White Sox beat Orioles 4-3 to stretch winning streak to five
BY DARYL VAN SCHOUWEN dvanschouwen@suntimes.com August 9, 2011 11:22PM
Carlos Quentin got the Sox started with a solo homer, his 24th of the year, in the second inning against Orioles starter Jo-Jo Reyes. | Greg Fiume~Getty Images
SOX 4, ORIOLES 3
SOX AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Pierre lf 5 0 0 0 0 0 .276
Al.Ramirez ss 3 1 0 0 1 0 .263
Konerko dh 4 0 1 0 0 0 .305
Quentin rf 4 1 1 1 0 0 .264
Pierzynski c 4 0 2 1 0 0 .286
Rios cf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .216
Lillibridge 1b 2 1 0 0 2 1 .261
Beckham 2b 3 0 1 0 1 0 .246
Morel 3b 4 1 2 2 0 0 .259
Totals 33 4 7 4 4 1
Baltimore AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Hardy ss 4 1 0 1 0 0 .267
Markakis rf 4 0 2 1 0 1 .286
Ad.Jones cf 3 0 0 1 1 1 .287
Guerrero dh 4 0 1 0 0 1 .274
C.Davis 1b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .227
Mar.Reynolds 3b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .217
Wieters c 4 1 1 0 0 1 .259
Pie lf 2 1 2 0 1 0 .229
a-J.Bell ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .160
Andino 2b 3 0 1 0 0 1 .265
Totals 33 3 7 3 2 9
SOX 021 100 000 — 4 7 1
Baltimore 000 030 000 — 3 7 0
a-grounded out for Pie in the 9th.
E—Al.Ramirez (12). LOB—SOX 6, Baltimore 6. 2B—Pierzynski (21), Markakis (20), Pie (8). HR—Quentin (24), off Jo-.Reyes; Morel (2), off Jo-.Reyes. RBI—Quentin (71), Pierzynski (38), Morel 2 (21), Hardy (53), Markakis (48), Ad.Jones (70). SB—Al.Ramirez (5). CS—Markakis (2). S—Andino.
Runners left in scoring position—SOX 4 (Pierre 2, Rios, Pierzynski); Baltimore 3 (Mar.Reynolds, Guerrero, Markakis).
Runners moved up—Beckham. GIDP—Rios.
DP—Baltimore 1 (Hardy, Andino, C.Davis).
SOX IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Floyd W, 10-10 62⁄3 7 3 3 1 4 87 4.53
Ohman H, 2 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 1 5 4.06
Frasor H, 12 1⁄3 0 0 0 1 1 11 3.38
Sale H, 10 11⁄3 0 0 0 0 2 16 2.68
S.Santos S, 24-27 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 1 7 2.77
Baltimore IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Jo-.Reyes L, 5-9 4 5 4 4 2 0 69 5.49
Jakubauskas 4 2 0 0 2 1 56 5.46
Berken 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 6.10
Jakubauskas pitched to 1 batter in the 9th.
Inherited runners-scored—Ohman 1-0, Sale 1-0, Berken 1-0. WP—Jakubauskas.
Umpires—Home, Tom Hallion; First, Bill Miller; Second, James Hoye; Third, Phil Cuzzi.
T—2:42. A—14,177 (45,438).
How they scored
White Sox second Quentin homered to left on a 0-1 count. Pierzynski grounded out. Rios flied out. Lillibridge walked. Beckham singled, Lillibridge to second. Morel singled, Lillibridge scored, Beckham to second. Two runs. White Sox 2, Orioles 0.
White Sox third Al.Ramirez walked. Konerko lined out. Al.Ramirez stole second. Quentin lined out. Pierzynski doubled, Al.Ramirez scored. One run. White Sox 3, Orioles 0.
White Sox fourth Lillibridge grounded out. Beckham flied out. Morel homered to left on a 3-1 count. One run. White Sox 4, Orioles 0.
Orioles fifth. Wieters infield singled. Pie singled, Wieters to second. Andino singled, Wieters to third, Pie to second. Hardy grounded into fielder’s choice, Wieters scored, Pie to third, Andino out. Markakis singled, Pie scored, Hardy to third. Ad.Jones safe at first on Al.Ramirez’s error, Hardy scored, Markakis to second. Three runs. White Sox 4, Orioles 3.
Updated: November 16, 2011 1:24AM
BALTIMORE — Amazing what a couple of home runs and two-out hits will do for a team that has struggled to find an identity for the first four-and-a-half months of the season.
The White Sox got all of that, plus another shut-down performance from its bullpen after a good-enough start from Gavin Floyd on Tuesday night to defeat the Baltimore Orioles 4-3 for their season-high fifth consecutive victory.
“I think we are feeding off our offense,’’ said Sox closer Sergio Santos, who got the final out for his 24th save. “Our team seems like we are finally playing baseball the way everybody thought we would play coming out of spring. It’s just nice.
“Luckily we are still in this thing and hopefully we can get on a roll and get going.’’
With seven straight wins on the road and five overall following a deflating four-game sweep by the Yankees at home, Santos doesn’t need to hope for a roll. It’s already happening. But at one game below .500, it’s not enough. But it’s a start.
“We’ve kind of been waiting for it all year,’’ said third baseman Brent Morel, the star of the game with a home run, two-out RBI single and the key defensive play. “We know we have a lot of potential and it’s been a disappointing year but knowing we have a little bit of time left to make a late push, hopefully we can continue playing well.’’
With two games left at Camden Yards against the 44-69 Orioles, anything less than taking three of four will be a disappointment. A four-game sweep is the order of the week.
“Our pitching has been really good for us lately,’’ Morel said. “And offensively it’s been nice to score more runs than usual to take the pressure off them a little bit. We’ve been playing good baseball lately.’’
With two outs, Morel singled in the second run of the Sox’ two-run second inning. With two outs in the fourth, he hit a 3-1 fastball from left-hander Jo-Jo Reyes 421 feet to left field to give the Sox a 4-0 lead.
“With nobody on, I’m thinking I’m getting a fastball there,’’ Morel said.
On the field, Morel stretched out to his left to stop J.J. Hardy’s hot shot and throw him out with the tying run on third and one out in the seventh. Will Ohman came on to strike out Nick Markakis to end the inning and keep the Sox lead at 4-3.
Morel was also on the lucky side of a missed call by third-base umpire Phil Cuzzi, who called Markakis out attempting to steal third in the fifth.
“I don’t know if he was safe or out, but that was huge,’’ manager Ozzie Guillen said. “When things go your way, a lot of things happen on your side. We have a great day and take advantage and got a big break out there.”
Carlos Quentin hit a leadoff homer in the second, his 24th of the season. Catcher A.J. Pierzynski doubled in a run.
The bullpen did the rest. Jason Frasor — after walking Adam Jones to lead off the eighth — struck out Vladimir Guerrero before left-hander Chris Sale got Chris Davis to pop out. Mark Reynolds then took a big, slow back-door slider for strike three to end the inning.
“A.J. says at night it looks so far out of the strike zone and breaks back in,’’ Sale said.
Sale wasn’t done. He struck out Matt Wieters and retired pinch-hitter Josh Bell on a grounder before Guillen summoned Santos. Robert Andino struck out to the end the game.
“Our bullpen came out and shut it down,’’ Guillen said. “That’s a big key in the American League in close games. Whoever has the best bullpen will be there. And clutch hitting, with two outs.
“We keep fighting. We have a great attitude. A lot of enthusiasm in the clubhouse and the dugout. Obviously, everything is coming when you’re winning. And when you’re producing, you have people in scoring position, when you have people on base, that helps to get more motivation and more excitement.”
