The message was sent early and often Tuesday night–and to the point.
The White Sox pounded South Holland native Mark Mulder en route to a 20-6 humbling of Tony La Russa’s St. Louis Cardinals before a festive sellout crowd of 39,463 at U.S. Cellular Field.
For added measure, the Sox didn’t let up–or back down.
Manager Ozzie Guillen and reliever David Riske were ejected in the seventh after Riske nailed Chris Duncan.
That came an inning after a warning was issued to both teams because Cardinals pitcher Sidney Ponson had hit Brian Anderson and Pablo Ozuna in succession with the bases loaded.
“I’ll make it clear,” Guillen said. “My players know what they have to do, when they have to do it and how. I always want to protect my players.”
Guillen, who had expressed his disappointment over warnings and the lack of retaliation by the Sox when catcher A.J. Pierzynski was hit in games against the Los Angeles Angels (April 29), Cleveland (May 1) and Texas (June 14), seemed accepting of any penalty Major League Baseball might levy over Tuesday’s action.
“I respect that,” Guillen said.
Several Sox players said they could hear La Russa yelling at Ponson on the mound after Ponson hit Ozuna to increase the Sox’s lead to 19-2.
La Russa said he believed Ponson, who said he wasn’t trying to hit Anderson and Ozuna.
“I don’t think Riske hit anyone on purpose either,” Guillen said with a straight face.
“It’s tough to say,” Sox first baseman Paul Konerko added. “You would think with the bases loaded, you’re not trying to hit anybody, and those balls might have gotten away from him.
“Obviously, given the score and [hitting] two guys in a row with two fastballs, whether it’s unintentional or not, it looks bad. Even if it wasn’t intentional, it doesn’t look good.”
Riske started the seventh in relief of starter Javier Vazquez (8-4), who was pulled after 97 pitches. Guillen stressed his support for Riske, who made his second appearance since coming in a trade from Boston on Thursday.
Riske, who was suspended for three games last year for hitting Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki with a pitch while with Cleveland, said his plunking of Duncan was accidental.
He also understands he faces a penalty because the incident occurred after plate umpire Mike Everitt issued warnings.
“That’s the bad thing about it,” said Riske, who received an ovation as he left the field.
The Sox (45-25) gave their fans plenty to cheer about.
In winning their fifth consecutive game, they scored 20 runs for the first time since a 20-8 victory over Milwaukee on May 15, 1996.
The 24 hits duplicated their feat of Aug. 9, 2000, and was five short of the team record achieved on April 23, 1955, against Kansas City.
Their 11-run third was their highest run total in an inning since they scored 11 in the seventh inning against Seattle on April 18, 2000.
They collected seven consecutive hits in the third, capped by the first of two Joe Crede home runs that knocked out Mulder (6-5).
Pierzynski hit a three-run homer during the massive rally and Juan Uribe hit a two-run shot off Brad Thompson in the fourth.
The 11-run eruption started with consecutive doubles by Crede and Anderson, who is batting .296 (8-for-27) over his last seven games.
“We’re smart enough to know they’re a better team than that and it’s just a win, whether we won 7-3 or whatever the score was,” Konerko said.
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mgonzales@tribune.com
