Swisher powers White Sox over Indians
White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen wasted his time Monday afternoon.
Trying to guard against a letdown following back-to-back weekend meetings against the rival Cubs - including a three-game sweep in the second series - Guillen talked to his players before Monday night's game against the Cleveland Indians at U.S. Cellular Field.
"The enthusiasm, the fans, the media, (the Cubs), it's hard to go to the ballpark and feel the same intensity,'' Guillen said. "It's not the same.''
As it turned out, about the only thing different Monday was the lack of media. The crowd was the same, every seat was sold on half-price night, and the Sox picked up where they left off against the Cubs with a 9-7 victory over Cleveland.
While moving a season-high 12 games over .500 after winning their fifth straight, the White Sox (47-35) continued pounding the ball.
Jim Thome got things started with a 3-run homer in the first inning off Indians starter Jeremy Sowers, and Nick Swisher followed with a grand slam from the right side of the plate in the third inning and a solo homer from the left side in the sixth.
"We kind of kept it going from the weekend,'' Thome said after the Sox won for the 16th time in their last 18 home games. "Cleveland's got a very nice club. We were fortunate that we got out ahead early and kept it moving.''
The White Sox were leading 8-1 after Swisher's second grand slam in the past four games, but the Indians scratched back and threw a scare into the Sox with 3 runs in the ninth inning, 2 of them unearned courtesy of third baseman Joe Crede's 16th error of the season.
Guillen was happy with another win, but he wasn't pleased with the way the game almost ended.
"I'm not going to say I'm disappointed, but we better wake up a little bit,'' Guillen said. "A lot of people look at the lineup of the Cleveland Indians, they're missing their two big boys (Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez), but they still swing the bats.''
Fortunately for the White Sox, they swung a little better.
Nobody is swinging better than Swisher, who put his name in the Sox' record books with home runs from both sides of the plate for the second time in the month of June.
Swisher is the only hitter in White Sox history to accomplish the feat twice in the same season.
"That's pretty cool,'' said Swisher, who tied his career high with 5 RBI. "As long as this organization has been around, to be the first at something is pretty special. I went through some trials earlier in the season, but I think your true colors come out when you can deal with adversity.
"It was a great team win. It was a little nerve-racking at the end, but we got the job done.''