Williams on road to see Sox win 6-4 over Pirates
Say this about the Ozzie Guillen-Kenny Williams saga - maybe they were trying to take the focus off the White Sox playing some pretty bad baseball over the first two months of the season.
With their 6-4 interleague win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night at PNC Park, the Sox continued their improved play of late. They've won five of six.
Give the bullpen the bulk of the credit for the latest victory.
Starter Freddy Garcia (7-3) was credited with the win, his fourth straight, but the veteran right-hander labored through much of the game while allowing 4 runs on 8 hits in 52/3 innings.
Sergio Santos worked out of a jam to get out of the sixth inning, and Matt Thornton, J.J. Putz and Bobby Jenks (12th save) each pitched 1 scoreless inning as the woeful Buccos dropped their ninth in a row.
A week ago, Williams said he had seen enough from the inconsistent White Sox and the time had come to make some changes.
At the same time, the Sox' general manager and Guillen reportedly had another spat, prompting speculation that one - or both - was headed out the door.
Williams is on his first road trip of the season. While one published report indicated the GM had been told to stay home by White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf so he wouldn't have any confrontations with Guillen, Williams opted to stay in Chicago over the first two months for personal reasons.
According to reporters in Pittsburgh, Guillen and Williams talked on the charter flight from Chicago on Monday.
"We've got to put everything on the side and continue to work with this ballclub," Guillen said. "We have a job to do, and we have to respect our jobs. We have to be professional with our jobs.
"We talked about what we needed to talk about and I think we moved forward. We have to move forward. If you go backwards then you're not doing good for the organization."
The continued reports of his demise with Guillen have been perplexing to Williams. The two are both Type-A personalities and have been butting heads since they were White Sox teammates in 1986-88.
"Listen, that man and I have been arguing with each other since we were 21, 22," Williams told the Tribune on Tuesday. "And I can image when we're 71, we'll still find some sort of reason to get into a back and forth.
"It is different because there were outside things that came about. But we've never had any severe issues that directly related to us. All I care about is the baseball team and how we can get the best out of the baseball team. And all of the operations I oversee, and that's it."
<p class="factboxheadblack">Scot Gregor's game tracker</p> <p class="News">White Sox 6, Pirates 4</p> <p class="News"><b>Bottom feeders:</b> No. 7 hitter Ramon Castro was 1-for-1 with 3 walks. No. 8 hitter Gordon Beckham was 2-for-4 with 3 RBI.</p> <p class="News"><b>Closing time:</b> Bobby Jenks pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn his 12th save in 13 attempts. With his curveball biting again and his troublesome right calf feeling better, Jenks has allowed only 1 run in his last 8 appearances, a span of 72/3 innings.</p> <p class="News"><b>Right place, right time:</b> Starter Freddy Garcia picked up his team-high seventh win. Each victory has come after a Sox loss.</p> <div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=388192">Williams likely to put changes on hold<span class="date"> [6/15/10]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>