The offense had a good day against White Sox starter Mark Buehrle, and they started in the first inning. Brian Roberts hit his major league leading 47th 2B of the year and scored on a single by Adam Jones to take a 1-0 lead, and in the 4th inning Brian again led off the inning with a hit, this time a single. He stole 2nd, moved to third on a groundout by Robert Andino, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Felix Pie (Pie entered the game for Jones in the 2nd as Adam was having back spasms). Two batters later, with Nick Markakis on base via a single, Nolan Reimold took Buehrle deep for his 12th HR of the year. Buehrle would give up one more run on HR by Felix Pie in the 5th. Buehrle exited the game after 5.2 innings and the White Sox bullpen allowed just one more hit, a double to Chad Moeller in the 9th.

After Berken exited the game, Kam Mickolio took over and again impressed us all, going 1.1 innings without allowing a hit. His season line is now up to: 9.2 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 2 BB, 11 K. Danys Baez followed Kam with a perfect 8th inning, leaving it to Jim Johnson to close out.

JJ was shaky, allowing a leadoff double to Paul Konerko. He struck out Carlos Quentin and then Alexei Ramirez singled, putting runners on first and third with one out. JJ bucked down, though. Pinch hitter AJ Pierzynski grounded to shortstop, scoring Konerko, and Mark Kotsay struck out to end the game. Never a doubt, Jimmy!

O's win to take the season series from the White Sox 5-4, their first series win against them since 2001. Tomorrow night they start a 3 game series with the Twins to conclude their 9 game road trip.

Poll

Who was today's Most Birdland Player (MBP)?

Jason Berken (5.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K)

62 votes

Brian Roberts (3-4, 2B, BB, 2 R)

70 votes

Felix Pie (HR, Sac Fly, 2 RBI)

34 votes

Nolan Reimold (2-4, 2 R HR)

82 votes

248 votes | Poll has closed