It's off to the Windy City for the Jays and their shell-shocked bullpen. After falling victim to some late-inning heroics in Minneapolis, Toronto now faces an opponent for whom come-from-behind rallies have become standard operating procedure. Despite trailing 8-2 in the sixth and 8-4 in the ninth last night, Ozzie Guillen's ChiSox still managed to pull out a 9-8 victory over Cleveland.
The Pale Hose can go yard with anybody, and with Juan Uribe swinging a hot bat, the heart of the order has become that much more dangerous. On the pitching side of the ledger, the starting staff has been vulnerable, while the bullpen has been steadier (though not failsafe by any means.) This week's Scout includes a rookie manager, a struggling slugger and some brewing bad blood between the Sox and their richer National League neighbours on the North Side.
Hopefully, some of our Chicago-area Bauxites like Mathesond and Dr. Zarco can give us some first-hand accounts from the four-game set. Judging from their comments over the last few days, Chicago will indeed be the Windy City -- and very possibly the Rainy City as well this weekend.
On to the Advance Scout!
* The Sox' spate of comeback wins have been credited to the bullpen by rookie manager Ozzie Guillen ... Chicago is 6-1 in one-run games, and have won six games in their final at-bat ... On three occasions, they've come from behind in the ninth to win ... Last night, the Sox rallied for an amazing five runs in the bottom of the ninth to edge Cleveland 9-8 ... Guillen: "It's fun to watch if you are a fan, but if you are in the dugout it gets intense...I wish we would win one easy" ... The Jays haven't taken the season series from the Pale Hose since 1998, the longest active streak of any Toronto opponent ...
* Mighty Magglio Ordonez has homered in each of his last two, and hit in six of his last seven games ... At six dingers, he's two back of the league-leading Jorge Posada ... Mags was not suffering from an injury when he sat out Saturday's matinee; Ozzie merely gave him a day off ... Ordonez sparked last night's rally with a two-run shot off David Riske, atoning for dropping an Omar Vizquel fly earlier in the game ...
* The Big Hurt, Frank Thomas, enters tonight's action riding a six-game hitting streak ... He's hit in 12 of his last 13 games (.317) ... Always patient, Hurt's .466 OBP is fueled by his astounding 18 walks ... He's homered in three of his past five games ... Oddly, although most Jays fans can remember big hits by Frank against Toronto, his .875 all-time OPS (.282/.411/.464) against the Jays is his lowest against any other AL club ... The Rays' Doug Waechter irked Thomas by pitching him inside, including a plunking, last Saturday. Thomas started toward the mound, but order was restored ... Lou Piniella: "We [were] trying to crowd him at the plate...Frank's swinging the bat well" ... Thomas is refusing to speak with the media these days. Trainer Herm Schneider has been fielding media inquiries into his sore hamstring ...
* It's been a tale of the 2004 schedule for tonight's starter, E-----n L----a, also known as The Man Who Shall Not Be Named in this space after his infuriating breakthrough 2003 season ... His ERA sat at 6.00 after two starts against the Royals. But after two solid starts against the Devil Rays, including a masterful two-hit complete game shutout, it's down to 3.21 ... The difference has been manifest in both control and stuff: 6/3 BB/K in two starts against Kansas City, but 3/11 against Tampa ... The Chisox are 4-0 in games started by L----a this season ... Unlike other ex-Jays, he will not be referred to as an "old friend" ...
* 24-year-old lefty reliever Neal Cotts has allowed just one run in his eight innings of work ... Cotts came over from Oakland in Kenny Williams' infamous Koch/Foulke trade ...
* Friday's starter, Mark Buehrle, has been dreadful in his last two starts ... Combined line in his last two home outings, against the Yankees and Devil Rays: 9 2/3 IP, 19 H, 13 R ... Amazingly, he's still only 25 ... Carl Crawford stole third off the deceptive lefty but was caught stealing second. Buehrle allowed only one stolen base in 2003 ...
* Aaron Rowand is 0 for his last 10, and has lost some recent playing time to Timo Perez ... With just three walks on the season, he sports a mere .278 OBP ... Rowand isn't doing himselves any favours by making mental mistakes. Last Friday, Rowand inexplicably burst for third as Olivo missed a bunt in the seventh inning. He was only spared by a wild throw from Tampa Bay's Julio Lugo ... Rowand also has developed a reputation for concentration lapses in the field ... Perez has no extra-base hits on the season, but notched three singles last night, including the game-tying RBI ...
* Old friend Cliff Politte had gone six straight outings without yielding a run before he was tagged by the Tribe for two on Tuesday ... He yielded a kangaroo court-worthy 0-2 home run to Victor Martinez ... Politte on that pitch: "My location was pretty bad" ...
* Speedy catcher Miguel Olivo, 3-for-3 on the basepaths this season, is just 2 for his last 15 (.133) ...
* Willie Harris has been an inadequate leadoff hitter at .239/.288/.313, despite his 5-for-5 record as a basestealer ... Beware the drag bunt when Harris steps to the plate ... Harris may begin to lose playing time to slick-fielding journeyman Kelly Dransfeldt, who would play short and move current shortstop Juan Uribe to second ... 14 Ks in 67 at-bats is far too many for the light-hitting Harris ... Kenny Williams: "Willie has to get better. That is not a news flash" ... But Williams' curious prescription: "He's just taking too many pitches early in the count" ... More plausibly, Guillen says the problem is that Harris has been pulling off the ball with his front foot. Joey Cora is working with the speedster to hang in the box ...
* Dransfeldt came through with a clutch game-tying two-run single on an 0-2 count against old friend Trever Miller on Sunday ... Guillen had originally pinch-hit Perez for Rowand, but immediately went to the righthanded Dransfeldt when Piniella went to Miller ... Guillen shrugged off the accolades for his strategizing: "I'm a genius, I guess" ...
* For his part, Uribe has been seeing the ball really well of late -- 6 for his last 7, and 7 for his last 10 with two homers and three walks ... Uribe had walked just once before the last three games ... With eight multi-hit games, his season line sits at a gaudy .386/.435/.596 ...
* With five homers and a 7/3 BB/K ratio, Paul Konerko appears to have regained some of the mojo he lost last season ... Konerko hit the club's third homer of the first inning after Ordonez and Thomas also went yard on Tuesday ...
* Damaso Marte, who was ultra-tough out of the bullpen last season, has been hit at a .300 clip this year -- and has gone just 2-for-4 in save opportunities ...
* Veteran short man Mike Jackson, who will be 40 next offseason, has been pleasantly effective ... His season line: 9 1/3 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 4 K ...
* In contrast, Saturday's starter, Danny Wright, has been unpleasantly ineffective this season, losing all three of his starts ... He's walked eight on the year while striking out just four, and his ERA sits at an unsatisfactory 6.14 ... Incredibly, Wright has failed to earn a victory in his last eighteen starts ... Last season, he lost to the Jays at home, and was tagged ... A sympathetic Guillen has no plans to replace Wright: "Remember, it's not easy being the fifth guy. He sometimes has to go six, seven days without a start" ... Guillen hopes that Wright will be more aggressive this Saturday; he's described his hurler as "aiming" the ball this season ... The problem is, there aren't any viable options in AAA and Cotts has been effective in the bullpen ...
* Old friend Billy Koch has held the opposition scoreless in his last four appearances, after a four-run ninth-inning meltdown against Kansas City on April 14 ... Guillen has declared Koch the closer, except when the matchups strongly favour Marte ... Kenny Williams: "If we can get Billy Koch to being the old Billy, or even close, we're going to be that much better" ... Can you believe he'll be 30 in December? ...
* Jon Adkins, the oft-mocked return for Ray Durham in a deadline deal, had been effective in long relief until Tuesday ... In Tuesday's game, Adkins was entrusted with the job of holding the fort in the top of the tenth. Boy, did he ever not ... Three singles, a double and two walks later, Adkins departed with his team down four ...
* Carlos Lee has also hit in six of his last seven starts ... A flat-footed Lee was embarrassingly picked off first by Toby Hall in the ninth inning on Sunday ... Lee made a tremendous sliding catch last Saturday ...
* Sunday's starter, 25-year-old Jon Garland, has only pitched well against the Yankees this season ... The Royals and Indians have each touched him up for five runs ... Ozzie described Garland as "asleep" on the mound during his rocky start on Tuesday ... Incredibly, he allowed only one run in eight innings at Yankee Stadium despite walking seven pinstripers ... He allowed just two runs on nine hits in 15 innings of outstanding work against the Jays last season ... He's got an impressive 4-1, 2.20 career line in six appearances against the Jays, holding Toronto to a .217 average ...
* Joe Crede, who just turned 26, has turned in back-to-back three-hit performances ...
* Tough lefty Kelly Wunsch has begun his AAA rehab assignment, but he'll take his time while healing the torn muscle in his pitching shoulder ...
* Jose Valentin has been out with a left hamstring injury, and should be back in the lineup next Monday ... He'll probably replace Harris in the lineup ...
* Time had to be called several times last night as the Windy City earned its nickname ... 25-30 mph gusts caused the infield dirt to swirl distractingly throughout the game ...
* The law of unintended consequences: Formerly Comiskey Park, the corporately re-christened U.S. Cellular Field has earned the local nickname "The Cell" ... Guillen isn't concerned about the modest crowds coming out to the South Side: "I coached in Montreal and Florida...You want to talk about fans? There were 20 people there" ...
* There's an interesting media-related battle underway in Chicago. Jerry Reinsdorf and Ozzie Guillen have each lamented the local papers' lopsided balance in Cubs-White Sox coverage ... Guillen: "We have our [home] opener...and we have one or two pages in the paper...And the Cubs lose the game, and it's 45 pages" ... Guillen also asked (more jokingly) about why there was no "Frank Thomas Watch" in the news when the longtime slugger was sidelined with a hamstring injury. Chicago papers have been running daily "Prior Watch" updates ... Dusty Baker politely declined to respond to Guillen, but he did point out that New York, Los Angeles and the Bay Area don't offer their two clubs perfectly equal coverage, either ...
Probable Batting Orders
vs. LH
4 Harris
6 Uribe
9 Ordonez
DH Thomas
7 Lee
3 Konerko
5 Crede
8 Rowand
2 Alomar
vs. RH
4 Harris
6 Uribe
9 Ordonez
DH Thomas
7 Lee
3 Konerko
5 Crede
8 Rowand/Perez
2 Olivo/Alomar
Pitching Probables
Thursday: RH L----a vs. Hentgen
Friday: LH Buehrle vs. Halladay
Saturday: RH Wright vs. Lilly
Sunday: RH Garland vs. Batista
Bullpen Usage
Long: Adkins R
Short: Takatsu R, Cotts L, Jackson R
Setup: Marte L, Politte R
Closer: Koch R
The Pale Hose can go yard with anybody, and with Juan Uribe swinging a hot bat, the heart of the order has become that much more dangerous. On the pitching side of the ledger, the starting staff has been vulnerable, while the bullpen has been steadier (though not failsafe by any means.) This week's Scout includes a rookie manager, a struggling slugger and some brewing bad blood between the Sox and their richer National League neighbours on the North Side.
Hopefully, some of our Chicago-area Bauxites like Mathesond and Dr. Zarco can give us some first-hand accounts from the four-game set. Judging from their comments over the last few days, Chicago will indeed be the Windy City -- and very possibly the Rainy City as well this weekend.
On to the Advance Scout!
* The Sox' spate of comeback wins have been credited to the bullpen by rookie manager Ozzie Guillen ... Chicago is 6-1 in one-run games, and have won six games in their final at-bat ... On three occasions, they've come from behind in the ninth to win ... Last night, the Sox rallied for an amazing five runs in the bottom of the ninth to edge Cleveland 9-8 ... Guillen: "It's fun to watch if you are a fan, but if you are in the dugout it gets intense...I wish we would win one easy" ... The Jays haven't taken the season series from the Pale Hose since 1998, the longest active streak of any Toronto opponent ...
* Mighty Magglio Ordonez has homered in each of his last two, and hit in six of his last seven games ... At six dingers, he's two back of the league-leading Jorge Posada ... Mags was not suffering from an injury when he sat out Saturday's matinee; Ozzie merely gave him a day off ... Ordonez sparked last night's rally with a two-run shot off David Riske, atoning for dropping an Omar Vizquel fly earlier in the game ...
* The Big Hurt, Frank Thomas, enters tonight's action riding a six-game hitting streak ... He's hit in 12 of his last 13 games (.317) ... Always patient, Hurt's .466 OBP is fueled by his astounding 18 walks ... He's homered in three of his past five games ... Oddly, although most Jays fans can remember big hits by Frank against Toronto, his .875 all-time OPS (.282/.411/.464) against the Jays is his lowest against any other AL club ... The Rays' Doug Waechter irked Thomas by pitching him inside, including a plunking, last Saturday. Thomas started toward the mound, but order was restored ... Lou Piniella: "We [were] trying to crowd him at the plate...Frank's swinging the bat well" ... Thomas is refusing to speak with the media these days. Trainer Herm Schneider has been fielding media inquiries into his sore hamstring ...
* It's been a tale of the 2004 schedule for tonight's starter, E-----n L----a, also known as The Man Who Shall Not Be Named in this space after his infuriating breakthrough 2003 season ... His ERA sat at 6.00 after two starts against the Royals. But after two solid starts against the Devil Rays, including a masterful two-hit complete game shutout, it's down to 3.21 ... The difference has been manifest in both control and stuff: 6/3 BB/K in two starts against Kansas City, but 3/11 against Tampa ... The Chisox are 4-0 in games started by L----a this season ... Unlike other ex-Jays, he will not be referred to as an "old friend" ...
* 24-year-old lefty reliever Neal Cotts has allowed just one run in his eight innings of work ... Cotts came over from Oakland in Kenny Williams' infamous Koch/Foulke trade ...
* Friday's starter, Mark Buehrle, has been dreadful in his last two starts ... Combined line in his last two home outings, against the Yankees and Devil Rays: 9 2/3 IP, 19 H, 13 R ... Amazingly, he's still only 25 ... Carl Crawford stole third off the deceptive lefty but was caught stealing second. Buehrle allowed only one stolen base in 2003 ...
* Aaron Rowand is 0 for his last 10, and has lost some recent playing time to Timo Perez ... With just three walks on the season, he sports a mere .278 OBP ... Rowand isn't doing himselves any favours by making mental mistakes. Last Friday, Rowand inexplicably burst for third as Olivo missed a bunt in the seventh inning. He was only spared by a wild throw from Tampa Bay's Julio Lugo ... Rowand also has developed a reputation for concentration lapses in the field ... Perez has no extra-base hits on the season, but notched three singles last night, including the game-tying RBI ...
* Old friend Cliff Politte had gone six straight outings without yielding a run before he was tagged by the Tribe for two on Tuesday ... He yielded a kangaroo court-worthy 0-2 home run to Victor Martinez ... Politte on that pitch: "My location was pretty bad" ...
* Speedy catcher Miguel Olivo, 3-for-3 on the basepaths this season, is just 2 for his last 15 (.133) ...
* Willie Harris has been an inadequate leadoff hitter at .239/.288/.313, despite his 5-for-5 record as a basestealer ... Beware the drag bunt when Harris steps to the plate ... Harris may begin to lose playing time to slick-fielding journeyman Kelly Dransfeldt, who would play short and move current shortstop Juan Uribe to second ... 14 Ks in 67 at-bats is far too many for the light-hitting Harris ... Kenny Williams: "Willie has to get better. That is not a news flash" ... But Williams' curious prescription: "He's just taking too many pitches early in the count" ... More plausibly, Guillen says the problem is that Harris has been pulling off the ball with his front foot. Joey Cora is working with the speedster to hang in the box ...
* Dransfeldt came through with a clutch game-tying two-run single on an 0-2 count against old friend Trever Miller on Sunday ... Guillen had originally pinch-hit Perez for Rowand, but immediately went to the righthanded Dransfeldt when Piniella went to Miller ... Guillen shrugged off the accolades for his strategizing: "I'm a genius, I guess" ...
* For his part, Uribe has been seeing the ball really well of late -- 6 for his last 7, and 7 for his last 10 with two homers and three walks ... Uribe had walked just once before the last three games ... With eight multi-hit games, his season line sits at a gaudy .386/.435/.596 ...
* With five homers and a 7/3 BB/K ratio, Paul Konerko appears to have regained some of the mojo he lost last season ... Konerko hit the club's third homer of the first inning after Ordonez and Thomas also went yard on Tuesday ...
* Damaso Marte, who was ultra-tough out of the bullpen last season, has been hit at a .300 clip this year -- and has gone just 2-for-4 in save opportunities ...
* Veteran short man Mike Jackson, who will be 40 next offseason, has been pleasantly effective ... His season line: 9 1/3 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 4 K ...
* In contrast, Saturday's starter, Danny Wright, has been unpleasantly ineffective this season, losing all three of his starts ... He's walked eight on the year while striking out just four, and his ERA sits at an unsatisfactory 6.14 ... Incredibly, Wright has failed to earn a victory in his last eighteen starts ... Last season, he lost to the Jays at home, and was tagged ... A sympathetic Guillen has no plans to replace Wright: "Remember, it's not easy being the fifth guy. He sometimes has to go six, seven days without a start" ... Guillen hopes that Wright will be more aggressive this Saturday; he's described his hurler as "aiming" the ball this season ... The problem is, there aren't any viable options in AAA and Cotts has been effective in the bullpen ...
* Old friend Billy Koch has held the opposition scoreless in his last four appearances, after a four-run ninth-inning meltdown against Kansas City on April 14 ... Guillen has declared Koch the closer, except when the matchups strongly favour Marte ... Kenny Williams: "If we can get Billy Koch to being the old Billy, or even close, we're going to be that much better" ... Can you believe he'll be 30 in December? ...
* Jon Adkins, the oft-mocked return for Ray Durham in a deadline deal, had been effective in long relief until Tuesday ... In Tuesday's game, Adkins was entrusted with the job of holding the fort in the top of the tenth. Boy, did he ever not ... Three singles, a double and two walks later, Adkins departed with his team down four ...
* Carlos Lee has also hit in six of his last seven starts ... A flat-footed Lee was embarrassingly picked off first by Toby Hall in the ninth inning on Sunday ... Lee made a tremendous sliding catch last Saturday ...
* Sunday's starter, 25-year-old Jon Garland, has only pitched well against the Yankees this season ... The Royals and Indians have each touched him up for five runs ... Ozzie described Garland as "asleep" on the mound during his rocky start on Tuesday ... Incredibly, he allowed only one run in eight innings at Yankee Stadium despite walking seven pinstripers ... He allowed just two runs on nine hits in 15 innings of outstanding work against the Jays last season ... He's got an impressive 4-1, 2.20 career line in six appearances against the Jays, holding Toronto to a .217 average ...
* Joe Crede, who just turned 26, has turned in back-to-back three-hit performances ...
* Tough lefty Kelly Wunsch has begun his AAA rehab assignment, but he'll take his time while healing the torn muscle in his pitching shoulder ...
* Jose Valentin has been out with a left hamstring injury, and should be back in the lineup next Monday ... He'll probably replace Harris in the lineup ...
* Time had to be called several times last night as the Windy City earned its nickname ... 25-30 mph gusts caused the infield dirt to swirl distractingly throughout the game ...
* The law of unintended consequences: Formerly Comiskey Park, the corporately re-christened U.S. Cellular Field has earned the local nickname "The Cell" ... Guillen isn't concerned about the modest crowds coming out to the South Side: "I coached in Montreal and Florida...You want to talk about fans? There were 20 people there" ...
* There's an interesting media-related battle underway in Chicago. Jerry Reinsdorf and Ozzie Guillen have each lamented the local papers' lopsided balance in Cubs-White Sox coverage ... Guillen: "We have our [home] opener...and we have one or two pages in the paper...And the Cubs lose the game, and it's 45 pages" ... Guillen also asked (more jokingly) about why there was no "Frank Thomas Watch" in the news when the longtime slugger was sidelined with a hamstring injury. Chicago papers have been running daily "Prior Watch" updates ... Dusty Baker politely declined to respond to Guillen, but he did point out that New York, Los Angeles and the Bay Area don't offer their two clubs perfectly equal coverage, either ...
Probable Batting Orders
vs. LH
4 Harris
6 Uribe
9 Ordonez
DH Thomas
7 Lee
3 Konerko
5 Crede
8 Rowand
2 Alomar
vs. RH
4 Harris
6 Uribe
9 Ordonez
DH Thomas
7 Lee
3 Konerko
5 Crede
8 Rowand/Perez
2 Olivo/Alomar
Pitching Probables
Thursday: RH L----a vs. Hentgen
Friday: LH Buehrle vs. Halladay
Saturday: RH Wright vs. Lilly
Sunday: RH Garland vs. Batista
Bullpen Usage
Long: Adkins R
Short: Takatsu R, Cotts L, Jackson R
Setup: Marte L, Politte R
Closer: Koch R