They eliminated World Series champion Boston with a three-game sweep in the American League Division Series.
They surged through the AL Championship Series with four consecutive complete-game victories after dropping the opener.
On Tuesday night, the White Sox can add a bigger notch to their championship belt. They’ll face Houston’s formidable Roy Oswalt in Game 3 of the best-of-seven World Series before an anticipated sellout crowd at Minute Maid Park. A victory would put the Sox up 3-0.
Beating Oswalt, who won 20 games for the second consecutive season and is 3-0 with a 2.11 ERA in this year’s playoffs, could add more spice to the Sox’s memorable late-season run.
“It would mean a lot,” right fielder Jermaine Dye said Monday after a workout in sunny but brisk conditions.
“We already faced two of the best pitchers in baseball [in Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte]. It means a lot. Our main thing on the road is score early, take the crowd out of it and let our pitchers go out there and pitch.”
The Sox haven’t placed the champagne on ice yet, but a Game 3 victory would virtually clinch their first world championship since 1917.
Clemens’ strained left hamstring makes his status uncertain if the Series goes to Game 5, and the Astros have relied heavily on their pitching despite playing in hitter-friendly Minute Maid Park, where they posted a 53-28 record during the regular season.
Dye even received a message from St. Louis left-hander and former Oakland teammate Mark Mulder, who offered a scouting report on the Astros’ hitters.
But aside from an occasional break, the Sox enjoy taking care of their own business.
“I like the way we’re playing,” said first baseman Paul Konerko, who was still answering questions about his dramatic grand slam in Game 2, which was later upstaged by Scott Podsednik’s ninth-inning walk-off home run that gave the Sox a 2-0 Series lead.
“I feel like we’re getting the best of what we have. It remains to be seen whether it’s enough to be world champions. But I see our team playing the way we played during the regular season.
“We’re loose. We’re not intimidated by the World Series. We’re playing our game, and guys are doing what they should.”
As much as the Sox tried to turn the page on their dramatic Game 2 victory, they were asked constantly about the heroics. Konerko acknowledged it hadn’t sunk in that he was only the 18th player to hit a grand slam in the World Series.
“Everyone watches the World Series,” he said. “I’ve watched it every year since I remember. But I don’t think of things on a grand scale as you do when you’re playing. Just playing the game like you do all year, and then when it’s brought to your attention …”
The Sox will have enough on their minds after seizing two close victories at home, especially with Oswalt on the mound.
“As tough as those two games were, the three in their park are going to be even tougher,” said Konerko, who didn’t play in an exhibition game here in 2003.
“I heard this place is tough to play in, and we’re going up against the hottest guy going right now. We have to find a way to win, and we don’t want to bring [the Series] back to Chicago. We want to [win] it here.”
Jon Garland, who will be pitching for the first time since beating the Los Angeles Angels in the ALCS on Oct. 14, is unfazed by the 19-foot left-field wall that is 315 feet from home plate or the 362-foot power alley in left-center.
“It’s one of those things where you might have to keep away from some of the lefties and some of the righties, pulling down there in the corner with the short porches there,” Garland said.
As ominous as the thought of facing Oswalt before an anticipated raucous crowd may seem, the Sox seem ready to dispel allegations that they have won by sheer luck.
“We don’t care,” center fielder Aaron Rowand said. “If anyone wants to talk about breaks, it happens to every team that’s ever won. I think it’s everyone else making a big deal about it. We’re worried about trying to push runs across.”
Said Podsednik: “We’ve definitely gotten breaks this postseason. Good teams take advantage of them. But we’ve made plays when called upon. Somebody big has stepped up.
“We’ve gotten some big hits from our big man, Konerko, and our pitching has been phenomenal.
“Everything is coming together.”
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mgonzales@tribune.com
