Sox eager to get back on home turf
DETROIT -- After six weeks in spring training and a week of games at Cleveland and Detroit to open the regular season, the White Sox are looking forward to getting back to U.S. Cellular Field.
Considering they played the Tigers in a Sunday night ESPN game, the Sox might be a little tired this afternoon when they face the Minnesota Twins in their first home game.
"(Today) is going to be kind of rough, but it is what it is,'' manager Ozzie Guillen said. "We don't make the schedule, but I don't expect the players to make an excuse about the schedule.
"It's always nice to be back (in Chicago). It's always nice to be in your own clubhouse. We've been on the road for a long time, and maybe some guys haven't seen their family for a while.''
Based on their promising start, expect plenty of ovations when the White Sox' lineup is announced today, especially for Joe Crede.
Sidelined for the final four months of 2007 after having back surgery, Crede is looking forward to making his sixth straight home-opener start at third base.
Josh Fields arrived at spring training expecting to be the Sox' starter at third, and Crede was widely rumored to be on the trade block. Fields was optioned to Class AAA Charlotte at the end of camp.
"Just from everything I heard, I didn't know,'' Crede said of his status. "For me, I was trying to block everything out. The bottom line is you want to play baseball somewhere; it's icing on the cake that it's in Chicago in front of some great fans in a great city.''
Take a break: Scott Linebrink is a workhorse relief pitcher, and his 290 appearances from 2004-07 are sixth-most in baseball.
After pitching in three straight games for the White Sox, Linebrink was held out of action Sunday.
"I've been in four (straight games), and I might have been in five at some point,'' said Linebrink, who has pitched 3 scoreless innings. "To start the year like that, you want to be a little bit careful because you haven't had that kind of workload in spring training. The most I worked there was two in a row.''
White Sox 13, Tigers 2
At the plate: Joe Crede was 4-for-5 with 3 RBI. Orlando Cabrera drove in 3 runs with a base-loaded double, and Carlos Quentin added a bases-loaded triple.
On the mound: Starter Mark Buehrle lowered his ERA from 37.80 to 8.31 after pitching 7 innings and allowing 1 earned run. Manager Ozzie Guillen said reliever Mike MacDougal was the star of the game after he pitched 2 scoreless innings.