With yet another loss in the rollerdome, the Sox fell to 4-15 this season on the carpet. The reason is surprisingly uncomplicated.

The Sox are a woeful 24-for-132 with men in scoring position in domes this season, and a comically bad 5-for-55 with 2 outs/RISP. Even worse, the Sox last two 2 out/RISP hits, the Sox only hits with RISP this series, have failed to plate a runner.

I'm holdin' out for a hero... 6 outs left.

7 hits. 2 for extra bases. 1 with runner in scoring position. Sox down 1. Headed to the Bottom of the 4th.

I don't want to sound too hyperbolic, because a win in tomorrow's game with the Twins puts the White Sox right back at square one, 2.5 games up with 4+ games left to play, but the Sox looked like a team that had already begun to play out the string Tuesday night; like they had conceded the fact that they can't play in domes (4-14 in '08), let alone the Metrodome in September with the season on the line.

Ozzie Guillen issued a challenge to Javier Vazquez this week with some less than flattering comments. Vazquez responded by saying he didn't care, the controversy 'overblown,' then let it slip that he was teething "had an ear infection," or some other infantile malady. Vazquez had the opportunity to prove his detractors wrong; to reinvent himself as an ace, if only for a short time, as Jose Contreras did in late '05. But with the ear infection talk, it was almost as if he was looking for an out, an excuse for his poor performance, even before he threw a pitch.

Vazquez was staked* to early lead thanks to what appeared to be some inspired play by the white, immobile veterans. Jim Thome led off the second inning with a opposite field single to beat the shift, and advanced to third when he got a great read on Paul Konerko's bloop single (Yes, you read that right.). That was the extent of the Sox offensive highlights for the night, however, as Ken Griffey Jr. erased the threat, and gave the Sox the lead, with a routine double play ball.

Vazquez greeted the lead by throwing 6 straight balls to put the go-ahead run at the plate with a hitter's count. Seconds later, Hawk broke into "and we've got ourselves a 2-1 game" about halfway through Jason Kubel's swing on an absolute no-duobter of a homerun on a hanging changeup from Vazquez. In the span of 8 minutes, the Sox had gone from runners on the corners nobody out, to down by 1, and going through the motions.

Kubel led off the bottom of the 4th with a triple beyond the reach of a diving Griffey (read: an out for Brian Anderson), and quickly scored a bloop double that fell in front of Jermaine Dye (poor range again allowing the ball to find safety). What Griffey and Dye lack in range, they've clearly made up for at the plate, especially since Quentin's departure. (.257/.325/.343 6 extra-base hits, 0 HR for Dye; .244/.311/.341 4 XBH, 0 HR for Griffey)

The entire inning was a microcosm of the difference between the two clubs. Minnesota's first two runs of the inning came courtesy of the Sox' poor defense combined with some timely hitting, while their final run crossed home thanks to a stolen base and a suicide squeeze. The Sox showed a faint heartbeat in the top of the fifth, when the first two batters reached on a hit and a walk. The runners would stay right there for two outs, however, and when Orlando Cabrera came up with a clutch hit with a Runner In Scoring Position, the Sox only such hit on the night, Junior was unable to score.

That just about says it all right there. The Sox get a rare hit w/ RISP, nobody scores; and their offensive highlight is a second inning GIDP that plates a run. I suppose you could count Griffey's 9th inning HR as a highlight if 9th-inning-down-by-8-run-homers are your type of thing, but I can't count any play that makes his presence in tomorrow's lineup more likely as a highlight. The Sox finished the game win 1 extra base hit (Griffey's 26th out HR), and only put a runner in scoring position, a laughable term with this team, in the 2nd and 5th innings.

If there was a You-Just-Have-To-Laugh moment in Tuesday night's mess, it had to be the last inning. First it was Horacio Ramirez proving he is good for something; he's good for a perfect inning of work anytime the game has a margin of 8 runs. Seriously, he has two perfect outings in his White Sox career, one in the 9th while up by 8 runs, and Tuesday in the 8th with the Sox trailing by 8. You can't make that shit up. Then it was Griffey, who hasn't homered in over a month, putting one deep over the baggy, all but ensuring he'll see more time in center this series.

Back when I was wondering what the heck the Griffey deal was all about, I never could have imagined that we'd still be complaining about Griffey in center field in the final week of the season... with the Sox holding onto a 1.5 game lead... in a Carlos Quentin-less outfield... with Nick Swisher on the bench. I gave Joe Cowley shit earlier in the year when he called Cabrera the 4th best shortstop on the White Sox--Cabrera's hit .301/.353/.392 since then--but you could honestly make a case for Griffey, who is, without a doubt, a first-ballot HOFer, being the Sox' 4th best CFer right now; even on a night when he drove in all 3 of the Sox runs.

Is it OK for me to use the word staked as a verb here, or does the only acceptable use refer to the act of driving a peg through Vazquez?

It's sad when your best overall outfielder (Since Q!perman died) is the 30-year old journeyman who spent much of the season in AAA Charolotte.

Sox down 4, headed to the 5th.

While I was busy watching the Bears snatch defeat from the jaws of victory at a balmy Soldier Field, Dewayne Wise, Paul Konerko and John Danks filled the White Sox highlight reel, as the Sox took the rubber match in Kansas City. More importantly, they maintained their 2.5 game lead over the Twins as they head for a season-deciding 3-game set in the Humpdome on Tuesday.

The working margin is extremely important, as the Sox have struggled in domes this season (2-12, including 1-5 against Minnesota) and traditionally have folded in September against the Twins. [Looking it up, that appears to be a Jerry Manuel era trait. Ozzie Guillen's Sox have fared much better in late season matchups with the Twins (13-9 after Aug 31st).]

The White Sox Magic Number sits at 5, which means that 2 wins in Minnesota essentially eliminates the Twins; since they'd have to win out and have the Sox lose out just to force a 1-game playoff. 1 win in Minnesota lowers the Magic Number to 3, and makes for an uncomfortable final weekend; but a final weekend that probably comes out in the Sox favor. Essentially, the Sox are just looking to avoid a sweep. Though, I'd prefer 2 out of 3 just to get this thing finished.

Ozzie Guillen, dressed in a kilt and in full face paint, held a pre-game meeting to fire up his players.

"I tell them no matter what we do for 150 games, people aren't going to remember that. People are going to remember what you do from today to the last day of the season," Guillen said. "Then they're going to say they had a bad year or a good year or a great year. That's all they'll remember. They're not going to remember July or August. They're going to remember what's going on between today and the rest of the days."

And don't bother watching the scoreboard. Looking behind will only get you caught.

"Don't feel too comfortable with a 1 1/2-game lead. And they're begging for another team to do our job. If we want to do this thing, we are the ones who have take care of it.

"We are the ones that have to push for this one, not just lose one game and all of a sudden look at the scoreboard and say, 'Thank you, Tampa [Bay],' or 'Thank you, Detroit .' No. That's not the way you win pennant races."

They'll never take... OUR DIVISION!

Mark Buehrle to start tonight

I need some help. I thought I had this rotation thing all squared away. Then I read this Mark Gonzales column which says that Gavin Floyd will go on short rest Saturday against the Royals so that he can throw the final game of the Twins series next week. That's a lot to digest, so here's a visual of how I thought the rotation would look down the stretch.

Monday, September 15       6:05 PM CDT     @ NYY      Buehrle
Tuesday, September 16      6:05 PM CDT     @ NYY      Floyd
Wednesday, September 17    6:05 PM CDT     @ NYY      Richard
Thursday, September 18     6:05 PM CDT     @ NYY      Vazquez*
Friday, September 19       7:10 PM CDT     @ KC       Danks
Saturday, September 20     6:10 PM CDT     @ KC       Buehrle
Sunday, September 21       1:10 PM CDT     @ KC       Floyd
Monday, September 22                       OFF        ---
Tuesday, September 23      7:10 PM CDT     @ MIN      Vazquez
Wednesday, September 24    7:10 PM CDT     @ MIN      Danks
Thursday, September 25     7:10 PM CDT     @ MIN      Buhrle
Friday, September 26       7:11 PM CDT     CLE        Floyd
Saturday, September 27     6:05 PM CDT     CLE        Vazquez*
Sunday, September 28       1:05 PM CDT     CLE        Danks*
Monday, September 29?      TBA             DET        Buehrle*

With the exception of the doubleheader-induced short rest for Vazquez last night, all of the starters would stay on regular rest until after the Twins series, when a more informed decision could have been made.

Monday, September 15       6:05 PM CDT     @ NYY      Buehrle
Tuesday, September 16      6:05 PM CDT     @ NYY      Floyd
Wednesday, September 17    6:05 PM CDT     @ NYY      Richard
Thursday, September 18     6:05 PM CDT     @ NYY      Vazquez*
Friday, September 19       7:10 PM CDT     @ KC       Buehrle*
Saturday, September 20     6:10 PM CDT     @ KC       Floyd*
Sunday, September 21       1:10 PM CDT     @ KC       Danks
Monday, September 22                       OFF        ---
Tuesday, September 23      7:10 PM CDT     @ MIN      Vazquez
Wednesday, September 24    7:10 PM CDT     @ MIN      Buehrle
Thursday, September 25     7:10 PM CDT     @ MIN      Floyd
Friday, September 26       7:11 PM CDT     CLE        Danks
Saturday, September 27     6:05 PM CDT     CLE        Vazquez*
Sunday, September 28       1:05 PM CDT     CLE        Buehrle*
Monday, September 29?      TBA             DET        Floyd*

My take is that the Sox have decided to avoid any scenario that has John Danks, who has struggled a bit in the second half but appeared stronger in his last two outings, throwing on short rest. But in doing so, they've added two extra short-rest starts from their starters. As we saw last night, with Javier Vazquez flying open and not finishing his pitches in his shortest outing of the season, pitching on short rest can yield some undesirable results. I question how the second rotation is better than the first, even if it puts less strain on our prized young arm.

I've made no secret my disdain for Horacio Ramirez. When the Sox acquired him, I simply stated that he "sucks." I didn't think the acquisition needed much more than that extemporaneous analysis. It's not like he was going to stick around. He was just a temporary fix to a problem that would surely be temporary. It's not like he was going to see much action; right?

And yet, here we are, a month later. Ramirez has appeared 15 games, allowing a baserunner in 14 of those outings. He's universally horrible. Lefties hit him well; so do righties and switch hitters. He can't strike anyone out; only 2 of the 65 batters he's faced have gone down via the strikeout. He hasn't carried over his control from Kansas City; 8 of the 65 batters he's faced have reached base via the walk. He's a pitcher with zero redeeming qualities.

That headline is not an exaggeration. There have been a total of 15 players in baseball history to pitch in 15 or more games in a season while posting a WHIP of 2.5 or greater. Horacio Ramirez just pitched in his 15th game with the White Sox; he has pitched 11.1 innings and allowed 30 baserunners, for a WHIP of 2.65.

Congrats, Horacio. You're #16.

In all of baseball history there have been only 15 other pitchers so inept, so putrid. In all honesty, I'm was surprised there wasn't more. But the truth is, if you've proven yourself this horrible over the span of 15 games, you get your walking papers. And yet, there is Ramirez, still on the team, a team fighting for a playoff spot, getting higher-leverage work than half the bullpen, hiding the occasionally useful Adam Russell. It's time we blow the horn on this joke. There's no reason we should ever see this guy on the mound again.

Ozzie Guillen and the White Sox made a shrewd move by waiting until the last possible minute to announce Clayton Richard as Wednesday's starter, and were rewarded with a surprisingly good outing. But Ozzie pushed his luck a little too much, and the shaky Sox pen put the game out of reach in short order.

I was confused in the lead up to this game that nobody in the mainstream media seemed to think Clayton Richard would get the start. To me, he seemed to be the obvious choice. The Yankees aren't the Royals, after all, and have a number of good left-handed hitters. So, even though Richard isn't a major league starter, he was still a better option than Lance Broadway for this game. Heck, even Broadway was dropping hints this week. Though I can't seem to find the exact quote now, Broadway said something like "they haven't told me" in regards to whether he was getting the start Wednesday.

For 6 innings, Richard make the Sox look like geniuses. He skated through the first 5 innings giving up only 1 hit, and worked out of trouble in the 6th, striking out Derek Jeter with 2 men on to end the inning. In the 7th inning however, Richard was unable to extricate himself from some self-induced trouble.

Richard walked the incredibly unclutch Alex Rodriguez, who advanced to second on Jason Giambi's groundout. With two outs and Xavier Nady due up, Ozzie came out for a mound visit, but didn't pull Richard, who had only given up 3 hits in his 6.2 innings of work.

Ozzie should have pulled him there. Richard isn't one of the other 4 starters, and isn't deserving of the long leash I've called for just a few days ago. Heck, he had never gone this deep into a major league game before. But with the bullpen as poor as it's been, it was hard to argue with leaving Richard in for one more batter. The results begged to differ. Richard quickly fell behind Nady, and then gave up a single back up the middle to even the score at one, the incredibly unclutch A-Rod scoring the tying run.

That definitely should have been Richard's last batter. But Ozzie left him, with Robinson Cano, who had 2 of the 4 Yankees hits in the game, due up. Cano quickly doubled down the right field line, and only then, with the go-ahead run 90 feet from home did Ozzie go to his pen. Predictably, they provided no relief. But it might have been a different situation if Ozzie had tried harder to protect the Sox lead.

Even though Ozzie made his mistakes in this game, it's easy to place too much blame on him for the Sox loss. The real loser in this game was the Sox offense. 5 times they put the leadoff man on base, including 3 leadoff doubles. Yet they were only able to productive out their way into 1 run, let alone any actual hitting with men on base.

The Sox dropped their record to 9-31 when they fail to hit a HR, highlighting their inability to produce runs in other ways.

Yankees with runners on 2nd & 3rd, 2 outs. Tied at 1. MacDougal in.

It's rare that you get to watch a pitcher grow up right in front of your eyes, and even rarer when you can pin point the exact at-bat when he goes from boy, an oft-maligned headcase with good stuff and no idea what to do with it, to man, an incredibly confident complete pitcher who refuses to give in to one of the game's best. In the 5th inning Tuesday night, Gavin Floyd became a man, a real major league pitcher you'd send to the mound with confidence in a playoff game. Ozzie agrees:

"I think that's when this kid starts to be a man now," said White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen of Floyd fanning Giambi to end one of the Yankees' biggest threats on Tuesday. "He never gave up or gave in."

Gavin Floyd needed to work deep into this game. The bullpen is a mess and Ozzie knows it. With only 13 games left, the 4 (real) starters need to head to the mound for 100 pitches, and then run back out there for another inning. So, when Floyd found himself in trouble in the 5th inning--the bases loaded, Jason Giambi, who had just launched a moonshot in his last at-bat, strolling to the mound--it wasn't looking good for the Sox or their beleaguered 4th starter.

But Floyd didn't waver. He didn't back down, even when he dug himself a 2-0 hole. He battled back to even up the count at two, before throwing pitch #6 of the at-bat for ball three.

It's at this point the old Floyd--I'm not even talking about the Philly Floyd, the one who was referred to as "she" by members of the media and lacked so much confidence that he responded to all of his interviewers by staring at their feet and mumbling, but the Chicago Floyd, who would look you in the eye when he spoke, but was still so sure that he wouldn't win even 12 games that he bet his hair on it--would have given in; either missing the strike zone badly and walking in a run or grooving a mistake pitch, as he had on 3-2 to Giambi in his previous at-bat.

So, on 3-2, bases loaded, Sox up by 2, Floyd and Giambi waged a battle in which neither was willing to blink. For 6 straight pitches, with the runners in motion getting huge jumps--a single might have scored all three--Floyd threw strikes, good strikes, to Giambi and challenged him to do something with them.

Slider; foul. Slider; foul. Slider; foul. Changeup; foul. Fastball; foul. Slider; STRIKEOUT!

Floyd's 12th pitch of the at-bat was his best, a slider that I thought was a changeup while watching it live, breaking straight down out of the zone. Giambi was out in front, guessing fastball.

But Floyd wasn't done there. The Sox still needed him to get deep into the game despite his now elevated pitch count. He breezed through the 6th after the offense had a quick 1-2-3 top-half. Ozzie sent Floyd back out for the 7th even though he had thrown 97 pitches, and he promptly gave up a 400-foot ground-rule double to Brett Gardner. Normally, this is where Ozzie would jump out of the dugout and yank his young starter, but with the pen in a sorry state, and after that Giambi at-bat, Ozzie was giving him some extra rope. He needed another 12 pitches to get Johnny Damon and Derek Jeter to line out to second, before Ozzie popped out of the dugout.

Matt Thornton, the lone seemingly reliable reliever in the Sox pen was warm. Floyd was at 112 pitches, and had left-hander Bobby Abreu coming to the plate. I wouldn't have complained in the slightest if Ozzie pulled Floyd there. But when Ozzie got to the mound, Floyd sent him back. He was going to finish this inning; 4 pitches later he did on a fly out to center.

Gavin Floyd has balls; big, hairy balls that would put even Cisco Adler's* to shame.

* Go ahead, look it up. But be forewarned, the results of your search will not be pretty.

There's your insurance. Headed to the bottom of the 8th. Sox up 4.

Holy Crap was that a battle with Giambi! Sox up 2. Headed to the 6th.

It says a lot about the year Ozzie Guillen is having as a manager that I don't think I have complained loudly about his decision making in a single recap this season. I might have voiced a difference of opinion on occasion, but until tonight, the most egregious decision I've seen from Guillen was over the use of Pablo Ozuna, whose presence alone was questionable. Perhaps I've mellowed, or perhaps, Guillen should be in contention for manager of the year honors. (He's not. The award already has Joe Maddon's name engraved on it.)

This is going to be one of those entries. Ozzie's decision to turn to Ehren Wasserman and Horacio Ramirez in the 7th inning was the defining moment of the game. While he didn't guarantee a Sox loss with the move, it set into motion a series of events that made a White Sox victory extremely unlikely.

I didn't listen to Ozzie's post-game press conference--I switched the TV immediately to Monday Night Football--so I don't know what his rationale was for turning to double barreled suck, as 3e8 put it, out of the bullpen in the 7th. Buehrle was only at 101 pitches through 6. Based on my best estimate of the Sox rotation picture, he only has 2 guaranteed starts remaining (@ KC & @ MIN), with the possibility of throwing on short rest in the makeup game with Detroit.

I'm not even going try to make the argument that Ozzie turned to the wrong reliever, because let's face it, they've all been various degrees of terrible lately. Though I have to admit after Mike MacDougal failed to appear in Sunday's doubleheader, I thought Monday would be a good opportunity to roll the dice by giving him some high-leverage work. I'm simply going to ask this; how bad does Mark Buehrle have to be feeling, how many runs does he have to give up, how many pitches does he have to throw to make the decision to pull him in favor of Wasserez?

Wait. Don't answer too fast. Keep in mind that there are (12 or) 13 games remaining on the season, and that a run here in the 7th all but guarantees your offense will have to face the two-headed monster of Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera for the final 6 outs. Don't forget Wasserman entered the game with a WHIP of 2.05, and Ramirez has been even worse (2.23) while in Chicago. Oh, and Buehrle has thrown over 110 pitches 42 times (only 2 this year) with Guillen as his manager, so there's a precedent for letting him work a high pitch count.

If ever there was a reason to ride your starter deep into a game, this was it. The entire complexion of the game changes if the Sox are able to get out of the bottom of the 7th unscathed. I'm not quite sure of the bullpen tendencies of Joe Girardi, but I have to believe he'd be much less inclined to turn to the Joba-Mo tandem in a tie game, even though that would be the right call.

I could go on and on about the suck that is the White Sox bullpen right now, and especially Ramirez, whom I greeted to the south side noting his special variety of suck, but I'm not a masochist. If the Sox are going to win this division, it's going to be on the strength of it's starters, with some strong performances by the offense (You're doing great Dewayne.) and maybe a surprise arm out of the bullpen (I'm still looking at you, MacDougal.). Now is not the time to count on the bullpen, let alone the back of the bullpen, late in a tie game.

I missed the first 5 innings of the game, so if it seems like this recap focused only on Ozzie's bullpen management, it's because that was the game for me.

* * * * *

I was about to post this as a comment, but it's too important to the discussion at hand to hide from our RSS readers or those who don't bother to venture deeper than the front page. Ozzie Guillen has become more dependent on his bullpen in his tenure as White Sox manager. He used to let his pitchers get over 100 pitches regularly, but rarely let them top 115, and almost never 120. Now 100 is the rarity, with 110 being the "almost never." It's quite obvious that he Sox would be a better team right now if he reverted to his '04-'07 hook.

Q! knows we need one with this fricken' bullpen.

Danger Ahead!

Mark Buehrle has (for some unknown reason) some significant home/road splits this season. They're reverse of what you would expect from a pitcher who spends half his time pitching in USCF. He owns a 3-8 record away from USCF to go along with a 5.34 ERA and a .870 OPS allowed. Worse yet, the White Sox own a dismal 3-11 record in games Buehrle starts away from USCF this season.

I know next to nothing about opposing starter Alfredo Aceves, but UribeAuction has posted a brief scouting report. Looking at his minor league numbers combined with his scouting report, he seems like a cross between Nick Blackburn and Sox killer Shaun Marcum. Blackburn shut down the Sox in a couple of his early outings before they seemed to figure him out a bit.

Given the pitching matchup, the Sox dismal road record, and their two steps forward one step back cha-cha through the season, this one looks like your SSH lead pipe lock of the century. Don't bother watching. This one is over before it starts.