Dye drives in 6 as Sox sweep Pirates
As strange as it might appear, the Cubs actually might be catching the White Sox at a good time.
After battering the overmatched Pittsburgh Pirates pitching staff again Thursday -- the Sox erased an early 6-0 deficit and rolled to a 13-8 interleague victory at U.S. Cellular Field -- recent history says the South Siders could be had when they open a three-game series today at Wrigley Field.
In early June, the White Sox rattled off 7 straight home wins against the Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins while piling up 63 runs. They sailed into Detroit and were promptly swept in a three-game series while being held to 6 runs.
The Sox will try reversing that trend in the first of two not-to-be-missed series against their North Side rivals. As for the Pirates, the White Sox are sorry to see them leave town.
While sweeping the three-game series, the Sox outscored Pittsburgh 37-15.
"You guys (media) wanted consistency,'' Nick Swisher said. "That's what we're doing. We feel good.''
When the Pirates scored 6 unearned runs off White Sox starter Gavin Floyd in the second inning, the sweep was looking a little shaky.
"Are we just going to give up?'' Swisher asked rhetorically. "We battled our tails off. And Floyd battled and kept us right there. It was a great team win.''
The Sox didn't sit around feeling sorry for themselves after third baseman Pablo Ozuna's throwing error with two outs in the second inning opened the gates for Pittsburgh.
In the bottom of the second, Jim Thome instantly changed the momentum with a leadoff double against Pirates starter Phil Dumatrait. Five more hits followed -- capped by Orlando Cabrera's 3-run homer -- and the score was tied at 6-6.
"You always want to think you're in it, whether you're swinging the bats well or not,'' Thome said. "Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It did today.''
The Sox were leading 9-7 in the seventh inning when Jermaine Dye put the game out of reach with a grand slam off reliever John Grabow.
Dye was 3-for-4, and he matched his career high with 6 RBI.
"It's probably one of my better days,'' said the 34-year-old right fielder. "I got myself into some good hitter's counts and was able to drive some balls.''
Floyd was able to stall the Pirates after the 6-run second inning. The right-hander improved his record to 8-3 after pitching 5¿ innings and allowing 7 runs (1 earned) on 6 hits.
"Baseball's just a weird sport sometimes,'' Floyd said. "That's why you have to treat that inning like nothing happened. I just made some bad pitches after (Ozuna's error). But I got stronger as the game went on and I tried to keep the team in the game. To watch them come back like that, it was awesome.''
Awesome is a good way to describe the way the Sox were feeling after the game as the biggest series of the season awaits.
"It's a great thing for the city,'' manager Ozzie Guillen said. "It's an awesome thing for the fans. It's an unbelievable feeling, and you go out and people in the streets talk to you about this series. No matter if you're a Cubs fan or White Sox fan, the enthusiasm is out there. It's great.
"A lot of people ask about the New York series. I don't think the New York series is bigger than this series. With all the respect to New York fans, this series here, I can't believe how important it is to the fans.''
White Sox 13, Pirates 8
At the plate: The Sox scored 10 or more runs for the fifth time in their last 10 home games. Jermaine Dye hit his seventh career grand slam and matched his career high with 6 RBI. Over his last 14 games, Dye is batting .340 with 5 HR and 15 RBI. A.J. Pierzynski (2-for-5) extended his hitting streak to 13 games. Orlando Cabrera hit a 3-run homer and drove in 4 runs.
On the mound: Gavin Floyd allowed 7 runs over 52/3 innings, but only 1 was earned. Floyd is 4-0 with a 3.66 ERA in his last 5 starts. Octavio Dotel pitched 1 inning and had 3 strikeouts.
-- Scot Gregor