The White Sox made a quick pit stop in Kansas City this week for a two game series with the Royals before returning home Thursday for their home opener with the Tampa Bay Rays, and once again the bats carried spotty pitching and poor defense to a series split.
The Sox lost the opening game of the series in 12 innings after scoring four runs in the first and taking a 6-4 lead into the bottom of the eighth inning. The White Sox were able to muscle out 11 hits in the game, but lost 6-7 on a Melky Cabrera RBI single in the bottom of the 12th that scored former White Sock Chris Getz.
In the second game of the series the White Sox struggled in the early going, trailing by a score of 5-0 going into the seventh, when a Ramon Castro solo home run sparked an onslaught. The Sox followed up two runs in the seventh by scoring one in the eighth and four in the ninth, before winning the game with three runs in the top of the 12th.
Rookie third baseman Brent Morel notched the game-winning hit when he rifled a single down the right field line to plate two runners and give the White Sox a 9-7 lead. They went on to win by a score of 10-7.
Carlos Quentin, who was the AL Player of the Week after his performance in Cleveland, continued his torrid pace in the series going 5 for 11 with a home run and three RBI. Quentin is now hitting .500 on the season with a couple of homers and 10 RBI.
Unfortunately the White Sox pitching woes continued in Kansas City, as well. White Sox starters Gavin Floyd and Mark Buehrle combined to give up nine runs in 12 innings, and the White Sox bullpen continued to struggle as well.
The ‘pen blew a two-run eighth inning lead in game one, and Sox closer Matt Thornton blew a save in game two, forcing the White Sox into extra innings for a second consecutive day.
However, the Sox pitching struggles aren’t the only cause for concern on the South Side. White Sox DH Adam Dunn had to undergo an emergency appendectomy on Tuesday night. It’s suspected that the slugger will miss as many as five days recovering, although Sox manager Ozzie Guillen claims that Dunn said he would be willing to play as soon as tomorrow.
The Chicago White Sox will begin their first home series of the season tomorrow against the Tampa Bay Rays. The White Sox scheduled starters for the four game series will be Edwin Jackson, John Danks, Phil Humber, and Gavin Floyd.
This article was originally posted at http://letstalkwhitesox.com/articles/white-sox-bats-salvage-a-series-split-in-kansas-city.
Ryan Wooden is a columnist for http://www.knoxvegasvols.com/ and the editor of http://letstalkwhitesox.com/. You can follow him on twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/ryan_wooden.
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