All-around team effort for Sox in win
If Gordon Beckham was healthy, Conor Gillaspie likely would have been on the bench Friday night.
Backup catcher Hector Gimenez likely would have been sitting next to Gillaspie in the White Sox’ dugout, and Tyler Greene would still be at Class AAA Charlotte if utility infielder Angel Sanchez wasn’t on the disabled list with a sore back.
As it turned out, the nondescript G-men all found themselves in the Sox’ starting lineup Friday night.
Gillaspie has been getting a regular shift at third base because Jeff Keppinger had to slide over to second to replace Beckham.
When Keppinger couldn’t go Friday due to back soreness, Greene got the call, and Gimenez was in the lineup to give Flowers a break.
It wasn’t looking to good when Tampa Bay jumped out to a 3-0 lead against Jake Peavy and a makeshift lineup that included Jordan Danks in center field, but Gimenez, Greene and Gillaspie all hit home runs to spark a 5-4 win at U.S. Cellular Field.
Greene’s 2-run shot off Roberto Hernandez (formerly Fausto Carmona) in the fifth inning put the White Sox in front for good at 4-3.
“It’s special,” Greene said. “This was my first start here in Chicago, so I was excited. I was really pumped up about it. I was excited to be able to contribute and help the team out, get Peavy back in the game there and get the lead.”
Gimenez led off the fifth with a home run, his first in the major leagues.
“I’m very excited, but I’m very happy because we won the game,” Gimenez said. “That’s more important for me.”
It’s always important to get production off the bench, and Gimenez, Greene and Gillaspie helped the Sox stretch their winning streak to a season-high 3 games.
“It’s all about team effort,” said Gimenez, who played in 2 games with the Astros in 2006, 4 with the Dodgers in 2011 and 5 with the White Sox last season. “We are here to play and to look for wins. It’s not about me; it’s not somebody else. It’s all about the whole team. As long as we win, we’re all happy.”
Peavy (3-1) was anything but happy after being yanked with two outs in the seventh inning, but the final outcome improved his mood.
“Great team win,” Peavy said after allowing 3 runs on 6 hits. “I think these wins, when you fall behind early and you are able to battle back off of a guy who was going good, Carmona, I know he hadn’t had a ton of success coming into tonight, but he was going good and had given us problems in the past. It was a good team win.”
After a sluggish start, Peavy thinks the Sox (10-12) are finally turning the corner. And without mentioning any names, the veteran pitcher took some not so subtle jabs at past White Sox teams.
“I think what hasn’t got a lot of play and a lot of talk, as bad as things have went for these first few weeks and that road trip was so bad, I think in times past, you’ve got to give a lot of credit to the staff and to these players in here for not panicking,” Peavy said. “In times past, you would see some panic with different people around the organization and different players. So for this ballclub, this staff, to continually have our backs and to come back and play a little bit better than we have played, at the end of the day, we are hitting some big homers. That’s the way we win.”
sgregor@dailyherald.com