We Were Due For Something Like This

I can’t give insight into the very beginning of the game, and this is gonna be a short post anyways. The ironic thing is that as I was driving home, I was under the impression that Jake Peavy was the one throwing the no-hitter. I didn’t really expect Eddie Bonine to seal the deal, because he’s too prone to giving up home runs, and sure enough, that’s what happened. So, he’s beating himself up for the hanging changeup to Gordon Beckham and Brandon Inge is beating himself up for the error. Still, Bonine certainly did a better job than I expected him to. After Bonine departed, though, I am amazed that the White Sox didn’t put more runs on the board, what with Ryan Perry’s wildness (and one interesting thing that’s been pointed out is that the Tigers went entirely with rookie pitchers last night). I am also amazed that they pulled Peavy after seven innings. The guy’s pitch count was so low, he could easily have gone the distance. I don’t know how he could have a pitch count that low and strike out eight. And I know most guys weren’t striking out on three pitches. And it’s harder to manufacture runs when you can’t get a runner to third with less than two outs (Did they even get a runner to third?). If a runner is at second with one out, it’s still gonna require a base hit to score him (outside of something weird happening). And I could be wrong about this, but I don’t think they ever got the leadoff man on either. There were a few instances where they had runners on first and second with one out, but Peavy always got a strikeout or a double play. And it doesn’t help that most of the Tigers didn’t have good numbers against Peavy in the first place (Miguel Cabrera came into the game 2-for-17 in his career against him, and for the most part, looked completely overmatched).

And so we move on to the second game in this series. Nate Robertson is coming off an important win in Minnesota. Can he keep it up against the White Sox? In his career, his ERA against them is over five, and he says the Cell is one of the hardest places to pitch because the fans tend to be obnoxious (his paraphrased words, not mine). Freddy Garcia, who was briefly with the Tigers last year, will be on the mound for the Sox, and he’s done a very good job for them recently. His September ERA is under 3, and he went eight innings in his last start though he took the loss. And, oh yeah, he’s 15-5 against the Tigers, though they haven’t faced him since 2006. Nate’s simply gonna have to outpitch him, plain and simple.