Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Southsiders draw first blood in game 1
5 run first begins 14-2 blowout
The Boston Red Sox were more than aware that Matt Clement was not exactly the most confident pitcher heading into the playoffs. They were hoping that the Matt Clement of the first half of the 2005 season would show up. That pitcher went 10-2 with an ERA of 3.85 and made a trip to the All Star game. Unfortunately for the Red Sox the Matt Clement that showed up Tuesday at U.S. Cellular Field was the one that went 1-3 in his six starts in September that included a disastrous outing against the Oakland A's on September 18th where Clement lasted only 1 1/3 innings. Make no mistake about it, if Terry Francona didn't have concerns about burning up his bullpen in a short series, Clement's outing would have been even shorter than that one.
Clement began the game by hitting White Sox leadoff hitter Scott Podsednik. He also nailed Jermaine Dye for good measure. After pushing 2 runs across early the White Sox capped their big first inning when catcher A.J. Pierzynski blasted a 3 run opposite field home run. The rout was on.
Jose Contreras started on the hill for the White Sox in game 1 and he was nothing short of brilliant. In contrast to Clement, Contreras was one of the best pitchers in all of baseball in the second half. Contreras looks extremely confident and comfortable in Chicago and the New York Yankees have to be wondering why they never witnessed this kind of dominant pitching from him when he was wearing pinstripes. Contreras' line in game 1- 7 2/3 innings. 8 hits. 2 runs. 0 walks and 8 K's. Contreras threw 100 pitches, 70 of them for strikes. This series might not go the distance but the White Sox will be feeling very confident if Jose Contreras has to make another start in game 5.
The White Sox offense scored early and often. Paul Konerko hit a solo blast in the third inning and Pierzynski hit his second home run of the day with a solo blast in the eighth inning. To put into perspective the kind of day the White Sox hitters had at the plate, their number nine hitter Juan Uribe hit a 2 run shot in the fourth inning and Scott Podsednik hit a 3 run dinger in the sixth inning. This is the same Scott Podsednik who had a grand total of 0 home runs during the regular season. The White Sox acquired Podsednik from Milwaukee for slugger Carlos Lee last winter. He was brought in to steal bases and add a whole new element to the top of the White Sox batting order. 3 run shots in playoff games was not on Podsednik's resume but the Sox will gladly take it and try to take a stranglehold on the series with a win in game 2 tomorrow evening. (7:00 EST)
Mark Buehrle goes against David Wells in game 2. Buehrle was 16-8 on the year with a 3.12 ERA and Wells was 15-7 with a 4.45 ERA. Buehrle likes to work fast and the Red Sox bats are going to have to come alive if they don't want to return to Boston down 2-0. Wells is s big game pitcher and proved that in his last start of the season against the New York Yankees. He also has a 10-3 record and a 3.18 ERA in 25 post season appearances with 4 different teams. Wells has to give manager Terry Francona and his teammates a strong outing or the Red Sox defense of what was their first World Series title in 86 years will be very short lived.
Game 2 WED. OCT.5 U.S. Cellular Field 7:00 EST
posted by Dean Swanton 3:35 PM
