Dye really cleans up for Sox
Wondering why the White Sox suddenly are the hottest team in baseball?
The hitting finally is catching up to the pitching.
Exasperated manager Ozzie Guillen shook up the Sox' slumping lineup in California last week, moving A.J. Pierzynski and early-season MVP candidate Carlos Quentin up to the No. 2 and 3 spots, while dropping Jim Thome and Paul Konerko to 5 and 6.
Guillen wisely left Jermaine Dye in the cleanup slot.
"With the guys we have here, we think we can hit,'' Dye said. "I didn't think we'd go as long as we did without scoring runs.''
In Wednesday night's game against the Indians at sold-out U.S. Cellular Field, the Sox didn't even have a hit off Cleveland starter Paul Byrd until Nick Swisher singled with two outs in the fifth inning.
"You try not to be too aggressive, and all of the sudden the floodgates opened,'' Dye said.
In the sixth, Dye's 3-run homer off Byrd erased a 2-0 deficit, and the White Sox went on to score 2 more runs in the inning on Thome's solo home run and Alexei Ramirez's sacrifice fly.
The Sox tacked on 2 more runs in the seventh inning to defeat the Indians 7-2, running their winning streak to seven. Since changing up the lineup, the White Sox are averaging almost 6 runs.
"I guess we put the guys who were swinging the bats well back to back,'' Guillen said. "Now the guys in the back of the lineup are starting to feel confident. I just try to put the best lineup out there and hopefully it works.''
Guillen eventually wants to return Thome and Konerko to the middle of the batting order, and he'd also like to drop Orlando Cabrera from leadoff to his customary No. 2 spot.
But, hey, why mess with success?
"It's a matter of time,'' Dye said of the offense coming around. "When the weather warms up, you start feeling good and look forward to coming to the park.''
The Sox can't wait to get to work now, especially the pitchers.
Like the rest of the starting rotation, Javier Vazquez had plenty of rough days at the office earlier in the season due to a lack of run support.
That looked to be the case again Wednesday, but the 5-run sixth inning made a winner out of Vazquez.
"It's always tough when the guys don't score early, but they hung in there and had some great at-bats,'' Vazquez said. "Everybody's been throwing the ball great, and now we're starting to swing the bats. That makes it a lot of fun.''
Guillen agreed.
"We're playing pretty good baseball right now,'' he said. "Anytime we send in somebody from the starting rotation, we feel pretty comfortable about the job they're going to do. I think they are the reason we are where we are. The guys put us in good situations to win.''
Lately, the White Sox' offense has been making the most of the situations.
"They're a good ballclub, and I don't see why anybody would think anything different,'' Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "They have a lot of guys with experience that know how to get it done.''
White Sox 7, Indians 2
At the plate: Jermaine Dye hit 2 home runs, a 3-run shot in the sixth inning and a solo in the seventh. Dye has 8 HR on the season, and 7 have been solos. Jim Thome also hit a solo home run in the seventh inning.
On the mound: Starter Javier Vazquez pitched 7 innings and allowed 2 runs on 4 hits. The right-hander is 2-1 with a 2.57 ERA in his last 5 starts. Scott Linebrink retired both hitters he faced in his 10th straight scoreless appearance.
-- Scot Gregor