Four errors by the White Sox on Friday. Five unearned runs. And more anecdotal evidence for my belief that one underrated benefit to bunting is making pitchers field and throw the ball.
It's been said the more games are lost than won, and this one was lost by the White Sox. They obviously haven't done that much lately, and this one must have given Ozzie Guillen nightmares from last season, when the infield defense was sloppy.
A quick brace of comments before I get out of town for family reasons:
* John Gordon on the radio twice called Francisco Liriano "Konerko" when the Twins pitcher was facing the Chicago first baseman in the first inning.
* Jon Rauch was b-a-d — 14 balls, nine strikes. Jesse Crain was g-o-o-d — two batters, two out, four pitches, one strikeout.
* Jason Repko is reputed to be a center fielder, and if he is, he can be no worst than the second best defensive outfielder on the roster. He played Friday — as a pinch runner for the DH. I have yet to see him deployed as a defensive replacement since he came up.
* The Twins now have 13 pitchers (or at least alleged pitchers) on their 25-man roster. Last night's bench consisted of Danny Valencia, Repko and Drew Butera. Ugh.
As long as the starting lineup scores seven runs a night, who cares what the bench looks like, right? But I agree about Repko. I didn't like wasting him to run for the DH with two outs in the seventh with a three-run lead. Better to use him to improve the defense. He even ended up getting an at-bat that turned out to be kind of big when Rauch tried to cough up the game. Oh well, better to have a meltdown with a five-run lead than in a save situation.
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