Moments before stepping on the field Saturday night in Seattle, the White Sox fell a half-game behind Kansas City in the American League Central.
For that, they could thank the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, who couldn’t hold an 8-7 lead in the seventh inning and lost 10-8.
To keep pace, the Sox turned to a man who hadn’t thrown a major-league pitch since July 11, hadn’t turned in a quality start since June 27 and hadn’t earned a victory since 2002.
Dan Wright went 14-12 in his rookie season, but from the moment he felt a tweak in his right elbow in spring training, 2003 has been nothing but trouble for him.
Wright began the season on the disabled list and went 0-4 with a 5.93 ERA in 11 starts before getting sent to Triple-A Charlotte.
But Wright’s final outing in the minors–a seven-inning complete game at Louisville on July 26 in which he gave up three runs on just three hits–gave the Sox hope that his struggles were behind him.
“Hopefully with the regularity he got down there, he has fallen back into the good habits,” pitching coach Don Cooper said.
Wright’s biggest flaw is his tendency to fly open on his delivery, hurting his command and making his pitches easier to track.
Cooper said the key to consistency is in the landing spot. Wright should be able to draw a straight line from his left foot to his right foot as he releases the ball.
That motion can be tough to repeat, especially considering Wright has had to work on an irregular schedule as the Sox’s fifth starter.
“It’s difficult to maintain the delivery with a lot of inactivity,” Cooper said.
After Saturday, Wright figures to get the chance to work on his delivery in the bullpen. The Sox won’t need a fifth starter until Aug. 12.
Some believe that the hard-throwing Wright would be more effective as a full-time reliever. Cooper would rather see whether Wright can blossom as a starter.
“He won 14 games in his first year in the major leagues,” Cooper said. “He throws three quality pitches (fastball, curveball, change). And I think this year has been unfair, in some ways, to evaluate him.”
Wright’s only relief appearance for the Sox came in 2001, when he gave up one run over three innings.
His mission Saturday was to subdue a team that had won three straight games before getting blown out 12-1 on Friday.
The Sox took some staggering numbers into Saturday’s game.
They had won 13 of 14 games and six straight on the road.
They were hitting .323 since the All-Star break and scoring 7.9 runs per game.
Paul Konerko had homered in four straight games, Carlos Lee had 24 RBIs in his last 18 games and Roberto Alomar had reached safely in 14 straight.
Did we mention that Sox starters had taken the American League lead with 67 quality starts or that they had a 3.49 ERA over the last 42 games?
Wright’s goal was to keep pace.
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Because of the game’s late start, the Sox-Seattle result was not available until later editions.
