April 22, 200322 yr Esteban Loaiza pitched surprisingly well during Spring Training, strong enough to earn the fourth spot in the White Sox rotation as a non-roster invitee. But, compared to the success of his first three starts of the regular season, Loaiza's time in Arizona was literally and figuratively a warm up. Following Thursday's six-inning effort in which he matched a career-high with 11 strikeouts and defeated division-leading Kansas City, Loaiza sits with a perfect 3-0 with the second lowest ERA in the American League. The White Sox expected Loaiza to contribute, but this sort of dominance surprises even the players who faced him when he pitched for Texas and Toronto. "He was good in Texas, but you could still get hits and score runs off him," said White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko of Loaiza. "Now, Esteban is hitting his spots to the point of where he has ace-type stuff. Guys are not getting good swings." By his own admission, Loaiza has never had this sort of three-game dominant run in his career. The 31-year-old veteran hopes to extend that success to four games, when he opposes the Orioles Tuesday. Loaiza posted a 2-0 record with a 2.78 ERA against Baltimore last season and has a 2-1 mark with a 4.06 ERA in five starts at Camden Yards. Loaiza has also limited opposing hitters to a .130 batting average. Even Loaiza himself seems slightly surprised by his fast start, despite his 12-3 record with a 3.01 ERA in April and 60-70 mark with a 5.08 ERA otherwise. But, Loaiza doesn't believe his past record accurately reflects his ability. "You have ups and downs in your career, just like every other player," Loaiza said. "Sometimes you get run support, and some times you struggle. But, I saw in Spring Training this team could swing the bats and score a lot of runs and knew I would be all right if I threw strikes." Pitching matchup: CHI: RHP Esteban Loaiza 9-10, 5.71 in 2002 3-0, 1.31 in 2003 5-4, 4.19 lifetime vs. BAL BAL: RHP Sidney Ponson 12-12, 4.58 in 2002 1-1, 6.06 in 2003 1-3, 6.53 lifetime vs. CHI Players to watch: Following a day off, Frank Thomas returns to the lineup Tuesday in a park where he has hit well in the past. Thomas has a .294 average in 47 games at Camden Yards, with 11 home runs and 38 RBIs. Carlos Lee, who has homered in five consecutive games, has just one home run in 44 at-bats in Baltimore. Quotable: "The gun (at U.S. Cellular Field) is screwed up. Everyone else is throwing nowhere close to where they should be. But, it was a bad pitch, and it doesn't matter if the speed was 96, 93 or 86 mph. If you throw it down the middle, someone is going to hit it hard." -- White Sox closer Billy Koch on his pitch velocity after yielding Karim Garcia's two-run home run in the ninth inning of Monday's loss. On television: Fox Sports Net Orioles Television Network On radio: ESPN AM 1000 WBAL AM 1090 Quick hits: Carlos Lee extended his home run streak to five straight games, tying the club record and the longest streak for the White Sox since Frank Thomas went deep in five straight from May 24 to May 29 in 1994. ...Magglio Ordonez doubled to lead off the sixth, extending his hitting streak to 17 games and matching his career best. He now surpasses Atlanta's Gary Sheffield for the longest hitting streak in the Majors. ...Rick White worked a career-high 3 1/3 innings in relief of Jon Garland, striking out four. In his previous six appearances, White pitched 5 2/3 innings and struck out four. ...D'Angelo Jimenez reached base for the 16th consecutive game, but his hitting streak ended at eight. ...Kelly Wunsch is still perfect in 2003, pitching two scoreless innings Monday. He matched his career high with three strikeouts.
April 22, 200322 yr Author Starting lineup (the usual): Jimenez .362 Valentin .322 Thomas .218 Ordonez .297 Konerko .200 Lee .246 Crede .273 Rowand .143 Olivo .250
April 22, 200322 yr Author Top 1st -Jimenez called out on strikes -Valentin flies out to center -Big Hurt HITS IT WAY OUT, YOU CAN PUT IT ON THE BOARD....YEEES -Ordonez grounds out 1 hit, 1 run 1-0 SOX
April 22, 200322 yr I like to see Frank going downtown especially away from Comiskey. Only did it 4 times last year. I think (do not know any facts) he has the highest percentage of home game homers.
April 22, 200322 yr Author Bottom 1st -Loaiza hit Hairston after 2 quick strikes -Gary Matthews flies out to left, 1 out -Surhoff swings and misses on an inside pitch, 2 outs *Hairston swipes 2nd, I believe 1st off of Olivo -Conine called out on strikes, inning over 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 stranded 1-0 SOX
April 22, 200322 yr Konerko lines out and Lee grounds out, but I liked both (even though they got out). Konerko hit it HARD the other way, and Lee hit it very hard down to 3rd. Top 2, Sox up 1-0
April 22, 200322 yr Author Bot 2nd -Gibbons flies out -Batista flies out -Mora singles -Deivi Cruz grounds out to 3rd 1 hit, 0 runs, 1 stranded 1-0 SOX
April 22, 200322 yr WHAT A PLAY BY JOE!!! SMASH down the line and Joe with a diving stab and throw over to PK. That's what we like to see guys! End 2, Sox up 1-0
April 22, 200322 yr Author Say the S0x lead 3-2 going to the bottom of the 9th..who would you bring for the save?
April 22, 200322 yr In my last post I meant to say torrid hitting. Is it just me, or has Estaban Loaiza forgotten that he was a non roster invitee? I think he's planning pitching a home game on July 15th.
April 22, 200322 yr Say the S0x lead 3-2 going to the bottom of the 9th..who would you bring for the save? Well I'd leave Loaiza in if he was under 100 pitches. Otherwise, I'd bring in Koch -- he IS our closer, remember?
April 22, 200322 yr I agree, Clujer. I still have full confidence in him. Billy Koch is a great closer, who is in a slump, like what happens to everybody sometime.
April 22, 200322 yr I'm having to watch this game with the Baltimore announcers doing the game, but they're actually very good so far. It's Buck Martinez and someone else -- not sure who. 3rd K for Esteban. 1 out in the 3rd.
April 22, 200322 yr I can't see or hear the game, but how close was Jose's flyout to being a goner. Not very close. About 20 feet from the track. Joe Crede's flyout in the 2nd inning went to the wall -- and he barely hit it! Hmmm..Loaiza just hit Hairston for the 2nd time tonight...weird.
April 22, 200322 yr Author I agree, Clujer. I still have full confidence in him. Billy Koch is a great closer, who is in a slump, like what happens to everybody sometime. Well he's pitched the last two games. And he's given up bombs. Sure we want him as our closer, but his stuff is not that hot right now.
April 22, 200322 yr I was just wondering, because Gamecast showed it against the wall I hope Frank can get another hit. How many multi-hit games does he have? I only recall one, on Saturday I think.
April 22, 200322 yr I agree, Clujer. I still have full confidence in him. Billy Koch is a great closer, who is in a slump, like what happens to everybody sometime. Well he's pitched the last two games. And he's given up bombs. Sure we want him as our closer, but his stuff is not that hot right now. Sitting on the bench watching Damaso or someone else close the game isn't going to help him get out of the slump. Having confidence in him and having a good game or 2 is what will get him out of it. BTW, Surhoff was OUT at 1st, but Jimenez will probably get an error on the play. Oh well. Esteban has to get out of this 1st and 3rd jam with 2 out, and he does by getting a groundout to Jose. OK, they called the Surhoff play a hit -- good.
April 22, 200322 yr Author I was just wondering, because Gamecast showed it against the wall I hope Frank can get another hit. How many multi-hit games does he have? I only recall one, on Saturday I think. Yeah I'm watching Gameday. Kinda tough to know what's happening. End of 3, 1-0 Sox
April 22, 200322 yr I was just wondering, because Gamecast showed it against the wall I hope Frank can get another hit. How many multi-hit games does he have? I only recall one, on Saturday I think. Frank has had 2 multi-hit games, 7 hitless games, and 8 1-hit games (counting tonight). Last Saturday (2 for 5), as you mentioned, and April 9 @ Cleveland (2 for 4) are his 2-hit games. He just flew out, so he'll have to get his 2nd hit in his next AB I guess.
April 22, 200322 yr Basehit for Magglio, to extend his hitting streak to 18 games. It's the longest active streak in the league.
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