Youth Exposed

As my wife and I watched the White Sox game yesterday evening, she repeated a question many casual Sox fans are asking, "who is that guy?" Jason Nix, Brent Lilibridge, and Wilson Betemit. All strangers to the casual observer. I told her that these guys may become franchise faces before long. Throw in the addition of 33 year old back-up catcher Corkey Miller, and the confusion is complete. With both Jermaine Dye out with a sore hand and Josh Fields out, fresh new faces took to the field last night out in Kansas City.

Tough night to have fresh meat in the batter's box.

25 year old Zack Greinke improved to 6-0 on the season with a stellar complete game shutout. It was Greinke's second shutout of the season. Scott Podsednik and A.J. Peirzynski had two hits apiece in the loss, while as a team, the Sox had six. White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen may of seen the best the Majors have to offer in Greinke. "To me, he's the best in the league right now," Guillen said.

The Sox have been downright awful at the plate as of late. They did not have a runner in scoring position until the sixth inning, and the first five batters were 1-19 on the night, striking out six times. Greinke fanned 10 Sox batters to add insult to injury.

The White Sox have scored one sad run in their last 20 innings and have scored one run or fewer in seven of 25 games played.

Something to think about... Is Wilson Betemit really worth the $1,300,000 he is getting paid? Meanwhile, Brian Anderson will only make $440,000 in 2009.

R U Kidding? : Zack Greinke overcame a social anxiety disorder following his 2005 season. He was only 20. This season his 0.40 ERA in 45 innings is the best in the majors. He has allowed just 30 hits, two earned runs, walked eight and struck out 54, while tossing three complete games and earning two shutouts.

Cuban Missile Crisis. Over?

Alexei Ramirez isn't known for working counts. Ramirez got a free pass only 18 times in some 46o at bats last season. So when the "Cuban Missile" found himself with a 3-2 count and the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth of last night's game, one thing was for certain: strikeout or putout. Batting only .167 coming into the game, the chance Ramirez was going to hit safely in that situation was slim and none. The result: Ramirez took a 3-2 "get me over" pitch from Shawn Camp into the left field bullpen. It was Ramirez's fifth grand slam of his young career.
Giving the Sox a comfortable 8-2 edge was perhaps a side note for Sox manager Ozzie Guillen who is hopeful that his sophomore shortstop may be ending his early season woes. "As soon as the game was over, I saw him and talked to him about the game," Guillen said. "I was excited for him. Hopefully this is a corner he is going to turn."
Both Brent Lilibridge and Jerry Owens provided stellar defensive plays to back up Mark Buehrle (3-0) who provided his third quality start of the season. "You're going to run into some of that once in a while. But if they don't make those plays, it's a different ballgame all the way around," said Toronto manager Cito Gaston. Jose Contreras (0-3)looks for his first win of the season today when he takes the mound at 1:05. Contreras is looking for his win at U.S. Cellular since June of last year when he defeated the Cubs.

Loose Sox: Sox second baseman Chris Getz was 86'd from last night's lineup due to a sore finger. Getz will return to the lineup against Seattle on Monday.
Monday's game against Seattle is a Value Monday at U.S. Cellular Field. All tickets at the Sox box office are half-off the day of game. Game Time: 7:11 pm.
According to Elias Sports Bureau, Ramirez reached five career grand slams in the second-quickest amount of time in Major League Baseball history at 152 games, trailing only Rudy York's total of 139.

Those Stingless Rays

The only thing looking good for Devil Rays pitcher Matt Garza (1-1)Sunday afternoon was his sideburns. Matt Garza took the loss as the White Sox pummeled the Devil Rays 12-2 on Sunday. Garza allowed seven runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings, including a home run to A.J. Pierzynski in the second inning.
The pitching for the Southsiders was solid yet again, as Gavin Floyd (2-1) worked six scoreless innings. Sox manager Ozzie Guillen continues to feels confident with each Floyd start. "He's one of the top pitchers right now in the big leagues, and he continues to throw the ball well," Guillen said.
The pitching was only part of the days highlights. Brent Lilibridge, Chris Getz, Brian Anderson, Wilson Betemit, and Paul Konerko all contributed with timely hits. However, it was the power of the White Sox bats that again made it a difficult day for opposing pitchers. Carlos Quentin hit his third home run in as many games and Jim Thome followed with a solo shot of his own. The White Sox are now heading to Baltimore for a three game set before heading back home for a weekend series with the Blue Jays.
Loose Sox: Paul Konerko has nine RBIs over this last six games, including five in the past two games.
With Jim Thome's solo homer on Sunday, he is now four homers away from tying Mike Schmidt (548) for 13th place all-time.
SOX LEADER BOARD

Jermaine Dye
AVG .370

HR 4

RBI 9

Carlos Quentin
HR 7

OBP .426

RBI 13