Revamped lineup provides Sox with a 4-2 victory
CLEVELAND - Brian Anderson batted second on Wednesday. Alexei Ramirez was moved up to the No. 5 hole, Juan Uribe played third base, Josh Fields was the designated hitter and Toby Hall filled in at catcher.
It looked more like the White Sox' split-squad lineup in spring training than a team battling for a playoff spot, but hey, it worked.
"You try to do the best you can," said Sox manager Ozzie Guillen.
With key players such as Carlos Quentin (sore right forearm), Joe Crede (back) and Ken Griffey Jr. (back) out with injuries, the revamped batting order managed just 7 hits. But two of them were big - Nick Swisher hit a solo home run leading off the fifth inning and Ramirez delivered a 2-run homer in the sixth to lift the White Sox to a 4-2 win over the Indians at Progressive Field.
The Sox avoided a three-game sweep against the Tribe and returned home with a 4-5 record from a long trip to Baltimore, Boston and Cleveland. They also lost the completion of a suspended game to the Orioles to open the road swing.
On Wednesday, the White Sox jumped to a 4-0 lead against the Indians and hung on.
"We needed this one, man," said a weary Guillen, who jokingly announced his resignation before taking questions. "I'm not going to call this a good road trip because we won, because it wasn't. But it was a long road trip, and it's good to go home with a win."
Sox pitchers were roughed up for 14 runs in the first two losses to Cleveland, but starter Javier Vazquez stepped up in the series finale and allowed 2 runs on 5 hits over 6 innings to get the win.
"It's an important game," Vazquez said. "We lost the first two, and if you want to get to the playoffs, you have to win. Every game is going to be important this month."
Relievers Octavio Dotel and Matt Thornton bent a little, but they were able to hold the Indians down.
And to magnify the importance of the game, Guillen called on closer Bobby Jenks with runners on first and second and one out in the eighth inning.
"If I can go out and do that with 10 pitches every time, that would be nice," Jenks said.
In the eighth, Jenks got Ryan Garko to ground into an inning-ending double play on 2 pitches. The big right-hander got another double play in the ninth while throwing just 8 pitches.
After picking up his 28th save of the season, Jenks said he is up for more extended duty down the stretch.
"I've been going 1 inning all year, so I'm still really fresh," Jenks said. "If days like this come once a week, I'll just prepare myself for it."
Guillen was pleased - but not overly surprised - that the White Sox came through with a huge win despite using so many reserve players.
"All the guys played the game right and we didn't make that many mistakes," Guillen said. "This isn't the Instructional League. When the big boys aren't there, they have to go out and perform and they did.