Lee's Injured

[Wise Master Buehrle]

http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb...s_cws&fext=.jsp

 

Lee, Garcia injuries not serious

Both expected to return to field early next week

By Scott Merkin / MLB.com

 

Carlos Lee (right) suffered a slight groin strain Wednesday in Detroit. (Brian Kersey/AP)

CLEVELAND -- Even with the White Sox's drive for the American League Central title stalled, starting Friday night eight games behind the front-running Minnesota Twins, the South Siders are keeping things interesting.

 

Their 14-run outburst Thursday marked the 20th time this season the White Sox have scored in double-digits, tying St. Louis for the Major League lead. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Josh Stewart became the seventh pitcher to fail in an attempt to anchor the fifth starter's slot in the starting rotation, a black hole now featuring a 2-11 record with an 11.07 ERA.

 

Then, there are the injuries. From Magglio Ordonez to Frank Thomas to Scott Schoeneweis, manager Ozzie Guillen has not been working with a full roster since late May.

 

Add two more key cogs to that list as of Friday, in left fielder Carlos Lee and pitcher Freddy Garcia. But Guillen believes neither injury will require extensive time away from the field.

 

Lee hurt himself Wednesday in Detroit, trying to throw out Dimitri Young at the plate on Marcus Thames' eighth-inning single. When Lee planted to make the throw, his right leg slipped on the wet grass and caused a slight groin strain.

 

 

Guillen listed Lee as day-to-day, even checking with the injured outfielder prior to inserting Ross Gload into the starting lineup against left-hander C.C. Sabathia on Friday. Lee thinks the time off is a little more certain.

 

"Maybe four or five days," said Lee, meaning he probably won't play this weekend at Jacobs Field. "It could have been worse. My leg went one way and the other leg slipped and went the other way."

 

According to Lee, the injury is not high up in the muscle, making it easier for a quick recovery. The location of Garcia's injury also is important in Guillen's eyes, leading the White Sox manager to believe there's currently no possibility for elbow problems to surface.

 

Garcia was scratched from his Friday start late Thursday with tightness in his right forearm, replaced on the mound by minor league callup Jason Grilli. It was a similar sort of soreness experienced by Houston's Andy Pettitte originally, before he was shut down for the season recently with elbow problems.

 

But Guillen mentioned Friday that Garcia's soreness is on the top of his arm and not the muscle underneath, which could lead to elbow discomfort. He also said that Garcia already had improved from the day before.

 

Freddy Garcia / P

 

 

Born: 06/10/76

Height: 6'4"

Weight: 240 lbs

Bats: R / Throws: R

More info:

Player page

Stats | Splits

Team Site

 

 

"As a matter of fact, it's a lot better today," said Guillen of Garcia. "He was disappointed that he couldn't start, but that's part of the game. I don't want to take a chance, a risk, to get him worse and get him to the point where he can't pitch anymore for the rest of the season.

 

"He's just a little tight. It's not a big deal. He just has tightness on the top, not on the muscle that's attached to the elbow. That's why we're not really worried about it."

 

Guillen expects Garcia to throw on the sideline either Saturday or Sunday and be back on the mound Tuesday night, when the White Sox open a three-game home series against Barry Zito and the Oakland A's. With Garcia's 7-0 record and 2.92 ERA in eight starts during the day, Garcia seems like a perfect fit to pitch Monday afternoon's makeup game against Philadelphia.

 

Instead, left-hander Mark Buehrle gets the call against a lineup featuring tough left-handed outs such as Bobby Abreu and Jim Thome.

 

"I didn't think about that, we might," said Guillen of Garcia working Monday afternoon. "But I don't know because Buehrle doesn't like to pitch with (five) days off and all this stuff. I think we'll just keep it the same way."

 

Missing Lee and his 11-game hitting streak for more than one game would seem to be another severe blow suffered by the White Sox offense. Lee is hitting .413 with three home runs and 10 RBIs during his recent run.

 

Gload had three hits and two RBIs as Lee's replacement Thursday, and the White Sox produced their highest run total of August. Guillen made very few adjustments to Thursday's successful formula, substituting Jamie Burke for Ben Davis behind the plate and putting Joe Crede at third base with Juan Uribe moving to shortstop.

 

"I wanted to keep Uribe in the lineup," Guillen said. "He and [Aaron] Rowand are swinging the bats the best."

 

"The lineup will be fine," Lee added with a smile. "They scored 14 runs last night without me, so you don't want to mess with it."

[jeremyb]

I do not believe one stinkin' word that comes from this organization. Not one.

[Wise Master Buehrle]

I do not believe one stinkin' word that comes from this organization. Not one.

At least our word isn't as unreliable as the Cubs organizations word.

[BridgeportHeather]

Their 14-run outburst Thursday marked the 20th time this season the White Sox have scored in double-digits, tying St. Louis for the Major League lead.

There ya go...Proof positive that the pitching has just let us down time after time this year. I blame a lot of this on our lack of a 5th starter. They'd be MUCH better if we didn't have an "easy loss" every five days.

 

Anywayz, I'm glad they aren't injured to the extent of Frank or Maggs.

[jeremyb]

There ya go...Proof positive that the pitching has just let us down time after time this year.

Not true. Sox are notorious for scoring 12 runs off a bad pitcher one day and then score 4 runs combined in the next 2 against decent-to-good pitchers, losing both games.

 

How many times did Garland or Freddy blank the other team until 4th or 5th inning only to receive no run support, and then implode? Sure, Sox would score 2-3 runs in the 9th inning to make it close, but too little too late.