Chicago White Sox: 2005 ALCS will never be recreated
The Chicago White Sox were so dominant on the mound in the 2005 ALCS and four straight performances like that might never be recreated again.
The Chicago White Sox had one of the best performances from four pitchers when they defeated the then Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the 2005 American League Championship Series in five games. The White Sox lost game one by a final score of 3-2 but then what happened next was simply amazing and a feat that will never happen again. The won the series by getting four consecutive complete-game victories from their four starting pitchers.
Jose Contreras had a whopping 8.1 innings pitched in the first game of the series which was the White Sox only loss in the entire postseason and it was by one run. Following that came Mark Buehrle who had nine innings pitched where he gave up only one earned run and had four strikeouts with zero walks. That got the White Sox right back on track and it was great to see Mark get the complete-game victory.
How rare would it be for there to be two consecutive complete-game shutouts in the playoffs? Well, Jon Garland came in and pitched nine innings of great baseball where he only gave up 2 earned runs and had seven strikeouts to one walk. Then, remarkably, Freddy Garcia pitched the third complete-game victory by going nine innings with only two earned runs given up himself. He had five strikeouts to one walk.
Having three consecutive complete-games by your starters is amazing. The thing is Jose Contreras didn’t want to be the only one on the staff without one so he went and made it four straight with his nine-inning, three ERA, two strikeouts, two walk performance. It was incredible to have your four starters do that and it was even more special because the White Sox earned a berth in the World Series as a result.
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The White Sox didn’t need to use Bobby Jenks or anyone else in the bullpen from the second game of the series on which really helped them once they got to the World Series. It is fair to assume that it will never happen again in baseball history because teams utilize their bullpens now more than ever. It is fun to think about the White Sox with this dominant of a pitching staff and they hope that they are in the midst of building one similar right now.