Heads22 Posted May 26, 2003 Share Posted May 26, 2003 http://whitesox.theinsiders.com/2/112668.html May 26, 2003 by Alex Ernst Soxnet.net Series Preview: Toronto Blue Jays By Alex Ernst Date: May 26, 2003 Opponent: Toronto Blue Jays Record: 27-24, .529, 4 GB (AL East) Place: SkyDome Time & TV: Game 1: 7:05 p.m. (Fox Sports Chi./ESPN2); Game 2: 7:05 p.m. (Fox Sports Chi.); Game 3: 7:05 p.m. (Fox Sports Chi.); Game 4: 7:05 p.m. (WCIU) 2002 Record vs Sox: 2-4 2003 Record vs Sox: 1-2 THE LATEST The Toronto Blue Jays are the hottest team in baseball. They have 17 wins in their last 23 games, but a pair of those losses have come at the hands of the Chicago White Sox. The Jays are hitting a scorching .291 from the dish. They are led by Carlos Delgado (.326) and Sox-killer Frank Catalanotto (.319) at the plate. The Blue Jays lead the AL in runs, OBP, OPS, hits and RBI, but also lead the AL in strikeouts. The pitching rotation is led by Roy Halladay (5-2, 4.36), and the bullpen is headed by Doug Linton and Cliff Politte (8 SV). The Jays lead the league in hits allowed and have not yet pitched a shutout. Toronto is also tied for the lowest fielding percentage in the AL. WHO'S HOT (Last 7 Days) Carlos Delgado, 1B: .370, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 4 2B, 7 R --Delgado has been on one heck of a tear. He has been a free-swinger lately, and he has not missed. His hot hitting over the last seven days has put him in the league lead for home runs, RBI, walks, OBP, and OPS. WHO'S NOT (Last 7 Days) Chris Woodward, SS: .077, 1 hit in 13 at-bats, 6 K?s --Woodward has been hampered by a sore shoulder as of late, and he was one of the few non-producers in the Toronto sweep of the New York Yankees. PITCHING PROBABLES Game #1: Mark Buehrle (2-7, 5.19, 29 K) vs. Mark Hendrickson (4-4, 5.37, 25 K) --Hendrickson has been one of Toronto?s most dependable starters as of late, holding opponents to four runs or less in each of his last four starts. However, opponents are batting .309 off of him, and his strikeout numbers have steadily decreased since striking out seven against the Minnesota Twins. Game #2: Bartolo Colon (5-3, 3.61, 45 K) vs. Roy Halladay (5-2, 4.36, 57 K) --Halladay was the Blue Jay ace coming into this year, and has proved so far that he can be a consistent starter. He leads the Jays in strikeouts, and has went seven innings or more in his last five starts, and in seven of his eleven starts. Halladay, however, has been prone to the longball. He has also given up two or more runs in every start. Game #3: Jon Garland (2-4, 5.70, 22 K) vs. Kelvim Escobar (2-1, 6.04, 30 K) --Escobar has been moved all over the Jays staff. He received his first win as a starter on May 23rd against the Yankees, and he also has four saves. Opponents are batting .299 against Escobar, and he has steadily lowered his ERA since the beginning of the season. He is 1-0 with one save and an ERA of 1.20 in May. Game #4: Esteban Loaiza (7-2, 1.92, 53 K) vs. Cory Lidle (8-2, 4.42, 50 K) --Sox-killer Cory Lidle has been Toronto?s hottest pitcher this year, and he now leads the AL in wins with eight. He has won his last six decisions and has lowered his ERA from above six. In his last two starts he has pitched 17 innings, only giving up 4 runs. He is starting to give up home runs again, and has allowed numerous runs in every start. If the Sox can get another strong performance from Loaiza, Lidle can be beat. KEY TO THE SERIES Hit the damn ball. The Sox have had good pitching performances wasted against the Detroit Tigers because they could not get the bat on the ball. If the Sox can just manufacture some runs, they can come out of this series with a win or a split. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted May 27, 2003 Share Posted May 27, 2003 Well game one we hit the damn ball, too bad we couldn't field the damn ball, we would have won a game! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BayAreaSox Posted May 27, 2003 Share Posted May 27, 2003 Defense hurt 'em last night, not hitting...too bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted May 27, 2003 Share Posted May 27, 2003 Defense hurt 'em last night, not hitting...too bad. Welcome aboard. I agree with you. This team just is so poor fundementally that so many things can stop their momentum and that is not a sign of a team that can put together a huge winning streak. I am starting to think I was very biased early in the season. The funny thing is the two questionmarks I had were Jimenez at the top of the order and our catching situation. Both of those areas have exceeded my expectations. If someone were to tell me Jimenez had the 3rd highest obp of leadoff hitters and Olivo and Alomar were playing like they were, I'd of said that we were in first place by a long shot. And if you added to the fact that Loaiza was 7-1 all I would say is wow. The only questionmark not answered was centerfield. The bullpen has been fine, minus Rick White, although Sanders and Glover could be better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted May 27, 2003 Share Posted May 27, 2003 Using the kick in the ass theory we should win this one (game 2). Colon has been pitching well and there is no way we could commit 4 errors tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTC2784 Posted May 28, 2003 Share Posted May 28, 2003 Using the kick in the ass theory we should win this one (game 2). Colon has been pitching well and there is no way we could commit 4 errors tonight. We forgot to account for the fact that we've had our offensive outburst for the week in Game 1... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beebeerichards Posted May 28, 2003 Share Posted May 28, 2003 Good thing we threw our top two guys in the first two games so we could really get down for the rest of it. How low do we have to go before some changes are made? Can you imagine where we would be without Loz? Can you say Cleveland? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTC2784 Posted May 28, 2003 Share Posted May 28, 2003 Good thing we threw our top two guys in the first two games so we could really get down for the rest of it. How low do we have to go before some changes are made? Can you imagine where we would be without Loz? Can you say Cleveland? Well, without Colon's 5 wins and Loaiza's 7 wins... that'd leave the Sox with 11 wins. The Tigers have 13. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beebeerichards Posted May 28, 2003 Share Posted May 28, 2003 That's frightening! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.