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White Sox Fri Aug 17 2012
White Sox Go Deep to Beat Blue Jays, Separate from Tigers
A few quick stats to show how the White Sox took three games in Toronto this week:
The Sox scored 21 runs north of the border over their four game series, and 16 of them were driven in by a home run.
In Monday's contest, a home run in the ninth tied the game, and home runs created the difference in Wednesday and Thursday's wins.
Adam Dunn scoffed at the notion of batting fifth, and went 5-for-16 with three home runs and two walks over the four games.
The Sox only had six hits in the series finale. Five of them were long balls.
Dunn (his opening blast in the first game) and Tyler Flowers hit two of the deepest moonshots you will ever see. Okay, that's not a stat, but still.
The White Sox gained some ground on the Tigers this week, with a potent offense and some good starting pitching performances (Jake Peavy, Jose Quintana, Gavin Floyd and Francisco Liriano all picked up quality starts) carrying the team. The team leads Detroit by two and a half games now in the Central.
This week has shown me two things: One, they got something of value when they called up Dewayne Wise this week. Chicago picked up Wise on August 3, and the Yankees had designated the outfielder for assignment in late July. Wise played in the three Sox wins, and went 4-for-13 with two homers and six RBIs. With his bat and speed he can be a good bench guy down the stretch.
Two? The rest of the team can step up, even without their rock, Paul Konerko. But even in his absence, the Sox have gained some flexibility. Manager Robin Ventura can still work AJ Pierzynski's hot bat into the lineup, yet save his legs by putting him at DH. Tyler Flowers, who doesn't play all that often, can now get some reps in at catcher. Ventura can use the DH spot in a different way in the time being, rather than just placing Konerko or Dunn there.
As Hawk Harrelson would say, it's all good. For now, that is. The Sox will take a trip to Kansas City for a weekend set, and they will face Luis Mendoza, Bruce Chen and Jeremy Guthrie... the same trio who managed to shut their offense down a week ago.
