4/24/12 GT Sox @ A's 9:05pm, WGN

[TaylorStSox]

Like Fathom said, they wouldn't go with the pitch and rap singles n doubles.

That's really tough to do when the pitcher owns the inside half of the plate. He pitched well. Except it and move on.

[Soxfest]

Uhhh...Milone has been will be really good this year.

Talk to me after his NEXT start!

[greg775]

It's 3-1. You HAVE to think fastball to be successful. If he aces you with an offspeed pitch, there's not much you can do. IF you swing and make weak contact, it'll probably result in an out.

 

He did this the other night with the bases loaded on a 3-2 count. You KNOW it's going to be a fastball right there. The result was a backwards K.

 

He's Adam Dunn. He's going to strike out way way way more than he does anything else.

 

[TaylorStSox]

It's 3-1. You HAVE to think fastball to be successful. If he aces you with an offspeed pitch, there's not much you can do. IF you swing and make weak contact, it'll probably result in an out.

 

He did this the other night with the bases loaded on a 3-2 count. You KNOW it's going to be a fastball right there. The result was a backwards K.

It was a real nice cut. He just missed it. There was absolutely no way he was looking for a breaking ball. No way.

[fathom]

It's 3-1. You HAVE to think fastball to be successful. If he aces you with an offspeed pitch, there's not much you can do. IF you swing and make weak contact, it'll probably result in an out.

 

He did this the other night with the bases loaded on a 3-2 count. You KNOW it's going to be a fastball right there. The result was a backwards K.

 

He's a guess hitter at this stage in his career, it seems. That 2-1 offspeed pitch by Balfour seemed to have changed Dunn's mindset at the plate.

[greg775]

That's really tough to do when the pitcher owns the inside half of the plate. He pitched well. Except it and move on.

 

Well somebody predicted this before the game. Would that poster take a bow?

Somebody said we had no chance against the soft tossing lefty even with Walker far away in Atlanta.

[fathom]

It was a real nice cut. He just missed it. There was absolutely no way he was looking for a breaking ball. No way.

 

The 3-2 pitch, seemed like he was looking inner half.

[TaylorStSox]

He's a guess hitter at this stage in his career, it seems. That 2-1 offspeed pitch by Balfour seemed to have changed Dunn's mindset at the plate.

If you're looking for an offspeed pitch, you don't foul a fastball off like that.

[flavum]

You know the season is still very early when the Indians are in first place.

[fathom]

Well somebody predicted this before the game. Would that poster take a bow?

Somebody said we had no chance against the soft tossing lefty even with Walker far away in Atlanta.

 

Give Milone credit. He didn't miss over the plate with more than a few fastballs all night. He's one of the best rookie pitchers in all of baseball.

[caulfield12]

Remember, the M's just went out and beat Max Scherzer tonight.

 

It happens.

 

Some questionable decisions there with leaving Gavin in and leaving Beckham to be torn apart by a power fastball pitcher...Rios hasn't been hitting for much power this year, so better to go for the tie-game with one at-bat rather than relying on a bunch of hits being strung together.

 

Then again, you get the game to Konerko and he seems to match up very well with Balfour.

 

That pitch Dunn missed...very few major league power hitters are going to put into play. He was trying to turn on it, and the only possible result with a ball in that location would have been going the other way for a double to LF.

 

But he was trying to get 2 runs with one swing there, clearly.

 

Meanwhile, there's a 3-way tie for first place in the AL Central.

 

 

Edited April 25, 2012 by caulfield12

[SoxFan1]

Remember, the M's just went out and beat Max Scherzer tonight.

 

It happens.

 

Some questionable decisions there with leaving Gavin in and leaving Beckham to be torn apart by a power fastball pitcher...Rios hasn't been hitting for much power this year, so better to go for the tie-game with one at-bat rather than relying on a bunch of hits being strung together.

 

Then again, you get the game to Konerko and he seems to match up very well with Balfour.

 

That pitch Dunn missed...very few major league power hitters are going to put into play. He was trying to turn on it, and the only possible result with a ball in that location would have been going the other way for a double to LF.

 

But he was trying to get 2 runs with one swing there, clearly.

The 3-1 or the 3-2? The 3-1 offering should have been pulverized. The 3-2 was a pretty damn good pitch.

[fathom]

If Gavin pitches like he did tonight, things are going to be good this summer. Rather lose 2-0 in this fashion than to lose 10-6 with Gavin getting bombed. Biggest needs for the team right now are getting the 2nd spot in order figured out and getting Viciedo on track.

[TaylorStSox]

The 3-1 or the 3-2? The 3-1 offering should have been pulverized. The 3-2 was a pretty damn good pitch.

It was pulverized. It just went the wrong way.

[Jordan4life_2007]

lol@greg. Are you going to go wild bull-like crazy after every loss?

[caulfield12]

Remember when we had to hope and pray just to take 1 out of 3 at Oakland?

 

It's just one of those games, Millone pitched very well...you can actually tip your cap to him and not be ashamed.

 

Have we gone to the 1927 Yankees in the span of one week where we just win every game merely by showing up?

[greg775]

lol@greg. Are you going to go wild bull-like crazy after every loss?

 

I just hated the offense tonight.

Sox didn't come close to scoring.

Even though Gavin was matching that no-name pitch for pitch, out for out, it seemed obvious Sox would get shut out and Oakland would not.

[Jordan4life_2007]

I just hated the offense tonight.

Sox didn't come close to scoring.

Even though Gavin was matching that no-name pitch for pitch, out for out, it seemed obvious Sox would get shut out and Oakland would not.

 

But you go postal after every loss. Not just tonight.

[greg775]

But you go postal after every loss. Not just tonight.

 

I don't think I do that.

[caulfield12]

I just hated the offense tonight.

Sox didn't come close to scoring.

Even though Gavin was matching that no-name pitch for pitch, out for out, it seemed obvious Sox would get shut out and Oakland would not.

 

 

And that's more often that not what happens on the road in tie games like this.

 

At least Gavin pitched much better than expected and didn't wet the bed.

 

Most of us were't predicting much offense tonight. We don't match up well against Millone types and never have. Then again, there are a lot of teams that can beat the 4-5-spot starters of a rotation but have zero luck against the frontline pitchers.

 

Greg, are you going to say that A's fans tmrw should be embarassed to lose to Chris Sale because he's a no-name pitcher to a lot of West Coast fans or non-baseball addicts. Or just because Millone throws at a velocity closer to Buehrle than Sale?

 

Shouldn't all those teams that have lost to Buehrle over the years feel ashamed and embarassed too? They have somewhat similar approaches as pitchers.

 

So why is Mark Buehrle great but Millone is garbage?

 

Just because you'd never heard of him before tonight doesn't mean he's not a good prospect. Look at the other games he's pitched before tonight. Colon hadn't lost a game, either.

Edited April 25, 2012 by caulfield12

[witesoxfan]

It was pulverized. It just went the wrong way.

 

Wasn't pulverized, but had he squared it up, it would have been, so I know what you mean. That really seemed like the only pitch all game that the Sox had a chance to legitimately score, and it would have gone over the fence had it worked out.

 

The only thing I really questioned the entire game was leaving Gavin out for the 8th, but at the same time you really want a righty out there against Hughes because he kills lefties, so you pick your poison. Or you use Ohman to get out a weak hitter in Daric Barton and then bring in Crain or Reed to face Hughes and Kaaihue. Using a hit and run in the top of the 8th instead of a straight steal with Morel would have been interesting too and, worst case scenario and Beckham misses, you're left with the same scenario in the top of the 9th.

 

Going Fukudome and Dunn was great and was something I haven't seen from a White Sox manager in a long, long time. There's no way you would have seen a pinch hitter for the #3 hitter, especially when he's been going pretty well, but it was absolutely the right call to make. Dunn missed the one pitch during the entire sequence that he could have parked. Not much more you can do.

 

Milone did pitch really well too. With a soft tossing lefty like that, you need to take control of the inner half of the plate when he comes in, and they couldn't do that because he was locating so well. He was mixing up his pitches, keeping the ball down in the zone, and throwing first pitch strikes pretty much all night. I don't care how hard you throw, not many teams are going to be able to hit that.

[Jordan4life_2007]

I don't think I do that.

 

But you do. Just look back at the gamethreads from the Orioles series.

[TaylorStSox]

Wasn't pulverized, but had he squared it up, it would have been, so I know what you mean. That really seemed like the only pitch all game that the Sox had a chance to legitimately score, and it would have gone over the fence had it worked out.

 

The only thing I really questioned the entire game was leaving Gavin out for the 8th, but at the same time you really want a righty out there against Hughes because he kills lefties, so you pick your poison. Or you use Ohman to get out a weak hitter in Daric Barton and then bring in Crain or Reed to face Hughes and Kaaihue. Using a hit and run in the top of the 8th instead of a straight steal with Morel would have been interesting too and, worst case scenario and Beckham misses, you're left with the same scenario in the top of the 9th.

 

Going Fukudome and Dunn was great and was something I haven't seen from a White Sox manager in a long, long time. There's no way you would have seen a pinch hitter for the #3 hitter, especially when he's been going pretty well, but it was absolutely the right call to make. Dunn missed the one pitch during the entire sequence that he could have parked. Not much more you can do.

 

Milone did pitch really well too. With a soft tossing lefty like that, you need to take control of the inner half of the plate when he comes in, and they couldn't do that because he was locating so well. He was mixing up his pitches, keeping the ball down in the zone, and throwing first pitch strikes pretty much all night. I don't care how hard you throw, not many teams are going to be able to hit that.

Buy this man a beer!

[witesoxfan]

I just hated the offense tonight.

Sox didn't come close to scoring.

Even though Gavin was matching that no-name pitch for pitch, out for out, it seemed obvious Sox would get shut out and Oakland would not.

 

There wasn't a hell of a lot anyone was going to do against Milone with the way he was throwing.

 

Oh, and BTW, this no name pitcher had an ERA of 3.05 and WHIP of 1.14 in 516 career minor league innings. And the past two years have been better, to the tune of a 3.03 ERA and 1.10 WHIP with a K/9 of 9.1 and BB/9 of 1.2. He doesn't allow homers either. He's a good pitcher. Not a world beater, but I would definitely say his upside is that of a #2-3 starting pitcher.

[Balta1701]

2 straight Morel games with a hit and 0 K!