Despite the baserunning failures of Saturday night (two runners caught stealing, one man picked off), Sox manager Jeff Torborg insisted Sunday the team will continue to take chances with its running game. That includes taking the extra-base whenever possible, which Carlos Martinez did in the second inning to set up the first Sox score Sunday. Martinez hustled a sure double to left into a triple with a head-first slide, and came in on Ron Karkovice`s sacrifice fly.
”That`s the way we`ve played all year,” said Torborg. ”I don`t ever want their aggressiveness to be questioned.”
Actually, the baserunning has been better since the All-Star break, with a 70 percent success ratio after the break (33 steals in 47 attempts) to 58 percent before (72 of 125).
Before & After: Other second-half Sox stats, as compared to the first-half:
The White Sox went into the break hitting .261. In the 39 games since, not including Sunday`s, they were hitting a collective .250. The team`s run production, however, is up, from 4.18 runs per game before the break to 4.46 since.
The team`s ERA was 3.27 before the break, it has been 4.16 since. The bullpen was 20-10 with 33 saves before, and is 5-6 with 14 saves since. Opponents were hitting .229 against Sox before the break. They`ve hit .266 since.
Melido`s lament: Melido Perez, who pitches Wednesday against Oakland, is confident he can repeat his most recent performance against the A`s. Perez gave up three hits and no runs in an eight-inning stint on June 24 (a no-decision in a Sox win), after being knocked out in two-thirds of an inning on June 16 (5 hits, 2 walks, 7 runs, 4 earned runs).
Likewise, he pitched well against Texas Friday night after being shelled by the Rangers in a 7-5 loss early last week.
”One thing I can`t do now is win one, lose one,” said Perez. ”I don`t want to pitch like this. I don`t know what happened to myself (in the Aug. 11 loss to Texas). I had no pain. I just need to have more concentration.”
