Young guns get it done for Sox
As the new season dawned, third baseman Josh Fields and center fielder Jerry Owens were setting up shop with Class AAA Charlotte.
On the other side of the map, second baseman Danny Richar was doing the same at Class AAA Tucson, the Arizona Diamondbacks' top farm team.
At best, all three prospects figured to be called up to the major leagues in September, when 25-man rosters can expand.
But when injuries started hitting the White Sox, Plan B came into play.
That opened the door for Fields, who came up June 6 when Joe Crede opted for season-ending back surgery.
Owens came up twice for the injured Darin Erstad (sprained ankle), and the 26-year-old rookie has been the Sox' regular leadoff man/center fielder since early July.
As for Richar, he joined Charlotte on June 16 following a trade and debuted with the White Sox on July 28, the day after Tadahito Iguchi was dealt to Philadelphia.
The Sox are well out of contention, but Fields, Owens and Richar still are playing for their professional lives -- trying to show enough to come back next season.
"My goal is just to do whatever I can to continue to show I can contribute and help this team as much as possible, whether it's offensively or defensively,'' Owens said.
In Tuesday night's 5-2 victory, the Sox' young trio all pitched in.
In the second inning, Owens used his standout speed to run down and catch a deep drive off the bat of Emil Brown.
Fields doubled with one out in the third inning and came home on Jim Thome's home run, the 493rd of his career. In the fourth, Richar hit his third home run in the last five games.
For the most part, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen has been impressed with Fields, Owens and Richar.
"I think they're doing a pretty good job,'' Guillen said. "It takes a little time for those guys to go out there and perform. Do they play great? No, they don't play great. They play good enough to continue to be in the lineup.''
The Sox might be adding another young outfielder in the next few days, possibly Ryan Sweeney, after injury-prone left fielder Scott Podsednik had to exit Tuesday's game in the sixth inning with a strained right rib-cage muscle.
Podsednik was on the disabled list July 2-23 with a strained left rib-cage muscle, and he was sidelined April 16-June 22 with a strained right adductor.
"I just feel bad for him,'' Guillen said. "I think this guy, he wants to stay in the game. It's frustrating for him because he can't play the way he wants to play because of the injuries.''
A string of injuries forced the White Sox to go to a youth movement this season, but that doesn't mean the 2008 roster will be loaded with kids.
"I have a great relationship with the general manager (Kenny Williams); I have a great relationship with the owner (Jerry Reinsdorf),'' Guillen said. "They know what we need.
"Like I keep saying, people in Chicago think we're going to have a Little League team playing on the field next year, or we're going to bring all kinds of kids in.
"No, we're going to compete. We're going to try to put the best team we can on the field to compete against this division, which is not an easy thing to do.''
White Sox 5, Royals 2
At the plate: Jim Thome hit a 2-run homer in the third inning. He is 7 away from reaching 500. Paul Konerko hit a solo shot in the eighth, his first homer since Aug. 2.
On the mound: Starter Javier Vazquez got the win after pitching 6 innings and allowing 2 runs (1 earned) on 5 hits. Vazquez is 8-1 with a 2.94 ERA over his last 12 starts.
-- Scot Gregor