Halladay holds off Sox, but Contreras finds his stuff
The White Sox are going to lose games this season, especially against starting pitchers as good as Toronto's Roy Halladay.
"We got some good swings off him," Paul Konerko said. "We got some base runners and we gave him a fight. Then, he did what he always does, settles down and goes deep into the game.
"There are some positives out there, but at the end of the day it's still a loss."
Although the Sox did lose the game, 4-3, at U.S. Cellular Field, there was one big positive - starting pitcher Jose Contreras.
"To give up 3 runs in 7 innings against that lineup; they are pretty stacked right now, it probably gives him the idea that if he can do it against them, he can do it against anybody," Konerko said.
Contreras' future was looking bleak in the first inning as the Blue Jays came out with 2 runs on 3 hits. After that, the 37-year-old righty finally put it together and yielded just 1 run on 5 hits before turning the game over to reliever Scott Linebrink in the eighth.
"The key was going 7 innings and giving my team a chance to win," Contreras said through interpreter Ozzie Guillen Jr. "I wasn't happy that we didn't win, but I wanted to give them a chance to compete."
Contreras wasn't able to do that in his first three starts of the season. The veteran lost all three and was tagged for a collective 14 earned runs in 152/3 innings.
Maybe he was just rusty after his 2008 season ended on Aug. 9 with a ruptured left Achilles tendon. Or, maybe Contreras was just finished as a pitcher.
Something definitely turned after the shaky first inning against the Jays, and Contreras said it was his command.
"First-pitch strikes," he said. "My breaking ball, split, two-seamer, four-seamer, they were all in the zone. That was the big difference."
Maybe now, manager Ozzie Guillen won't have to field so many questions about who is going to replace Contreras in the starting rotation.
"Awesome job," Guillen said after Contreras pitched 7 innings for the first time since June 5 of last season. "He had more confidence. If Jose continues to throw like that, he'll win some games for us. Hopefully, this game makes him feel good about himself."
The Sox had to be feeling good after rallying to take a 3-2 lead against Halladay and Toronto in the third inning on Konerko's 2-run double. But the Blue Jays tied the score in the fourth and won it in the eighth inning on Scott Rolen's run-scoring single off Linebrink.
"(Halladay) is one of the best pitchers in the game," Guillen said. "We've handled him pretty well in the past and scored some runs off him early today, but he kept his team in the game."
<p class="factboxheadblack">Gregor's game tracker</p> <p class="News"><b>Sunday's grade:</b> C+ They appeared to have Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay in big trouble, but the offense went AWOL after the third inning.</p> <p class="News"><b>Did you know?</b> The Sox are 1-7 this season when scoring 3 runs or less.</p> <p class="News"><b>Worry alert?</b> Scott Linebrink took the loss after giving up a run in the eighth inning. He still has a 1.29 ERA, but Sunday was one of the few times the right-hander has pitched under pressure.</p> <p class="News"><b>Farm life:</b> Scott Podsednik reached base 5 times in Charlotte's 8-5 win Sunday (3 singles, 1 walk, 1 HBP). At AA Birmingham, Gordon Beckham went 0-3 in a 9-5 win, dropping his average to .297.</p>