On his way off the mound in the fourth inning Tuesday after striking out Johnny Damon, White Sox starter Jose Contreras backtracked to pick up the ball catcher A.J. Pierzynski had rolled toward the infield grass.
It was a memento Contreras wanted to keep, the day a memory he always will treasure.
“Maybe it was the luck of the uniform,” Contreras said after the 14-2 White Sox rout in Game 1 of the American League Divisional Series erased any notion of a hex the Red Sox might have had over him.
He entered the game with a 2-4 career record and a 11.67 earned-run average against Boston but maintained the mastery he has had over the past two months in his first playoff start.
The right-hander, unbeaten since Aug. 15, gave up two runs on eight hits in 72 1/43 innings to post the first home playoff victory for the White Sox since Early Wynn shut out the Los Angeles Dodgers on Oct. 1, 1959.
He struck out six and walked none on 100 pitches, encountering trouble only in the fourth inning when Boston scored both its runs–the first on a wild pitch.
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Lopsided wins
Here are the five most lopsided victories in a playoff game:
AL
Oct. 10, 1999: BOS 23, CLE 7
Oct. 4, 2005: SOX 14, BOS 2
Oct. 16, 1999: BOS 13, NYY 1
Oct. 16, 2004: NYY 19, BOS 8
Oct. 7, 2000: OAK 11, NYY 1
NL
Oct. 17, 1996: ATL 15, STL 0
Oct. 14, 1996: ATL 14, STL 0
Oct. 2, 1984: CUBS 13, S.D. 0
Oct. 7, 1993: ATL 14, PHI 3
Oct. 9, 1974: LAD 12, PIT 1
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
