The White Sox will take a well-deserved day off Saturday, but another series of tough questions awaits them.
Manager Ozzie Guillen isn’t certain 18-game winner Jon Garland will start Game 1 of the American League Championship Series on Tuesday because Garland hasn’t pitched since Oct. 1 at Cleveland.
Jose Contreras, the best Sox pitcher in the second half who beat Boston in Game 1 of the AL Division Series, could come back to open the ALCS with ample rest. But Guillen would hate to bypass Garland and leave his next start uncertain.
“Garland pitched well and deserves to be there,” Guillen said. “I have to go with the best man.”
The White Sox also could leave left-handed reliever Damaso Marte off their ALCS roster because of his control problems. Marte walked two batters and gave up a hit Friday, but Orlando Hernandez bailed him out.
“I need Marte,” Guillen said. “[But] if he continues to struggle, we have no choice. He put the team on the line. I don’t mind getting beat, but don’t beat yourself.”
Five and survive
Freddy Garcia wobbled through five-plus innings but lasted long enough to earn a clinching victory for the second consecutive time.
Garcia survived three home runs by Manny Ramirez (two) and David Ortiz but wasn’t afraid to challenge them.
“To beat the champions, you have to challenge them,” Garcia said.
Garcia, who hadn’t pitched in seven days, wasn’t bothered that he had a runner on base in each inning.
“I don’t have the words to explain,” Garcia said. “I feel pretty good.”
The last word
Minutes before the White Sox began their pregame stretching session, a fan wearing a Red Sox T-shirt and sporting a bleached mullet with dark roots held a sign that read “White Sox [stink].”
The fan asked Mark Buehrle to autograph the sign. Buehrle did so but not before scratching out the words “White Sox.”
“I made sure I signed it,” Buehrle smiled.
The miffed fan flipped over the sign that read “1917” in reference to the White Sox’s last World Series title.
Memory lane
Guillen was amused before the game when the Fenway Park video board showed a clip of former Boston right fielder Tom Burbank making a diving catch of a line drive by Guillen in the ninth inning of Boston’s division-clinching game in 1990.
Burbank threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Friday’s game.
Final time
When Game 2 goat Tony Graffanino came to bat for the first time Friday, the Fenway Park sellout crowd of 35,496 cheered.
“I was touched,” Graffanino said. “I don’t think anybody knows how much that meant to me.”
Graffanino, who played for the White Sox when Seattle swept them in 2000, said he will be a fan now.
“I could be happy for those guys, but I’m not happy right now,” he said. “I will be rooting for them. I still have a lot of friends over there.”
Extra innings
The White Sox outrighted left-handed reliever David Sanders to Triple-A Charlotte and left-hander Ryan Wing to Class-A Winston-Salem. Sanders pitched in two games last month for the Sox.
