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White Sox Fri Apr 01 2011
White Sox Win Ugly After Early Bombardment
The White Sox gave us thrills early and chills late on Opening Day, scoring the game's first 14 runs before hanging on for dear life and a 15-10 win in Cleveland. The Indians put up 10 runs against the Sox in the last three innings. It was, to say the least, a memorable game.
Chicago's fuel-injected offense produced even better than expected. Adam Dunn appeared to be more than comfortably settled into his new DH role with a home run, four RBIs and two runs. Paul Konerko showed he still had his Opening Day magic, bringing Juan Pierre home for the first run of the game with an RBI single. Carlos Quentin singled, doubled and homered, driving in five runs before giving way to Mark Teahen when Ozzie brought on four backups in the late innings.
Fifteen runs? Eighteen hits, including eight extra-base hits? If the White Sox can keep this up, it's going to be one heck of a season.
The bullpen was clearly off its game today, needing four additional relievers to hang on to the 14-4 lead Mark Buehrle handed over after six innings. Will Ohman, after a promising performance in spring training, was particularly disappointing, allowing three runs on two homers in two-thirds of an inning. Tony Pena, Chris Sale and Jesse Crain finished it off, eking the White Sox through. On a day when the Indians celebrated the late Bob Feller, neither pitching staff honored the Hall of Famer's legacy.
Instead of "All In," the slogan today was a callback to 1983: "Winning Ugly." It's hard to complain about an Opening Day win -- ahem, Northsiders -- but when you nearly blow a 14-0 lead, it leaves a tinge of bitterness. Still, a win is a win, and the Sox will take them where they can get them. It's a long road from here.
