White Sox finally solve Sabathia
The White Sox took another big step on Tuesday night toward distancing themselves from last season, when they went 72-90 and nearly finished last in the AL Central.
But even after the first-place Sox beat the second-place Indians 4-1 at U.S. Cellular Field -- their sixth straight win -- something seemed eerily familiar.
Yep, that's it. The 24-20 record.
That's exactly where the White Sox stood through 44 games in 2007. After that, the bottom dropped out.
The Sox are expecting much different results this time around, and they just might have showed this really is a new year by beating Cleveland ace C.C. Sabathia for the first time ever on the South Side.
"I think getting on the board early against him was huge,'' Paul Konerko said. "That takes away the shutout or the no-hitter, and every time a guy like that takes the mound, you want to try to eliminate that as soon as possible.''
Sabathia was a career 7-0 at the Cell heading into Tuesday, and the big left-hander was tough again while throwing 7 innings.
But Carlos Quentin has been pretty good himself this season, and the Sox' left fielder hit a solo home run off Sabathia in the first inning, his league-leading 12th of the season.
"He's swinging the bat well and not swinging at bad pitches, and he's really strong,'' Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said of Quentin. "When you put all that together, you see something like that. Every at-bat he comes up, no matter what the situation or the score, he gives good at-bats.''
Jim Thome led off the second inning with another home run off Sabathia. That was all the defending Cy Young Award winner would allow, but it was enough for White Sox counterpart Jose Contreras.
While winning his third straight decision, Contreras allowed 1 run on 4 hits over 6 innings.
"I knew (Sabathia) has pitched very well here,'' Contreras said through a translator. "But I felt great. I was throwing strikes on a consistent basis.''
Contreras (5-3) wasn't able to do that a year ago, and that contributed to the Sox' slide that started right around Memorial Day.
The addition of Quentin has also helped.
In addition to putting the White Sox in front early with a home run, Quentin drew a leadoff walk in the eighth inning, motored to third base on Jermaine Dye's single and scored on Pablo Ozuna's single to give the Sox some breathing room.
"I think that was the play of the game,'' Guillen said. "We don't have a lot of team speed, but I think we run the bases well. (Quentin) got us going.''
And the White Sox' bullpen made sure the Indians stayed put.
Matt Thornton, Octavio Dotel, Scott Linebrink and Bobby Jenks combined for 3 innings of perfect relief, again showing this is not the same bullpen that combusted last year.
"The guys are throwing the ball great down there,'' Konerko said. "That makes it so much easier to play the game. You get on the board in the first inning like we did and it feels like the game is really going quick.''