White Sox take Tigers 5-1, pushing Detroit out of its cozy cushion
DETROIT - The Tigers growled a bit Friday when Jake Peavy took the mound for the White Sox.
Originally scheduled to start against the Indians in Cleveland on Wednesday, Peavy was pushed back and he wound up pitching 8 scoreless innings in the Sox' 8-0 win.
It was a huge loss for first-place Detroit. Coupled with the second-place Twins' win over the Royals, it reduced the Tigers' lead in the AL Central to 1 game.
Freddy Garcia started for the White Sox at Comerica Park on Saturday night, and the Tigers might have been drooling a bit after managing just 2 hits off Peavy.
"A lot of people were worried about Peavy," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "But Freddy always steps it up a notch to pitch big games. I know it was big for us and big for baseball."
The Twins won again Saturday afternoon to put even more heat on Detroit, which was burned by Garcia in a 5-1 loss.
Now, the Tigers and Twins are tied for the division lead with one game to play.
"Peavy yesterday, me today and (John) Danks (Sunday), they've got it pretty tough," Garcia (3-4) said after pitching 7 innings and allowing 1 run on 6 hits.
Detroit again played pretty tight, as evidenced by Garcia's 7 strikeouts, right fielder Magglio Ordonez dropping a routine flyball that allowed a run to score in the third inning and Tigers starter Alfredo Figaro lasting just 11/3 innings while allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks.
"Relax," Guillen said. "I think we're relaxed. We don't try to do too much. And when you try to do too much, you don't do anything. That was the White Sox 2009. We tried to do too much.
"Are they on the spot? I saw (Tigers manager) Jim Leyland make a comment: 'We've got to win two games.' They know that. (Sunday) is a must-win game for them, and we're going to go out and try to win tomorrow."
Their season already over, that's the only accomplishment left for the White Sox, who send Danks to the mound against Detroit ace Justin Verlander.
The Sox dropped out of contention in late August when they tanked and went 2-8 on a road trip to Boston, New York and Minnesota.
They are finishing up on a positive note - Saturday's win over Detroit was their fifth in six games - and Guillen expects the momentum to spill over into 2010.
"I don't blame people being upset with us, don't blame people for being disappointed," Guillen said. "The people that should be disappointed, they are. That's Kenny Williams and myself, and Jerry (Reinsdorf). People are not more disappointed than we are.
"In the meanwhile, little by little this organization, we have two guys (Gordon Beckham, Daniel Hudson) here that were in the 2008 draft. That means we're starting to get where we should be a long time ago. And there's no doubt we should compete next year.
"Put it this way, we're not going to be worse. A lot of (teams) in our division, they're going to suffer a little bit with a few players, and we're going in the right direction."
<p class="factboxtext12col">Gregor's game tracker</p> <p class="factboxtext12col">'Big Game' Freddy: Sox starter Freddy Garcia allowed 1 run in 7 innings and had 7 strikeouts, his highest total since recording 9 for the Phillies on May 28, 2007.</p> <p class="factboxtext12col">Sign of the future: Alex Rios played his best game for the White Sox, going 4-for-5 with 3 RBI. "It's about time," manager Ozzie Guillen said.</p> <p class="factboxtext12col">Tiger killer: Carlos Quentin hit a solo home run in the second inning. Quentin has homered in four straight games against Detroit.</p> <p class="factboxtext12col">Mr. .300: A.J. Pierzynski was 0-for-5, but he is still batting .300, a feat no Sox catcher has accomplished.</p>