Sox' additions look good now
DETROIT -- The Tigers won the game Tuesday night, but the White Sox are winning the war.
Remember the off-season, when Detroit landed Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis in a blockbuster trade from the Florida Marlins?
The Tigers were all but crowned World Series champions when they added the big-name duo while the Sox became even less relevant.
Cabrera has put up decent numbers (.278, 8 HR, 38 RBI) so far for Detroit, but Willis was optioned to Class A Lakeland on Tuesday after giving up 8 earned runs on 5 walks and 3 hits in 1½ innings during Monday's loss to the Cleveland Indians.
Overall, Willis has 21 walks in 11½ innings, and his 10.32 ERA is the highest in baseball among pitchers with 4 or more starts.
After landing Willis from the Marlins, the Tigers gave the flamboyant left-hander a three-year, $29-million contract extension.
"He can't find the plate,'' said Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, who was Florida's third-base coach when Willis arrived in the majors in 2003. "And this is not the National League. Here, they can hit. The first guy through the ninth guy, it's a battle. Here, you've got to pitch.''
The White Sox were interested in trading for Cabrera over the winter, and they also fell short in their bids to sign free agents Torii Hunter, Aaron Rowand and Kosuke Fukudome.
As it has turned out so far, Sox general manager Kenny Williams gets high marks after "settling'' for left fielder Carlos Quentin, center fielder Nick Swisher, shortstop Orlando Cabrera, second baseman Alexei Ramirez and relief pitchers Scott Linebrink and Octavio Dotel.
"We're happy with what we have,'' Guillen said. "Kenny got me what I wanted. I wanted two baseball players, and Kenny got me (Orlando) Cabrera and then Swisher. When he went and got Dotel and Linebrink, that helped me a lot.
"When Detroit built this ballclub, we thought the only way we can beat them is pitching, so we went out and got the best pitching we could on the market.
"Kenny went out of his way to do a lot of different things. We couldn't do it and people bad-mouthed him, but I have a good club now to compete.''
Thome catches Thomas: White Sox designated hitter Jim Thome has 520 career home runs after taking Tigers start Nate Robertson over the right-field fence in the second inning.
Thome tied Frank Thomas for 18th place on baseball's all-time list.
Thomas, released by the Toronto Blue Jays earlier in the season, is with the Oakland Athletics but on the disabled list with a strained right quadriceps.
Thome has hit 54 of his home runs against Detroit.