Trying to make sense of Sox' nonsensical season
This is why gamblers arrive in Vegas on planes and leave on buses.
And why Ozzie Guillen seems to have so much more gray hair today than he had in February.
Of course, it's also why most White Sox fans have resisted any and all urges to buy in to the all-in streak of late.
They just don't trust the 2011 White Sox, and Wednesday night's game on the South Side is precisely why they don't.
The Sox strolled in having won 9 of 11 with their best pitcher on the mound facing a scuffling Cleveland squad.
Mark Buehrle had been unbeatable for months, pitching lights out and on a streak of 18 straight starts with 3 earned runs or fewer.
Since losing to Minnesota on June 16, Buehrle was 4-0 with a 2.02 ERA in 9 starts and 8 Sox victories.
And on the other side was Fausto Carmona, he of the identical 5-12 record and ERA, possessing the majors' third-worst earned run average and knowing the Sox have pounded him for 18 runs in 8 innings this season.
So, naturally, Carmona shut down the Sox on 4 hits and a run in 8⅓ innings and the Indians defeated the Sox, costing the locals a chance to climb within 2½ games of first-place Detroit, two games over .500 for the first time since April 13 and into second place for the first time since April 12.
Buehrle saw several streaks end as Cleveland got to him for a season-high 12 hits and 4 runs in a bullpen-saving 7⅓ innings and 115 pitches.
“You know, there's a lot of luck involved in streaks and eventually it's going to come around the other way,” Buehrle said after the 4-1 Indians victory. “Sometimes, you lose a game when you throw a bunch of groundballs that just can't find a fielder out there.
“And there's other days when you throw a sinker and it's not where it's supposed to be and it should be in the bleachers for a 2-run homer, but a guy fouls it off. I had a good roll of luck.”
Modesty aside, it's been the finest stretch for Buehrle since 2005, which was a rather meaningful season for Sox fans.
“Numbers-wise, it's been the best probably since then,” Buehrle admitted. “But really, the key is I feel good and I'm throwing it good. The rest is sort of out of your hands and you don't focus too much on the results.
“It was a good roll, but those have to come to an end. The biggest thing is I feel good.”
Sox fans can't say the same for themselves.
An excruciating Sox season merely continues to be so, up to and including every single Adam Dunn at-bat, which seems to have as much chance of winding up in a home run as you do of being struck between the eyes by a lightning bug at noon on a Sunday at North Avenue Beach.
I'm not even sure what that means, but that's what sitting through these games does to a person.
I mean, the fans used to have fun with their sarcastic standing ovations when Dunn would harmlessly single to left, as he did Wednesday, but now their derision just feels cruel and at least slightly unusual.
Dunn, however, got one big break Wednesday. With one out and one on in the ninth and the Sox down 3, it looked as though Alexei Ramirez's long drive might depart the park or land safely, either way leaving Dunn as the tying run at the plate.
Fortunately for Dunn, it was only a flyout to deep center, and he didn't have to worry about striking out as the tying run. He walked and Gordon Beckham grounded out to end it.
In the misery that has become Adam Dunn's baseball life, he had that going for him Wednesday night.
Which is nice.
brozner@dailyherald.com
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