Sox finish off Mariners, win 11th straight at home
The White Sox are in a win-win-win situation.
They keep on winning at U.S. Cellular Field, and after Thursday night's 9-5 decision over the Mariners, the Sox have reeled off 11 in a row at home. That's their longest win streak on the South Side since April 15-May 4, 2006.
As for the win-win, that's how Saturday afternoon's nonwaiver trade deadline is shaping up.
If asking prices come down and general manager Kenny Williams swings a deal for a big bat like Adam Dunn or Lance Berkman, great.
If not, the status quo is not looking too shabby.
After another big offensive night while completing a four-game sweep over Seattle, the Sox are batting .300 with 48 doubles, 34 home runs and 142 runs in their last 26 games. That's raised their average from .249 to .261.
"I think we come in believing we can win that night, no matter who we're playing or facing," Paul Konerko said after homering in his fourth straight game. "We just got into a good groove a while back of just coming in and playing nine innings as hard as we can, and regardless of the results come back and fight the next day. I thought we were doing that early as well, but we were probably carrying some baggage into each game because we were losing so much and we weren't coming in with a fresh start.
"This team, I think, knows we're in a good position and also know there are no guarantees. We know that nothing is in the bag yet. But we keep working and having fun with it."
Who needs another power bat when Ramon Castro is on the roster?
The White Sox' backup catcher got the start Thursday and responded with 3 hits, including 2 solo home runs.
"I've been in this situation before," Castro said. "I just keep working in the cage, whatever. Every time they give me the opportunity, I'm going to try to do my best. I felt pretty good at the plate today. They threw me good pitches to hit so I was able to hit it out."
From Castro to Konerko to Gordon Beckham to Alexei Ramirez to Omar Vizquel to Juan Pierre, just about everybody's hitting for the Sox these days.
And while they've gone deep an astounding 21 times in their last seven games at the Cell, the White Sox are hardly one-dimensional.
"We can make a lot of things happen," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "I remember a lot of people worried about the home runs; we've got people in the lineup who can hit home runs without hitting 70. Wow, the guy hit 70 home runs, and the rest of the guys have 20-something. We've experienced that for a few years. We strike out a lot, we got guys on base, we can't get them in.
"But now, we play a different ballgame. I think the guys are running the bases well. We take advantage with stolen bases here and there and we've been winning because we push the guys to run the bases and be aggressive there. Home runs are always going to come, especially in this ballpark."
Scot Gregor's game tracker White Sox 9, Mariners 5Hot: Ramon Castro was 3-for-4 and the reserve catcher his 2 home runs in a game for the second time in his career. In his last 13 games, Castro is batting .400 (16-for-40) with 5 HR and and 11 RBI.Hotter: Gordon Beckham was 2-for-3 with 2 runs scored. He's batting .417 over his last 17 games.Hottest: Omar Vizquel was 3-for-4 with 2 RBI. He's batting .426 over his last 13 games.Cold: J.J. Putz's club record 27-inning scoreless streak came to an end when he allowed 2 runs in the seventh.False408512White Sox's Juan Pierre follows through on a two-run double off Mariners starting pitcher David Pauley, scoring Alexei Ramirez and Ramon Castro during the third inning.Associated PressFalse