White Sox offense blasts Giants pitching to snap skid
Jun 17, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago White Sox second baseman Gordon Beckham (15) gets a high five from center fielder Adam Eaton (1) after he hits a 2-run home run in the third inning against the San Francisco Giants at U.S Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports
Every day, I look forward to watching Chicago White Sox baseball, and Tuesday was one of the fun nights to watch this ball club, with the “Good Guys” gaining an 8-2 win over the San Francisco Giants.
This was the first of 16 straight days of baseball for the White Sox, and it couldn’t have started any better by dominating Giants pitcher Matt Cain for seven earned runs, dropping him to 1-5 on the season in front of 25,278 fans at US Cellular Field.
The White Sox (34-37) entered this game with four consecutive losses.
The team that the White Sox put on the field on Tuesday played like the team we loved to watch in April, with the starting pitching, bullpen and offense all clicking as one unit.
Jun 17, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago White Sox shortstop Alexei Ramirez (10) and center fielder Adam Eaton (1) celebrate after beating the San Francisco Giants 8-2 at U.S Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports
Again, wasn’t this fun?
One aspect we need to look at first is the starting pitching of John Danks, who improved to 6-5 on the season. In 6.1 innings, he allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits and three walks, He gave up one home run and lowered his season ERA to 3.97.
Danks threw 97 pitches, 65 for strikes. In his past five starts, Danks has allowed two or fewer earned runs in a game, totaling 34.1 innings of work.
If that continues, Danks will be (he already is) for a fact the second-best pitcher in the rotation.
Adam Eaton continued his streak of productive hitting with another two-hit night, his third in four games. Now that is what a lead-off hitter is supposed to do.
The 1-7 spots in the batting order all had at least one hit, including a two-run home run by Dayan Viciedo in the fifth inning and a two-run home run by Gordon Beckham in the third inning.
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That’s another thing all of us like to see … not just the home runs, but home runs with runners on the bases, because that means this team is putting together multi-hit innings, which we really haven’t seen much the past week.
Gaining two hits each, besides Eaton, were Conor Gillaspie and Viciedo.
For the game, the White Sox batters totaled 10 hits and seven RBIs.
Looking at how the White Sox roughed up Cain, he went just five innings, allowing eight runs (seven earned) on 10 hits and one walk. He struck out just three, and his ERA is now at 4.52.
Also, the White Sox bullpen deserves some credit. Even though they had a six-run lead, they pitched close to lights-out with Javy Guerra, Zack Putnam and Daniel Webb combining to allow two hits, one walk and no runs in 2.2 innings.
We all are excited, but there is a quick turnaround for these two teams as they play again on Wednesday at 1:10 p.m. CT with an “ace-off” between Chris Sale and Tim Hudson.