Things went bad right from the start for the Red Sox in the top of the first inning when Jose Offerman drew a walk to start....only to get thrown out at second trying to steal. Jeff Frye struck out swinging and Nomar Garciaparra flied out to left to end the inning. The White Sox blasted Pete Schourek in the bottom of the first inning although Ray Durham struck out swinging to start. Tony Graffanino doubled to right and Frank Thomas walked before Graffanino swiped third. Magglio Ordonez hit a home run all the way to Lake Michigan to put the White Sox up for good four batters into the game. Paul Konerko flied out to center and Carlos Lee grounded out to short to end the inning with the White Sox up 3-0.
The BoSox failed to answer in the top of the second although Brian Daubach singled to right to start. Carl Everett lined out to left, Morgan Burkhart went down hacking and Scott Hatteberg flied out to center to end the inning. Chris Singleton popped up to left to start the bottom of the second but Herbert Perry was plunked. Perry was thrown out trying to steal by Hatteberg and Brook Fordyce popped up to first to end the inning.
The BoSox blew their only chance to get back in the game in the top of the third as Ed Sprague Jr and Curtis Pride stroked back to back singles to begin. Offerman's ground out moved both runners over and Frye walked to load the bases. Unfortunately all Nomar could do was score Sprague with a sac fly. Daubach lined out to second to end the inning with the BoSox down 3-1.
Things fell apart in the bottom of the third inning although Durham flied out to left to start. Graffanino flied out to left but Thomas clobbered a home run all the way to Saturn to increase the lead. Ordonez then belted his second home run of the game to turn this into a laughter. Konerko singled to left but Lee popped up to third to end the inning with the White Sox ahead 5-1.
Everett tried to start a rally in the top of the fourth when he lined a base hit to left to start. Burkhart flied out to left and Hatteberg popped up to left but Sprague worked a walk. Pride whiffed to end the inning. Schourek came back for the bottom of the fourth and Singleton walked to start. Perry forced Singleton at second, Fordyce struck out swinging and Durham forced Perry at second to end the inning.
The BoSox did nothing in the top of the fifth as Offerman flied out to left to start. Frye grounded out to short and Nomar lined out to left to end the inning. Schourek came back for the bottom of the fifth and Graffanino grounded out to short to start. Thomas singled to left but Ordonez flied out to right. Konerko popped up to second to end the inning. That was it four Schourek who's trouble with the longball doomed him to allowing 5 runs in 5 innings.
Baldwin cruised in the top of the sixth inning as Daubach flied out to center to start. Everett grounded out to second and Burkhart took strike three to end the inning. John Wasdin came on for the bottom of the sixth and crapped his pants. Lee grounded out to second but Singleton got a base hit to right. Singleton went to steal second and Hatteberg fired the ball to first base instead for an error that sent Chris to third. Perry singled home Singleton to increase the lead but Everett made a great diving catch and throw to first to double off Perry to end the inning with Chicago ahead 6-1.
Baldwin dominated the top of the seventh as Hatteberg grounded out to second to start. Sprague watched strike three go by and Pride grounded out to second to end the inning. The White Sox lit up Wasdin in the bottom of the seventh as Durham doubled to right to start. Graffanino singled Ray to third and Thomas walked to load the bases. Ordonez hit a ball to the wall to score Durham with a sac fly and move Graffanino to third. Konerko hit a sac fly to score Graffanino to wrap up the scoring for Chicago. Lee whiffed to end the inning but it was 8-1 White Sox.
The BoSox finally showed some life in the top of the eighth inning when Offerman blasted his fourth home run of the season to inch the Sox closer. Frye walked but Nomar flied out to center to chase Baldwin. Kelly Wunsch came in to pitch and Mike Stanley pinch hit for Daubach. Stanley singled to center but Everett whiffed. Burkhart grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the BoSox down 8-2.
Derek Lowe came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Singleton singled to right to begin. Perry banged into a double play and Fordyce flied out to left to end the inning.
Manny Alexander pinch hit for Hatteberg to start the top of the ninth and grounded out to first. Sprague flied out to left and Jason Varitek pinch hit for Pride. Varitek whiffed to end the game. The White Sox had won the game 8-2.
Jackass of the Night is Pete Schourek. He got lit up for 3 home runs and 5 runs in just 5 innings of work to put the Sox in a hole they couldn't climb out of.
The Good:
Jose Offerman was 1 for 3 with a walk including a home run.
Jeff Frye walked twice in four plate appearances.
Brian Daubach was 1 for 3.
Mike Stanley singled as a pinch hitter.
Ed Sprague Jr was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Curtis Pride was 1 for 3.
Derek Lowe tossed a scoreless eighth inning.
The Bad:
Morgan Burkhart was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Scott Hatteberg was 0 for 3.
Manny Alexander was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Jason Varitek struck out as a pinch hitter.
John Wasdin allowed 3 runs in 2 innings of work.
The Ugly:
Nomar was 0 for 3 but drove in a run.
Carl Everett was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Final Thoughts:
Sad to see a season that had so much promise fall off a cliff like this. With the exception of Nomar, not a single player from 99 is coming close to duplicating their production. Troy O'Leary, Offerman, Stanley and Varitek all regressed and losing John Valentin for the season hurt too. The offensive black hole and the lack of a rotation behind Pedro Martinez is the reason the Sox are a game under .500 right now. There's still time to turn things around but it doesn't look good right now. Again, if it wasn't for the slow start by the New York Yankees and the mediocre play of the Toronto Blue Jays, the Sox would be a mile behind in the standings. Schourek just isn't good enough to hang with the likes of Baldwin and for the love of god can someone send John Wasdin on a plane to Siberia? The good news is Troy O'Leary comes off the DL tomorrow and hopefully his head is cleared enough to be the hitter he was last season. As for this game, the less said of the disaster the better. The loss dropped the Sox to 38-39, 3.5 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow the Sox head to Minnesota with a four game set with the Twins. Ramon Martinez goes for the Sox tomorrow against Mike Lincoln of the Twins. The game begins at 8:05 PM Eastern time at the Metrodome.
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