Game 72: Double digits

Marshall from How I Met your Mother:  “How many times bro?  Lilly guessed eight, but I know my boy got to
double digits.”  Yes, the White Sox win
streak has now reached double digits with a 6-0 win against the rival Cubs
yesterday.  The matchup of Jake Peavy and
Carlos Zambrano was to be the story.  It
was that, just not in the way we thought.  

Peavy was dominant.  For the
second game in a row he did not allow a run. 
He threw seven shutout innings, allowed just three hits, walked only two
while striking out nine.  He should have
been the headline.  However Carlos
Zambrano and his “explosive” personality stole it away. 

In the bottom of the first inning, the White Sox hit
Zambrano very hard as his sinker-ball was not yet sinking.  Juan Pierre led off the game with a double by
first baseman Derek Lee that he had no chance of getting to.  One batter later, he would be driven home by
a double down the third base line by Alex Rios to give the White Sox a 1-0
lead.  After a Paul Konerko single to
left that moved Rios to third one of the White Sox hottest hitters as of late
came to the plate.

Carlos Quentin has been tearing it up as of late and
yesterday was no exception.  Going into
the day in his previous eight games, Quentin had a batting average of .393,
with three homeruns and 10 RBI.  Against
Zambrano he took a 0-2 hanger into the left field seats for a 3-run blast.  He gave the White Sox a 4-0 lead with his 12^th
homerun of the season and raised his RBI total to 46 on the season.  Zambrano would get the next two batters out
to end the inning, but that is where the real fireworks would begin. 

On the final out of the inning, A.J. Pierzynski would hit a
ground ball to first baseman Derek Lee, Zambrano ran over to cover first base
and stomped his foot on the bag in frustration for the out.  As he walked to the dugout he began waving
his arms and screaming profanities at the top of his lungs.  

He reached the dugout and the temper tantrum
was still being thrown.  He then got in
an argument with Derek Lee.  It boiled
over so much that Lou Pinella and the staff had to get in the middle of
it.  Zambrano was told to go to the
locker room and leave the stadium.  His
day was over and the headline was stolen from Peavy. 

Tom Gorzelany would enter the game and do quite well.  Through 3 1/3 innings Gorzelany allowed just
one walk and struck out four batters. 
However he did allow one hit, and it was by an unlikely character.  Gordon Beckham hit just his second homer of
the season as he gave the White Sox a 5-0 lead to begin the 5^th. 

In the 6^th, Carlos Quentin would lead off the
inning with his 15^th double of the season.  After a Mark Kotsay walk and an Alexei
Ramirez single, the bases were now loaded. 
Gordon Beckham would hit a sacrifice fly to left to extend the White Sox
lead to 6-0.  The White Sox would get no
more base-runners the remainder of the game, but enough damage had been
done. 

Jake Peavy would end his day after seven full innings.  Over the last 21 innings, Peavy has allowed
no runs.  He has been amazing, and
continues a streak of spectacular starts by this staff.  They have won 14 out of their last 15 games
the starting staff has been carrying the team while giving the bullpen a needed
rest after being depleted earlier in the season.  Over that stretch, the starting staff has a
record of 12-1 with an ERA of just 1.90 over that span.  All 15 have been quality starts.  Before this run, the White Sox starting staff
had an ERA of 5.20.  It is clearly the
year of the pitcher.  The White Sox
starting staff has been just part of that storyline.  

Edwin Jackson no-hit the Tampa Bay Rays
yesterday on 149 pitches.  There have
been four no-hitters this season, two of them perfect games, and it should have
been more.  What a year for
baseball.       

The great starts have allowed Ozzie Guillen to use the
bullpen the way he desires.  Sergio
Santos and Tony Pena finished off the Cubs yesterday and raised the White Sox
record to 38-34.  But it has not been all
pitching for the Sox.  The White Sox
offense has picked it up as well.  Over
the run, they have put together a .286 team average while scoring 78 runs.  They also have an average just under .400
with runners in scoring position during that same span. 

With the win, along with the Twins and Tigers losses, the
White Sox are now just 1 ½ games behind the division leading Twins and just a ½
game behind the Tigers for second place. 
They have even fought back to a respectable deficit in the wild-card
race as they now trail Tampa Bay
and Boston by just 4 ½ games.  Today the White Sox will try to win their 11^th
straight game and lock up the 1^st Annual Cross-town Cup against the
rival Cubs.