No sweep of Tigers, but Sox go 6-4 on homestand
The White Sox fell 6-4 Wednesday afternoon at U.S. Cellular Field, so they failed to complete a three-game sweep over the first-place Tigers.
Still, the Sox came out 6-4 on a long homestand that started early last week with a three-game sweep over Alex Rodriguez and the Yankees.
When you have a 46-73 record like the White Sox, you try to find positives wherever you can.
“It’s kind of a different team right now,” said Sox manager Robin Ventura. “We have some new players and it becomes a different mix of who you’re playing. It’s good. It’s good they’re starting out this way.”
The White Sox jumped on Detroit starter Rick Porcello for 3 runs in the first inning Wednesday, which featured RBI singles from Avisail Garcia and Conor Gillaspie.
But Tigers star Miguel Cabrera tied the game in the third inning with a 3-run homer (No. 38) off Sox starter John Danks, and Gillaspie’s first of 2 errors allowed 2 unearned runs to score in the sixth.
Cabrera turned on a first-pitch inside fastball from Danks (2-10) to pull Detroit into a tie.
“Bad pitch to him,” Danks said. “I got him out in the first at-bat. I was trying to go a little further in with the first pitch there, and he got to it. It wouldn’t have been a called strike I don’t think, but it doesn’t have to be to be him.”
The White Sox had 14 hits off Porcello (9-6) and four relievers — all singles — and they were 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position while stranding a season-high 15 runners on base.
“We didn’t let up, even in the ninth we had a chance, so that’s a good sign,” said Gordon Beckham, who is batting .308 after going 3-for-4. “It’s frustrating always to lose. It doesn’t matter where or when or what time of the season or who it is, you want to win. We won a series, that’s a positive thing, and they’re a real good team.”
Tigers manager Jim Leyland was impressed with the “retooling” White Sox.
“These guys are playing better,” Leyland said. “I think this team, to me, the White Sox are showing what major-league baseball’s all about. They’ve got a lot of character. They’re playing their tails off. They fight tooth-and-nail against us every single game, which is what they should be doing, and that’s what they’re doing.”
Back at it:Alexei Ramirez probably could have used a day off Wednesday afternoon after committing 3 errors against the Tigers the night before.But for the 119th time in 119 games, Ramirez started at shortstop for the Sox, and he played well.In addition to making a handful of solid defensive plays, including two that robbed Miguel Cabrera of hits, Ramirez was 2-for-5 with 1 RBI, extending his hitting streak to 11 games.#147;He puts yesterday behind him and comes out and plays hard,#148; manager Robin Ventura said. #147;He did a lot of good things at shortstop today.#148;Ramirez has already matched his career-high with 20 errors. His father-in-law was killed in spring training, and it#146;s seemingly been a distraction.#147;You can have a season where you#146;re just not as good as other ones,#148; Ventura said. #147;He#146;ll come back and make a play that nobody else in the league can make. You don#146;t know exactly what it is. He has a lot of other stuff going on that, it#146;s tough to deal with at times. That#146;s stuff that#146;s off the field. It#146;s hard to have him separate those two at times.#148;