Sox' Floyd a one-hit wanderer
Strays from recent stellar form in shortest outing since joining Sox
SEATTLE -- Twice Gavin Floyd had taken no-hitters into the eighth inning this season.
On Sunday, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen was just trying to get his right-handed starter to survive the fourth.
(AP)
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Looking to sweep the Seattle Mariners for the first time at Safeco Field -- a usual house of horrors for the South Siders -- Floyd resembled the former first-round pick the Philadelphia Phillies had given up on rather than the emerging ace of the staff this season.
And in the end, the only memories the Sox players would have of Mother's Day at the park, besides their pink bats and pink facial hair, was another one that got away in the 6-3 loss.
''He struggled the whole game,'' Guillen said. ''He tried to battle through it, and he couldn't.''
The 25-year-old Floyd picked a bad time to have his worst start of the season as the loss dropped the Sox (18-18) back to the .500 mark. Not only was it the worst they have seen Floyd this season, but it was his shortest outing since he joined the club last season.
Floyd lasted just 3 2/3 innings, allowing five runs and nine hits.
''I felt like I have in every other start,'' Floyd said. ''I was just trying to make pitches. We got the early lead and I was just trying to keep it there, but I just wasn't able to do it today.''
It wasn't like the offense didn't give Floyd (3-2) some room for error, jumping all over Miguel Batista for three consecutive singles and a 1-0 lead to start the game. After Paul Konerko struck out, A.J. Pierzynski gave the Sox a two-run lead with an RBI double.
Batista would get out of the jam, and letting him get up off the canvas proved to be a big mistake by the time it was over.
''The first couple of innings were very important,'' Guillen said. ''We let [Batista] off the hook. He got out of some jams, and all of a sudden he pitched better.''
As for ''Mr. Almost No-Hitter,'' Floyd's struggles were evident from the start. He allowed leadoff hits in all four innings he worked, and when Raul Ibanez hit a two-run homer in the third, it was already the fifth Mariners hit of the game. Not quite the no-hit stuff he had against Detroit on April 12 and Minnesota in his last start, both one-hit performances.
''He had kind of been a little bit wild his last few starts but had been able to reel it in,'' catcher Pierzynski said. ''He just couldn't get it going. But everyone has a bad start now and then, and today was his. The big thing was he couldn't find his slider. He kept throwing it, and they kept banging it.''
Stranding 13 runners summarized the Sox' inability to bang anything.
''We had chances, and they had chances,'' Pierzynski said. ''It just seemed like we weren't meant to win.''
It doesn't get easier for the Sox as they head to Anaheim, Calif., for four games.
''Different club that can beat you so many different ways,'' Guillen said of the Angels. ''They got a lot of speed and pitching. Anaheim plays tough. They got all the tools to beat you.''
MARINERS 6, WHITE SOX 3
SOX AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
OCabrera ss 5 1 4 0 0 1 .231
Quentin lf 5 1 2 1 0 2 .298
Thome dh 4 0 1 1 1 2 .220
Konerko 1b 4 0 1 0 1 2 .227
Pierzynski c 4 0 1 1 1 0 .296
Crede 3b 4 0 1 0 1 0 .254
Swisher rf 4 0 0 0 1 2 .202
BAnderson cf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .244
Uribe 2b 3 1 1 0 0 0 .194
Totals 37 3 11 3 5 10
Seattle AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
ISuzuki cf 4 2 3 0 0 1 .292
Cairo 1b 3 0 1 2 1 0 .136
Beltre 3b 4 0 0 0 1 0 .254
Ibanez lf 3 1 1 2 1 0 .291
JoLopez 2b 4 0 3 0 0 0 .303
JClement dh 3 0 0 0 1 0 .125
Johjima c 4 1 2 0 0 1 .208
Balentien rf 4 1 1 0 0 0 .238
YBetancourt ss 4 1 2 2 0 0 .267
Totals 33 6 13 6 4 2
SOX 200 001 000--3 11 1
Seattle 102 200 01x--6 13 0
E--Swisher (3). LOB--SOX 13, Seattle 9. 2B--Pierzynski (10), Uribe (6), ISuzuki (7), Cairo (1), JoLopez (8), Balentien (2), YBetancourt (8). HR--Ibanez (6), off GFloyd. RBI--Quentin (29), Thome (22), Pierzynski (14), Cairo 2 (3), Ibanez 2 (25), YBetancourt 2 (11). SB--ISuzuki (16). S--ISuzuki. GIDP--Quentin, Beltre, JClement, Balentien.
Runners left in scoring position--SOX 7 (Pierzynski 2, Swisher 3, BAnderson 2); Seattle 6 (Beltre 2, JoLopez 2, YBetancourt 2).
Runners moved up--Cairo.
DP--SOX 3 (GFloyd, Pierzynski and Konerko), (OCabrera, Uribe and Konerko), (Konerko, OCabrera and Logan); Seattle 1 (Johjima and YBetancourt).
SOX IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
GFloyd L, 3-2 3.2 9 5 5 2 0 74 3.32
Masset 2.1 0 0 0 2 2 30 4.26
Logan 1 1 0 0 0 0 8 3.21
Wassermann 1 3 1 1 0 0 17 23.63
Seattle IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Batista W, 3-4 5.1 10 3 3 3 6 114 5.58
Rhodes H, 2 0.2 0 0 0 1 1 12 3.52
SGreen H, 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 13 1.69
Morrow H, 2 1 1 0 0 0 2 14 1.23
Putz S, 3 1 0 0 0 1 1 24 5.63
Inherited runners-scored--Masset 2-0, Rhodes 2-0. IBB--off Rhodes (Konerko) 1. HBP--by GFloyd (Cairo), by Batista (Uribe). WP--Rhodes.
Umpires--Home, Brian Gorman; First, Scott Barry; Second, Sam Holbrook; Third, Gerry Davis. T--3:03. A--30,346 (47,447).
WHITE SOX FIRST Cabrera singled. Quentin singled, Cabrera to third. Thome singled, Cabrera scored, Quentin to second. Konerko struck out. Pierzynski doubled, Quentin scored, Thome to third. Two runs. White Sox 2, Mariners 0.
MARINERS FIRST Suzuki doubled. On Swisher's error, Suzuki to third. Cairo grounded out, Suzuki scored. One run. White Sox 2, Mariners 1.
MARINERS THIRD Suzuki infield single. Suzuki stole second. Cairo was hit by a pitch. Beltre grounded into a double play, Suzuki to third, Cairo out. Ibanez homered, Suzuki scored. Two runs. Mariners 3, White Sox 2.
MARINERS FOURTH Johjima singled. Balentien doubled, Johjima to third. Betancourt doubled, Johjima scored, Balentien scored. Two runs. Mariners 5, White Sox 2.
WHITE SOX SIXTH Anderson grounded out. Uribe doubled. Cabrera singled, Uribe to third. Quentin singled, Uribe scored, Cabrera to second. One run. Mariners 5, White Sox 3.
MARINERS EIGHTH Wassermann pitching. Johjima flied out. Balentien grounded out. Betancourt singled. Suzuki infield single, Betancourt to second. Cairo doubled, Betancourt scored, Suzuki to third. One run. Mariners 6, White Sox 3.
Sox' Floyd a one-hit wanderer
