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Konerko connects as surging Sox complete sweep

Posted June 24, 2010 11:00 pm

Scot Gregor

The White Sox loaded the bases with one out in the fourth inning on Thursday and didn't score.

Didn't matter.

They had a runner, Mark Kotsay, on third base with one out in the sixth and failed to bring him home.

No biggie.

Everything is going right for the Sox lately, and that trend continued against the Braves at U.S. Cellular Field.

"The way we're pitching right now, we expect to win," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "We're not hoping anymore. Every time we go out there, everyone knows at the start of the game we're going to have a chance."

Starting pitcher Gavin Floyd kept the White Sox in the game with 7 dominant innings, and Paul Konerko made them pay off with a 2-run homer in the eighth to decide the outcome.

The red-hot Sox have a nine-game winning streak for the first time since June 15-24, 2006. They also have won 13 of 14 and are just 21/2 games behind the Twins in the AL Central.

"Baseball is a unique game," Floyd said after allowing 2 hits and 1 walk while striking out nine. "Things have changed around. We believed in our team from the beginning, but things didn't go our way. Now all cylinders are going and I think everybody's doing their part and it's exciting."

Juan Pierre led off the eighth inning with a single against Atlanta reliever Takashi Saito and Alexei Ramirez sacrificed him to second. After Kotsay flied out, Konerko came to the plate.

"He's got a good slider," Konerko said of Saito. "And I just wanted to be ready in case he wanted to get ahead with a heater. And that's what happened. I got a good pitch to hit and put a good swing on it."

Konerko hit Saito's first pitch into the left-field seats and the matinee crowd of 31,076 went wild.

"It came out of nowhere," Konerko said of the White Sox' surge. "We weren't playing great baseball all year and after the weekend we had against Cleveland (June 4-6) and lost the series, we started playing well against Detroit and the Cubs' series kicked us in gear and we've been off and running since then. It's not going to last forever but you try to ride it out until it ends and get as many wins as you can."

Floyd didn't get the win, and the big right-hander is 0-1 over his last 4 starts despite allowing just 3 earned runs in 29 innings.

"You can't control that kind of stuff," Floyd said. "Stay positive, and I'm thankful that I'm back on my feet. I'm looking to keep on going."

Beckham to the bench? Gordon Beckham was held out of the starting lineup Thursday, and the struggling second baseman's future is again a hot topic.

Beckham is batting .199 overall and is 3-for-26 in his last seven games.

"It's kind of hard for me when you're in June and July and still hitting .200," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "I think he's playing pretty decent, but meanwhile, right now he's not executing very well."

Beckham could start splitting time at second with Omar Vizquel and Brent Lillibridge. Any chance he is demoted to Class AAA Charlotte?

"I don't know yet," Guillen said. "I am going to find out. I've got to start giving (third baseman Dayan) Viciedo at-bats. It's no doubt we need better at-bats from Gordon."

Viciedo started at third Thursday and was 1-for-3 while making two solid defensive plays.

Nix to the Indians: Jayson Nix, who was designated for assignment by the White Sox a week ago, was claimed by the Cleveland Indians.

Nix batted .163 with 1 home run and 5 RBI in 24 games with the Sox.

Scot Gregor's game tracker

White Sox 2, Braves 0

Off the charts: Not only are the Sox riding a nine-game winning streak for the first time in three years, they've swept three straight three-game series for the first time since at least 1952.

Starting surge: Gavin Floyd allowed just 2 hits and had 9 strikeouts in 7 innings. The White Sox' rotation is 11-1 with a 2.03 ERA and 14 quality starts in the last 15 games.

Captain crunch: Paul Konerko's 2-run homer with two outs in the eighth inning decided the outcome. Konerko is batting .410 with 22 RBI in his last 21 games.