Jose Contreras has been very appreciative of the numerous times the White Sox kept his franchise-record streak alive, but not even a dramatic ninth-inning rally Friday night could prevent his first loss in his last 18 decisions.
A three-run eighth-inning rally off Contreras and three relievers left the Sox without enough time to take him off the hook. Still, they did manage two runs and moved the tying run to third base before formidable closer Mariano Rivera retired A.J. Pierzynski on a fly to cap a nine-pitch at-bat and a 6-5 loss to the New York Yankees.
“We wanted to win,” said Pierzynski, who fouled off seven consecutive pitches. “This was not about getting Jose off the hook. We had a chance.”
But the Sox came up just short on offense and on the mound as Contreras lost for the first time since Aug. 15, 2005, against Minnesota. Contreras (9-1) started his streak with a victory over the Yankees–his former team–on Aug. 21, 2005, and was 17-0 in 24 starts before suffering the loss.
“It was just another team,” Contreras said of the significance of having his streak snapped against his former team. “It doesn’t matter if it’s the Yankees or anyone else.”
Contreras, who threw 114 pitches and walked a season-high five in six innings in his last start Sunday against Boston, needed 97 pitches to get through seven innings. But Alex Rodriguez hit a single to start the eighth and manager Ozzie Guillen replaced Contreras with Matt Thornton.
Thornton yielded a soft single to Jorge Posada and a walk to Bernie Williams to load the bases.
The Yankees snapped the 3-3 tie on Melky Cabrera’s single and Johnny Damon’s two-run double off Neal Cotts.
“That’s one of those unfair losses–he pitches to one guy in the eighth and he ends up scoring,” Yankees manager Joe Torre said. “But you knew it had to end, sooner or later.”
The Sox, however, didn’t quit despite the presence of Rivera, who earned his 399th career save the hard way.
“We don’t lay down at any point, no matter what the score is,” Paul Konerko said. “This is the M.O. of this team.”
Jim Thome, Konerko and Jermaine Dye, who were a combined 4-for-27 off Rivera, all hit singles to load the bases in the ninth.
Scott Podsednik, who entered the game as a defensive replacement in the eighth, hit an RBI groundout and Juan Uribe’s sacrifice fly closed the Sox’s deficit to one.
After taking the first pitch for a ball, Pierzynski realized he had to swing at any pitch close.
“Not only does he throw the cutter at 95 (m.p.h.), he puts it in a spot [where] you ask the umpire and he says it’s a strike. You have to swing at it,” Pierzynski said. “You can’t do anything with it. You just break your bat.”
The Sox took a 2-0 lead in the second on Joe Crede’s two-run homer off Randy Johnson, but Johnson retired the next 11.
Complicating matters for the Sox was that Crede had to leave the game in the eighth, one inning after a Johnson slider nailed him in the right calf.
Guillen didn’t believe Crede would be able healthy enough to start Saturday.
– Pierzynski’s appeal of a $2,000 fine resulted in the fine being reduced Friday to $250, but Pierzynski expressed disappointment that Major League Baseball chief disciplinarian Bob Watson unsuccessfully tried to penalize him for his actions a day after the Cubs’ Michael Barrett punched him.
“The thing that bothered me was that during the (June 30) hearing, Bob Watson said I was fined for things that happened the next day (May 21),” Pierzynski said. “For trying to bunt (after hitting a home run off Carlos Zambrano), for trying to slide too hard to break up a double play the next day. That was the thing that bothered me more than anything during the appeal on the phone. He said I was fined for the way I played. . . . How can they justify that?”
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mgonzales@tribune.com
