Of course, mere hours after writing an article bashing the White Sox lineup, the team puts together a perfect mixture of baserunning, power, and scoring in an 8-7 win on the road over the Toronto Blue Jays.
The White Sox put together 14 hits, three of which were home runs, scored eight runs in 11 innings, and stole four bases with four different runners without getting caught.
The team also didn't put down one sacrifice bunt.
This is what the White Sox lineup can do, but whether it will do it on a daily basis or not is yet to be seen.
Everyone in the lineup had a hit for the Sox except A.J. Pierzynski and Alexei Ramirez (combined 0-for-8 with seven runners left on base), who are, of course, on my fantasy teams.
Andruw Jones was the story of the night, going 3-for-4 with two home runs, two runs scored, and four RBI, but Mark Teahen should also get a lot of credit—as should Mark Kotsay for not starting.
Twice Teahen tied the game in some big spots for the White Sox, once with a two-out single in the top of the sixth and later with a game tying solo home run to lead off the top of the ninth. Eventually Teahen won the game in the top of the 11th with a triple that scored Omar Vizquel.
In fact, the stable part of the order (Gordon Beckham, Carlos Quentin, and Paul Konerko) was nowhere to be found, going 3-for-16 and leaving 11 guys on base. However, the stable boys did have two runs and an RBI.
The black hole of the White Sox lineup (five through one) actually won the game thanks to Jones, Alex Rios, and Teahen going 9-14 with three home runs, four runs, two stolen bases, and seven RBI.
Rios was able to go 3-for-5 in a sea of boos in front of the Opening Day Blue Jays crowd.
Of course, I can't allow the White Sox to get off with this gumdrop garden of goodness.
Jake Peavy was awful once again, giving up seven earned runs on eight hits and three walks in 5.2 innings pitched. Twice Peavy gave White Sox leads right back the very next inning.
The third time, Peavy needed some help.
After the White Sox had tied the game in the sixth, Peavy proceeded to give up a leadoff double by Edwin Encarnacion, who later moved to third on a groundout. After a lazy popout to shortstop, Peavy walked Jose Bautista on four pitches and hit Alex Gonzalez to load the bases.
In stepped Randy Williams to throw four straight balls and untie the game once again. Three walks and one hit batter led to Ozzie Guillen visibly cursing while walking to the mound.
It was then Sergio "The Stopper" Santos' turn, and Santos got Vernon Wells to ground out on a nice play off the turf by Ramirez at short.
From then on, Santos, J.J. Putz, Matt Thornton, and Bobby Jenks combined for five shutout innings—including nine strikeouts, four of which came from Thornton, and two walks, both of which came from Jenks with two outs in the bottom of the 11th.
Minus the four straight balls by Williams and the heart attack brought on by Jenks, the bullpen was perfect.
The White Sox lineup cannot be expected to score eight runs per game to win, but at the same time there is no reason to predict the starting rotation will give that much up.
If the White Sox can put the mixture of speed and power they showed Monday night together with the great starting pitching they have, along with solid bullpen work, there is no telling how far the team can go.
However, if the White Sox go up and down all season with two hits in two games then 14 hits the next, they will be the same White Sox team that fans are used to seeing finish third.
Which White Sox team will show up 90 times or more and which will show up 70 times or less is the reason 162 games are played.
It sounds so easy.
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