It's getting toward crunch time and the Chicago White Sox wasted scoring chances only to fall 2-1 to the NY Yankees in Chicago before a sold-out crowd. It was a picture perfect day for baseball and Gavin Floyd pitched well but not well enough for the win, in giving up 2 runs. Rookie pitcher Ivan Nova did him better, going 5 2/3 innings while allowing a Juan Pierre single to drive in Gordon Beckham.
The Sox hitters were shut down today and they just couldn't put the hits together when they needed them. The Sox had the bases loaded with two outs in the 6th inning but failed to score. Other opportunitiess were also wasted. Good teams take advantage of their opportunities and the Sox failed to do that today. Their loss was the 9th in their last 14 games.
After a torrid June and early July, the Sox have cooled off considerably and have fallen out of the Divsion lead, 4 1/2 games behind the Twins. Don't expect the Twins to blow it. They are too good a team. If the Sox are to compete down the stretch, the team needs to start playing better or say "sayonara" to this season. The potential acquistion of Manny Ramirez will not jump start this team. They have eough pop. They have to start playing smart, sharp baseball.
The long season is a grind. Paul Konerko has had a great hitting year, He's batting over .310, has hit 32 Homers, driving in almost 90 runs. It would be sad to waste that great year. But the Sox could make it interesting if they get hot again.
