Sox glad to be done with Metrodome visits
It doesn't get any easier for the White Sox.
Following a tough loss to the Blue Jays on Sunday, the Sox get Monday off and make their first visit to Target Field, the Minnesota Twins' new home.
Not only do they hold a comfortable lead in the AL Central, the Twins are 11-5 at Target Field.
The Sox will take gladly their chances on Minnesota's new turf. They were 89-114 at the Metrodome, the Twins' old ballpark, including a 3-16 showing in their last 19 games.
"I don't care if we're going to play on the moon or another planet, as long as we don't have to go to the Metrodome," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "Not because of the bad way we played there in the past; I think everything in that ballpark was very unprofessional. I'm very glad, I'm very excited major-league baseball and the city of Minnesota got a new ballpark for them. It's about time."
The Sox did manage to win their final game at the Metrodome last year in dramatic fashion. Trailing 2-0 with two outs in the ninth inning, Gordon Beckham homered on a two-strike count and Paul Konerko duplicated the feat to tie the game. Alexei Ramirez's followed with a run-scoring single to secure the comeback win.
"It will be cool," said catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who played for the Twins from 1998-2003. "It will be different, obviously. A lot of the stadiums, most of them are so nice, they have all the amenities and everything you ever want as a player. So it's nice that Minneapolis got out of the Metrodome and have a new toy to play with."
Lost in the loss: Alex Rios had a monster game for the White Sox on Sunday, going 4-for-4 with a walk, a home run, double and 3 RBI.
Rios is riding an 11-game hitting streak and his batting average is up to .324.
"Rios is outstanding," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "He's been great since spring training. I'm very happy for him. Hopefully he continues to swing the bat like that."
Sorting it out: Was Sunday's loss more miserable considering Bobby Jenks blew a 7-5 lead in the ninth inning?
"They all (stink)," A.J. Pierzynski said. "Every loss stinks. You don't want to lose games, but we're battling. We just need a break, we need something to go our way. It's amazing - we fight, we claw, we do everything we possibly can to battle.
"We were facing a guy, (Ricky) Romero, who 1-hit us last time and we get a bunch of runs off him. We come back, they go ahead, we come back again, take the lead and it just didn't work out in the ninth."