caulfield12

QUOTE (kapzk @ Jul 18, 2011 -> 08:15 PM) Really? I was hoping a bit less money maybe about 10-12, even Konerko isnt that highly paid. Maybe Buerhle would take somewhat of a discount with us. Danks I doubt would demand that much given how this season has been on him. Hopefully we can lock him up to long term somewhere between 9-11 million per Danks is going to get paid big-time, and it won't be anything close to $9-10 million for a long-term deal. Warming up to the idea of the Twins getting swept and being 2 1/2 behind us...one way or the other, we're going to have to beat the Indians and Twins head-to-head down the stretch. Buehrle has gone 13 starts without giving up more than 3 runs. And yet he's winless for a month. That's all you need to know about the Sox offensive offense.

That'll work. But Gordon, you just don't look dangerous up there. If he hit out of a bit more of a crouch and had his bat more parallel to the ground...I don't know, if I was an opposing pitcher, I'd just pump in fastball after fastball and dare him to beat me with his hands. AJ trying to get another balk call. God....the thing they need most is a REAL 3B, and they're boxed in not being able to do anything to acquire one, unless it's just a 2 month rental.

Lillibridge was out. Lucky call. Rios on the road versus Dunn's overall BA. It's the most interestingly egregious stat we can track, the battle to get to .150. I hope that wasn't Rios running at his top speed there.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 18, 2011 -> 08:08 PM) That level of midseason move just doesn't sound like the Twins to me. I meant the Indians. They're one more bat away (without Shoo) from being a very, very solid team. 3-2 Indians, still threatening with 1st/3rd and just one out. New pitcher for the Twins.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Jul 18, 2011 -> 08:02 PM) Rooting for the Twins when they are 1.5 games behind us? In that series just be happy one of them has to lose. I respect the Twins as a division contender more than the Indians anyway. But that all changes if they can acquire a Beltran or Jose Reyes caliber of player. 7 in a row retired.....13 consecutive starts where Buehrle hasn't given up more than 3 runs (at most). Amazingly consistent at this stage in his career. I'd almost rather go 2 seasons at $14-15 million (with Mark) than Danks for five years at the same money. Those huge, long-term pitching contracts are just so risky.

That play by Beckham was remarkably flawless and too easy looking.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Jul 18, 2011 -> 07:58 PM) At times it's hard to believe the weakest teams today like the Royals were once power houses in baseball. Pirates in the 80's/early 90's, Orioles, Royals, Astros, Padres...

Things are going from bad to historically horrific with Dunn. Patented Konerko shoulder shrug. Ramirez hits the ball off the end of the bat.

Twins tie it 2-2 on Valencia solo homer off Carmona. Go Twins!!! Paulie 4th in all the 3 major hitting categories for his AL ranks.

55% success rate on steals and falling. Mostly, this is on Pierre, but we're also not getting anything out of Rios in that category this year, either. Ramirez is running less than ever, too. Somehow the Twins pull up this Diamond guy from the minors and he gives up on 2 ER in 6 IP. But Indians still leading. Moustakas certainly not exactly competing for AL ROY, lol. I wonder how much longer they'll leave him up there with how much he's struggling. Have no choice, since he's your future. But ugly stretch for him hitting-wise.

How do you get thrown out SO BADLY on a hanging curveball??? Yikes.

Davies was well up over 100 pitches with 100 degree heat. And Teahen against a LHP looked like a sure K. That was the right call. Sox from 2nd to 12th in AL Stolen Bases. 56% success rate. STERLING.

Atta boy, Jean Pierre. 10 game hitting streak. Pierre and Beckham picking it up ... but still no Dunn and Rios sightings. Except for Rios at almost .160 on the road. Could Lillibridge really hit that poorly (or DeAza/Milledge/Danks) in all the road games, even against RHP? MAYBE!!

Very fortunate there...hard to score AJ on any ball hit on the infield. Pull and don't lift swing there.

Chris Getz wasn't set up correctly there for that throw...lucky. Bad throw, too. But we still have to take advantage with Teahen actually not K'ing against a lefty. I'd almost rather PH Vizquel here. At least he'll make contact.

Indians now out in front of the Twins, 2-1. 3 1/2 GB vs. 5 1/2 GB in the balance. Rios hitting a Dunn-like .164 on the road. Why did he swing at that pitch? Well, the strikeout call was definitely outside, in his defense.

Rios very very lucky that Ramirez fielded that horrible throw cleanly. It's academic, Buehrle gives up the single. Cabrera with the bat flip?? Really?? I think Buehrle might drill him next time if there are 2 outs. White Sox baseball, you got to love it. Lead evaporated.

What the heck was Moustakas doing there? Dunn really was fortunate not to get strike calls with a couple of those pitches. Thankfully, Davies only has one more inning (97 pitches) unless we go out in 5-6-7 pitches, which is possible with AJ and Rios hitting.

I'm not understanding exactly why Morel is still on this roster when they can bring up another bat in either Milledge or DeAza. Viciedo has to stay unless he gets to play everyday. I'm really to the point where I just want to move Pierre to CF and stick Viciedo in the line-up. That's a scary bad defense, but having 2 huge holes in our line-up, well 3 if you include the 3B position, it's just not going to work. And that's counting on Pierre and Beckham as "good" hitters.

Can't Teahen AT LEAST hit well against his former team? UGH. Does anyone else think 2-5 against the Royals over a two week span is enough to get SOMEONE fired? Probably not. Only 0-4, and the Royals just aren't capable of pulling THAT off. Buehrle already has 57 pitches to get 9 outs. Definitely a bullpen night...at least going that way.

Seems very very weird to be cheering FOR the Twins, one of the first few times I can remember that in a regular season game against a division opponent. Did Rios really line out hard or was it just the "soft" liner variety? Then again, it's off Davies so you would hope he would accidentally make hard contact against someone. Cheapest single of Beckham's life, should have been a DP ball!! 9 game hitting streak, 14 hits in those games.

Here's another video testimony to why fans want Greg Walker gone. We get it that Dunn's lost at the plate, but 7 K's? Yeah, we're leading 2-0 and the team overall doesn't strike out as much as some simply due to the presence of AJ and Pierre (who also don't hit the ball with much pop), but REALLY?? We would have been a lot better off had we picked up Melky Cabrera on the cheap in the last couple of offseasons. Hindsight, 20/20...ofc.

Twins get pushed back to 5 1/2. So frustrating, we should have gone into today 3 games behind the Indians and just 2 behind the Tigers. 4/4 looks and feels a helluva lot different, and now 4 1/2. I guess, if nothing else, it's going to force a reaction from KW sooner rather than later if we don't play well at KC/CLE and then come out flat for yet another huge homestand against some top-drawing teams.

But wouldn't you agree that playing in Chicago, Philly, Boston or NY is just a totally different animal? In terms of pressure, the media especially, expectations...the West Coast/AZ has always been perceived as more laid-back. A lot of the Eastern media doesn't even pay attention to what's going on out there after their bedtime. Soriano certainly thought that it was tougher to play in Chicago than even for the Yankees. Remember Conteras, how Cashman gave up on him simply because he was failing in head-to-head match-ups against the Red Sox? There's just nothing close to that anywhere else.

Selig will surely make the fine for his buddy JR be surrendering either Hanley, LoMo or Josh Johnson for compensatory damages.