Sox' bats starting to pick up the slack
SEATTLE -- When starting pitcher Mark Buehrle was beating up the dugout heater at U.S. Cellular Field last Wednesday, it was widely assumed he was taking out his frustrations on the White Sox' lifeless offense.
"Not at all,'' Buehrle said. "It all evens out. There are times when the pitchers have to step it up and pick up the offense, and there are times when the offense picks us up.''
Saturday night was a perfect example.
Sox starter Javier Vazquez ran out of gas in the sixth inning, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits before being relieved by Octavio Dotel.
Fortunately for Vazquez, he was able to absorb the damage because the White Sox' offense had staked him to a 7-1 lead.
The Sox led Seattle 7-4 in the eighth inning at Safeco Field.
Making his second straight start in center field, Brian Anderson sparked the White Sox' 6-run second inning with a 3-run homer off Mariners starter Jarrod Washburn.
Anderson has hit 11 major-league home runs, and 4 of them have come in Seattle. The other 7 have been at U.S. Cellular Field.
The Sox made it 4-0 when Orlando Cabrera's double scored Juan Uribe. Carlos Quentin followed Cabrera with a 2-run homer.
How far has the White Sox' offense come? At this time a week ago, they were in the midst of losing four straight at Toronto while scoring a grand total of 5 runs.
"Over the course of the season, that's going to happen,'' said right fielder Jermaine Dye. "I've never seen Buehrle get frustrated like that, but I don't think we were ever frustrated as a team. There are going to be times when we don't get the job done, but we have too many proven hitters on this team to not come out of it.''
The Sox' offense looks like it's heating up, but manager Ozzie Guillen is still trying to find a reliable bat at the top of the lineup.
Nick Swisher batted first until the final game of the Blue Jays' series, and the switch-hitter took a .200 average into Saturday night's game against the Mariners.
Swisher's replacement, Cabrera, was batting .209 heading into the game.
"It's hard,'' Guillen said. "We don't have a true leadoff guy. Hopefully, we'll start swinging the bats better, especially at that spot. In that spot, we need people on base, that's all that we need.''
As for Jerry Owens, a prototypical leadoff hitter, he went 2-for-4 for Class AAA Charlotte Saturday, raising his average from .235 to .245.
"I want him to be completely healthy to help us, if we're going to call him up,'' Guillen said. "We have to give him more at-bats to get him going.''