If the White Sox wrap up the American League Division Series on Friday night, they would get three days of rest and preparation for their opponent in the AL Championship Series.
For Jon Garland, the break would stretch to nine days because he last pitched Saturday at Cleveland.
Garland is slated to start Game 4 of the ALDS only if the White Sox lose Friday night.
“It’s nice to get an extra day here and there, but I’m coming off a good start and I’d like to stay every fifth day because your body gets used to being on a routine,” Garland said.
“The way things have gone, I can’t complain one bit. I can only stay ready, throw a bullpen here and there to get my work in.”
Garland limited Cleveland to four hits in 6 2/3 innings Saturday and finished the season with a career-high 221 innings and 18 victories. He probably would throw a bullpen session Saturday in preparation for Game 1 of the ALCS if the Sox win Friday.
“Maybe I’d throw to some hitters if needed, but nothing too out of the ordinary,” Garland said.
Brandon McCarthy, whom the Sox are considering as a fifth-game starter if they reach the ALCS, is scheduled to pitch Monday in an Arizona Instructional League game to stay sharp.
“It’s fine, as long as I get some work off the mound,” said McCarthy, who threw a career-high 186 1/3 innings at Triple-A Charlotte and with the Sox.
It’s good to give the body and arm some rest.”
Sox ties
Red Sox manager Terry Francona managed Birmingham in the White Sox farm system, but he has another White Sox connection. His dad, Tito Francona, was the Sox’s Opening Day right fielder in 1958 after coming to Chicago in an off-season trade with Baltimore, one year before Terry was born. He hit .361 in spring training to win a starting job but was hitting just .258 at the June 15 trading deadline when he was dealt to Detroit with pitcher Bill Fischer for aging slugger Ray Boone and young pitcher Bob Shaw.
The next season, Shaw helped the Sox win the pennant with an 18-6 record while Francona–though falling just short of the 502 plate appearances required for the batting title–hit .363 for Cleveland with 20 homers and 79 RBIs.
Extra innings
The White Sox sold out the last several thousand individual-game home tickets for the ALCS in less than an hour Thursday. . . . Sox hitting coach Greg Walker turned 46 on Thursday. No big deal, other than the fact that he was born on Oct. 6, 1959, the date of the last Sox victory in a World Series game. On that day, the Sox and Shaw beat the Dodgers and Sandy Koufax 1-0 before 92,706 at the Los Angeles Coliseum–the largest crowd to attend a postseason or regular-season baseball game. . . . The Sox have worn their sleeveless jerseys exclusively at home since Sept. 23, the night Jose Contreras beat the Minnesota Twins to halt a slump of 10 losses in 14 games. Since donning the sleeveless threads, the team is 5-0 at home.
