On the heels of a crucial Game 3 victory, the White Sox took the field for Game 4 in Anaheim looking to take a commanding lead of the 2005 ALCS. Back-to-back complete games by Mark Buehrle and Jon Garland had the White Sox cruising, and the team turned to Freddy Garcia to continue the hot streak. Garcia took the mound for his second postseason start of the year having beaten the Red Sox in his first outing, and would be matched up with Angels rookie right-hander Ervin Santana. Santana, just 22 years old, was a highly touted Angels prospect and had proven enough during his rookie season to earn postseason innings.
Santana struggled to find his control right off the bat, walking Scott Podsednik and hitting Tadahito Iguchi with a pitch to begin the ballgame. Jermaine Dye gave one a ride, but it stayed in the yard and ended up as a long out. Paul Konerko, the White Sox hottest hitter, picked up right where he left off, launching a three-run homer over the left field wall to give the White Sox an early 3-0 lead. The Angels answered in the bottom of the second after Bengie Molina’s RBI single scored Darin Erstad, and gave the Angels runners at the corners with only one out. Freddy Garcia made a big pitch, however, and got Steve Finley to ground into an inning-ending double play to limit the damage.
With Santana looking to settle down in the third, the Angels defense proved costly yet again. Jermaine Dye reached on an error by shortstop Orlando Cabrera and later scored on a two-out single by Carl Everett. The unearned run extended the White Sox lead to 4-1. The lead got even larger in the fourth as A.J. Pierzynski took an 0-1 pitch into the right field seats for a solo shot. An RBI double by Casey Kotchman in the fourth pulled the Angels within three, but the bullpen for the Angels just couldn’t cool down the White Sox bats enough to keep the game close. Carl Everett drove in his second run of the game with a single in the fifth, and the White Sox added two more in the eighth on a single by Joe Crede.
Garcia's dominance continued a historic streak for the White Sox
Staked to an 8-2 advantage, Freddy Garcia allowed just one baserunner after the fifth inning and stymied the Angels bats. He completed the game on 116 pitches to mark the third consecutive complete game for White Sox starting pitchers.
The White Sox were now just one win from heading to their first World Series since 1959, and were one complete game from tying the record of four straight postseason complete games set by the 1927 New York Yankees, widely considered the greatest team in baseball history.
One win away from history, the White Sox would turn to their Game 1 starter, Jose Contreras, to take the ball. Don’t forget to join us tomorrow as we recap 2005 ALCS Game 5 from Anaheim!