The biggest difference between the White Sox offense now and earlier in the season is simple–the margin for error is gone.
“If we had a guy on second and no outs and didn’t get him over it was a bad thing and someone didn’t do the job, but it seemed like the next guy hit a home run or a double,” first baseman Paul Konerko said. “Now you have to get it done because there are no guarantees that’s going to happen.”
The comfort zone was lost with the injuries to Magglio Ordonez and Frank Thomas.
“Now we have to be a little more exact and get the small things done,” Konerko said.
Before Wednesday night’s power outage, the Sox looked like their former selves with three home runs in each of the two previous games.
“The last two days we had people on base, and that’s what we needed,” manager Ozzie Guillen said. “We have a couple of pretty strong guys, Carlos [Lee], Konerko and [Jose] Valentin. We miss Magglio and Frank, but this is a pretty powerful team.”
Quick hits
Guillen had Roberto Alomar as the designated hitter against left-hander Darrell May with Carl Everett on the bench. “I don’t think Carl, when he was a right-handed hitter, was clicking,” Guillen said. Guillen also rested Valentin and played Juan Uribe at short. . . . Willie Harris’ streak of seven straight hits and nine straight times reaching base ended when he popped out to lead off the Sox first. . . . After penciling in Aaron Rowand either first or second in the lineup for the last couple of weeks, Guillen moved him to the five-hole. “He gives me speed, he gives me some power, he has good at-bats,” Guillen said. . . . Konerko entered Wednesday tied with Alex Rodriguez for the American League lead with 29 home runs. If Konerko wins the AL home run title, he’ll be the first Sox player to take the honor since Dick Allen led the league with 37 in 1972. Before games at U.S. Cellular Field, a video montage is shown on the scoreboard with images of great and popular players from the Sox past. Included is pitcher Steve Carlton, who pitched a total of 10 games in his brief–and forgettable–Sox career. Carlton was 4-3 with a 3.69 ERA in 63 innings in 1986.
