Hard as nails Sox win!

(June 10)

Short Take:  Onward & upward, Sox Fans!

Confusion reigns supreme amongst talking heads coast to coast.  The White Sox outplayed the Chicago Cubs three straight games and suddenly our Pale Hose, left for dead and buried before Memorial Day are looking like a team to be reckoned with.  The Sox pound a few more lumps on their crosstown rivals Sunday at Comiskey, 3-1.  Sox Fans only regret it wasn't a well-deserved sweep of the pathetic Lovable Losers.  We'll settle for 2 of 3 and the knowledge both Cleveland and Minnesota lost.

Cubs fans were peeing in their pants earlier than usual about this game.  They feel invincible when Jon Lieber is pitching for them and they knew too that Jerry Manuel had few options either off the bench or the bullpen after injuries to Sox regulars and starting pitchers.  They came to Comiskey wearing their usual red, white, and blue clown outfits and talking louder than usual.

Into this maelstrom walked another of our "overrated phenoms", Kip Wells.  Whatever planet the Tribune's Skip Bayless presently occupies, don't count on him having much to say about Sox pitchers again anytime soon.  He's been proven the city's biggest idiot at least ten times since he wrote such a stupid comment in yet another of his vapid opinion columns.  The man is a disgrace to his profession.  Fire this imbecile!

So Kip goes out and pitches 7.1 innings of one-run, five-hit baseball, his only real mistake a dinger in the sixth.  Let's not forget it was this Wells that got our Sox back on the winning track in SkyDome facing the Blue Jays.  He's been nothing less than spectacular ever since.

Paul Konerko gave Kip some room to work with singling in Magglio Ordonez in the second inning and Chris Singleton made the most of a two-out opportunity and plugged Lieber for a solo shot in the fifth.  

Unlike last season, nothing seems to get Kip unglued this year.  Sammy Sosa told the umpire he was hit by a pitch and was awarded first base for sharing the information.  Jerry Manuel went berserk and got tossed for the first time this season.  After all that, Kip calmly struck out Matt Stairs on three pitches to end the inning, sending Sammy harmlessly back to the dugout to grab his glove.  Ho-hum.

Chris Singleton and Sandy Alomar combined for the play of the game in the seventh when Sosa singled off reliever Jon Garland, apparently sending Gary Matthews (that's "Junior", in case you're too stupid to know his father retired 15 years ago) home with the tying run.  

Just one small problem for Matthews, the Cubs, and their legions of moronic fans, all panting heavily as this play reached its climax.  Singleton fielded it cleanly, the ball reaching Alomar on the hop, and the Sox catcher blocking Matthews' path to the plate.  A smart baserunner simply slides beneath the tag but these are the Cubs we're talking about so naturally Matthews ran straight into the tag out.  Inning and rally over,  Cubs still losing.

Isn't that the natural order of things?

Garland and Bob Howry finished things off in fine fashion and the Sox suddenly find themselves just five games beneath .500 and closing ground fast on the breakeven level.  We've got a lot of games left with Cleveland and Minnesota.

Monday is a day off to savor another series victory, the fifth straight for our Sox.  Still lots of work to be done!