White Sox' bullpen continues to deliver

Posted July 01, 2010 11:00 pm

Scot Gregor

Jake Peavy was upset as he paced the carpeting outside of the White Sox' clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium following Wednesday night's loss to the Royals.

Yes, Peavy was still a little annoyed with Kansas City slugger Billy Butler, who snapped his 21-inning scoreless streak with a solo home run in the first.

Butler watched the ball disappear over the fence a little longer than Peavy would have liked, but the Sox' starter really started boiling when Butler popped out during his next trip to the plate.

Butler slammed his bat to the ground before half-heartedly running to first base, and Peavy had some words for the burly first baseman.

"I told him, 'Put your head down and run,'" Peavy said. "Don't show me up both ways."

Yes, Peavy was angry with Butler, but he was much more upset for failing to pitch deeper than the sixth inning.

Leaving the game trailing 3-1, Peavy could only watch as they Royals quickly added 4 more runs in the seventh off relievers Randy Williams - who was optioned to Class AAA Charlotte after the game - and Tony Pena.

The White Sox struck back with 5 runs off Royals ace Zack Greinke in the eighth, but they fell short and lost 7-6.

While paying proper respects to Williams and Pena, Peavy was kicking himself for not getting the ball to Sergio Santos, Matt Thornton or J.J. Putz in the eighth.

Had he accomplished that goal, the Sox likely would have won the game instead of dropping 2 of 3 to Kansas City.

The back of the bullpen was rock solid throughout June, and the starting rotation's ability to go deep into games was the main reason the Sox were 19-9 during the third month of the season.

"I think the bullpen's been solid all year, to tell you the truth," pitching coach Don Cooper said. "With that being said, our starters have been going deeper and that is a very important thing for any team because then you're getting down to your two or three main guys, so to speak. It starts and ends with the starters as far as I'm concerned.

"That's what we should have seen and learned in 2005. They were leaving little or nothing left for the bullpen, and that's what we've been doing now."

Jenks missed the last 6 games due to a family emergency, but the White Sox' closer has converted 12 straight save opportunities while allowing 1 earned run in his last 12 innings.

Thornton has made 7 straight scoreless appearances. Putz has a string of 17 straight outings without yielding a run, and Santos hasn't allowed a run in his last six.

After Jenks, Thornton and Putz helped the Sox sweep a three-game series from Atlanta last week, the Braves' Chipper Jones raved about the back of the Sox' bullpen.

"They're the best team that we've played thus far," Jones said. "The back end of their bullpen is dynamite. We didn't even see Santos. When you can run Putz, Thornton, Santos and Jenks out there in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings - they're the first team that I've seen that can really shorten the game to six innings. That's going to greatly aid their cause in the second half."

Jenks is expected to be back with the White Sox on Friday night when they open a three-game series against the red-hot Rangers in Texas.

In his absence, Thornton and Putz both converted save opportunities.

"I think the main thing when we built this ballclub was the bullpen," Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "We tried to build this ballclub around pitching. In the American League the bullpen is very, very important, very important. There are a lot of good hitting teams. I just read something or saw something; I think we're first in baseball in winning by 1 run. The bullpen has a lot to do with that."

Scouting report

White Sox vs. Texas Rangers at Rangers Ballpark

TV: Comcast SportsNet today and Sunday; Channel 9 Saturday

Radio: WSCR 670-AM

Pitching matchups: The Sox' Freddy Garcia (8-3, 4.66 ERA) vs. Colby Lewis (7-5, 3.28) today; John Danks (7-6, 3.62) vs. Tommy Hunter (4-0, 2.15) Saturday; Mark Buehrle (6-7, 4.58) vs. Scott Feldman (5-7, 5.48) Sunday. All games start at 7:05 p.m.

At a glance: After winning 11 in a row, the White Sox have dropped 3 of 4. They were 18-9 in June, but the first-place Rangers were 21-6. The Sox are 2-4 against Texas this season (1-2 on the road). The White Sox have to be careful with Josh Hamilton and Vladimir Guerrero. Hamilton set club records with 49 hits and 31 RBI in June. Guerrero had 6 HR and 24 RBI. Seven of Garcia's wins have come after a loss. He beat Lewis and the Rangers in Texas on June 3 after allowing 2 earned runs in 7 innings.

Next: Los Angeles Angels, Monday-Thursday at U.S. Cellular Field