Home run drought comes to an end in White Sox' win over Mariners
Three games came and went without a White Sox home run, which most South Siders rightfully would measure as an eternity.
Not coincidentally, the Sox averaged just 2 runs per game during their estrangement from the long ball.
But thanks to back-to-back solo clouts by Carlos Quentin and Jermaine Dye in the seventh inning - not to mention A.J. Pierzynski's 100th career homer earlier - the Sox edged back over .500 with a 6-3 victory over Seattle on Wednesday afternoon before 18,023 at U.S. Cellular Field.
"It's nice to have (speed). It's nice to be able to steal those bases," Pierzynski said. "But at the same time, we all know at the end of the day, we're going to make our money by guys like Carlos and Jim (Thome) and Paul (Konerko) and Jermaine hitting home runs."
The Sox (11-10) improved to 10-2 when they hit at least 1 homer.
Pierzynski snapped the team's 31-inning homerless streak - and snapped his own 0-for-14 slide - when he lined an Erik Bedard fastball into the right-center bleachers in the second.
Then, with unscored-upon rookie reliever Shawn Kelley trying to protect a 3-3 game in the seventh, Quentin stayed with a 96-mph fastball on the outer half of the plate and lined it into the right-center seats.
Four pitches later, Kelley grooved a 94-mph fastball, and Dye belted it out to left-center for the team's third set of back-to-back homers this season.
Earlier in the game against Bedard, Dye crushed two deep flies to right that died in Ichiro Suzuki's glove in the middle of the track.
"Actually, I thought Jermaine hit three balls today that would've been gone on a lot of days," said Sox hitting coach Greg Walker.
Sox setup man Matt Thornton (1-1) picked up the win with a scoreless seventh while Bobby Jenks earned his fifth save.
But the pitcher of the day might have been Sox starter Gavin Floyd, who kept wriggling in and out of problems.
Except for a hiccup in the fifth, when Ken Griffey Jr. lined a 2-run double to highlight Seattle's 3-run uprising, Floyd stranded six runners in scoring position as he needed 110 pitches to fight through 6 innings.
"He just didn't have his curveball today," Pierzynski said. "We kept trying to throw it and it wasn't as sharp as it had been. Guys were fouling it off when normally they swing and miss at it.
"It was a tough day, but he should be proud of the way he pitched because he battled."
Floyd entered the day having allowed 12 walks in his last 141/3 innings, but he surrendered just 1 unintentional walk to the Mariners.
"The first inning I put Griffey on just because of lack of focus," Floyd said. "I learned from last start, where I felt like I wasn't attacking like I usually do."
Lindsey Willhite's game tracker
Thursday's grade: B. Starting pitcher Gavin Floyd stranded 8 runners in 6 innings to keep it close, then the Sox used small ball for 2 runs in the sixth and big ball (solo HRs by Carlos Quentin and Jermaine Dye) to break it open in the seventh.
Bash brother: Carlos Quentin snapped a 4-for-30 stretch with his seventh-inning homer and an eighth-inning RBI single that couldn't have been hit any harder.
Bullpen bueno: With scoreless innings from Matt Thornton, Scott Linebrink and Bobby Jenks, the Sox' Big Four relievers (include Octavio Dotel in this mix) have allowed 2 runs over their last 12.1 innings.
Caught stealing: After 22 successful stolen bases by Sox opponents to start the year, A.J. Pierzynski gunned down Adrian Beltre in the seventh and raised his arms in celebration.
Looking ahead: The Sox get a day off before flying to Texas for three games, including their first look at Brandon McCarthy since dealing him for John Danks and Nick Masset after the 2006 season. McCarthy goes in the opener against Mark Buehrle.
<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=290187">Pierzynski's bat, arm productive <span class="date"> [4/29/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>