Contreras sharp as Sox beat Brewers 7-1
MILWAUKEE - With so much daily failure involved in major-league baseball, it's easy to toss struggling players out on the curb like bags of trash.
Jose Contreras knows how that feels.
"He makes you forget about how bad he was in the beginning," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said after Contreras turned in another great outing in Saturday's 7-1 win over the Brewers at Miller Park.
How bad was he? When he headed to Class AAA Charlotte on May 10, Contreras was 0-5 with an 8.19 ERA.
Many thought the big right-hander would never return to the majors, at least not with the Sox. Contreras said he never lost faith in himself.
"In the minor leagues, no one has any idea of all the work that I put in," Contreras said through an interpreter. "Everyone saw how I departed and now how I've come back. It's night and day for me."
In his first start for the White Sox after coming back from Charlotte, Contreras overwhelmed the Tigers last Monday in Game 2 of a day-night doubleheader, pitching 8 shutout innings while allowing just 1 hit.
Based on straight statistics, Contreras was not as good in Saturday's start against Milwaukee.
This time, Contreras pitched 8 shutout innings but allowed 2 hits, both singles.
The pitcher laughed when informed he slipped a bit.
"Physically, I've always been in top shape," Contreras said. "When I went down I knew I was going to come back up, but I never knew I was going to come back this strong. This is the strongest I've felt since 2005-06, the best I've thrown the ball for me personally. I knew I was going to come back, but just not as strong as I have and as quickly."
Contreras has been so strong in his last two starts, the Sox are expected to announce he'll move up a day and start against the rival Cubs on Thursday at Wrigley Field.
That would push scheduled starter Clayton Richard back to Friday's series opener at Cincinnati.
The way he's rolling right now, maybe the White Sox will start Contreras in both games.
"It feels like the guy we've been missing," Guillen said. "I don't think we can blame him for the bad start he had. We have to take some responsibility because we thought he was ready in spring training to help us. Unfortunately, he wasn't. Right now, he's cruising along. And he helps us. He stepped it up big time and won a couple games when we needed it the most."
The Sox scored 6 runs for Contreras against the Tigers and they scored 6 runs for him in the second inning against the Brewers.
"We hit the ball good today," said catcher Ramon Castro, who was 2-for-4 with a solo home run. "We have a good team. We just have to get together and be positive."