Jaime Navarro credits his success Sunday to an uncluttered mind. He stopped thinking and started throwing zeroes.
Before carrying the White Sox to their 10-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles, Navarro took the advice of pitching coach Mike Pazik.
“Paz came to me in the bullpen,” Navarro said. “He said, `You go out there and relax, have fun. I don’t want you worrying about your mechanics, about control, about anything. Just pitch the way you can pitch, let it go.’ “
Navarro, who gave up eight runs last Tuesday in Minnesota, turned in one of his best outings this year. He protected the 6-0 lead given him in the second inning. Navarro took a shutout into the ninth but gave up a two-run homer to Tony Tarasco.
Navarro (8-8) evened his record as the White Sox won the deciding game in the three-game series. They improved to 49-47, remaining within 4 1/2 games of Cleveland in the American League Central.
“He had good control today,” manager Terry Bevington said of Navarro. “He changed speeds, did a good job.”
Navarro walked one and struck out five. The complete-game victory was his first since April 29.
Much of Navarro’s support came from Frank Thomas. He was 4 for 5 with a two-run double off starter Shawn Boskie (5-4) and a two-run homer off reliever Mike Johnson. The Sox had a season-high 19 hits, including three by third baseman Norberto Martin.
