5/3/11 GT: SOX vs. Indians - 7:10p CDT - WCIU

[knightni]

http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/mlb/gameda...ew&c_id=cws

 

Indians (12-10) vs White Sox (12-12)

 

Thursday 5/3, 8:10 PM ET at U.S. Cellular Field

Radio: CLE: WTAM 1100 CWS: WSCR 670, 97.5 ESPN Deportes

TV: CLE: STO, MLBN CWS: WCIU, MLBN

Rolling on road, Tribe faces White Sox in finale

 

By Tyler Emerick / MLB.com | 5/2/2012 11:52 PM ET

 

Despite pitching well enough to win in his first and most recent starts of the season, Indians hurler Justin Masterson is still looking for his first victory of the year.

 

He will try to remove the zero from his line Thursday when the Indians go for their fourth straight road series win to start the season, a feat the club hasn't accomplished since 1961.

 

The Tribe is 8-3 away from home this season.

 

On April 5, Masterson threw eight innings and gave up one run to the Blue Jays but received a no-decision. On Sunday, he held the Angels to two runs over 8 1/3 innings but again didn't factor into the decision.

 

"We had a lot of opportunities offensively and they stayed in the game," Masterson said after the game. "Our guys did great scoring a couple more runs to tie it up."

 

Trying to help Masterson get that elusive first win will be new Indians outfielder Johnny Damon.

 

He went 0-for-3 with a walk in his debut on Wednesday before being taken out in the sixth inning because of cramping.

 

Going for the White Sox will be John Danks, who had an April to forget, posting a 6.23 ERA while giving up a team-high 31 hits and 15 walks over 30 1/3 innings.

 

In his last start, Danks took the loss against Boston, allowing seven runs on six hits. He has allowed a home run in four of his five starts this season.

 

Despite the negative results, Danks isn't feeling any pressure from signing a five-year, $65 million deal during the offseason.

 

"I haven't even thought about it. It never comes up. It's a non-issue," Danks said. "I obviously understand the questions and what not, but that hasn't been the issue one time."

 

The main issue for Danks this season is finding consistency in his pitches throughout an outing.

 

"Everything is kind of coming and going," he said. "We've been working hard and doing the things we need to do. But I would like to start seeing some results."

White Sox: Peavy AL's best April pitcher

 

After going 3-1 with a 1.67 ERA, 33 strikeouts, two complete games and one shutout during the opening month, Jake Peavy was voted the American League Pitcher of the Month for April on Wednesday.

 

He has won the award four times before, including three times in 2007 when he won the National League Cy Young Award.

 

"It's certainly exciting to be back healthy and doing what I had done before getting here," Peavy said. "That's something I feel blessed to be able to do. But at the same time, one month doesn't prove anything. It shows, hopefully, I'm healthy and can put together a few more like this one and call it a good year."

 

Indians: Brantley adjusting to Damon

 

With Damon now in the mix, leadoff hitter Michael Brantley will share his spot in the batting order with the veteran.

 

On Wednesday, Brantley hit seventh and Damon batted first. Despite the changes, Brantley is happy to have the 38-year-old around.

 

"He's phenomenal," Brantley said. "He's just a class-act person. He's already taking young guys in and teaching them some things. We were talking about different situations already. He's a pleasure to have."

 

Worth noting

 

• The Indians' bullpen has tossed 15 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings over the club's last six games.

 

• Paul Konerko needs one hit to move past Eddie Collins (2,007) into sole possession of fourth place in White Sox history.

[fathom]

Fukudome and Escobar playing, Morel/Viciedo sitting

[flavum]

10 game winning streak starts tonight. Enjoy it.

[southsider2k5]

Daryl Van Schouwen ‏ @CST_soxvan

 

Tribe@Sox 7:10, Ch.26; DeAza cf,Ramirez ss,Dunn dh, Knrko 1b,Przynski c,Rios rf,Fukudome lf,Beckham 2b,Escobar 3b; Masterson v Danks

[Balta1701]

Find that changeup, Johnny!

[lasttriptotulsa]

Man there's been an over abundance of games on WCIU all ready this year.

[jeffro2525]

Danks really needs to step up and give the Sox 7-8 good innings tonight. The few arms that we do trust coming out of the pen need to be well rested heading into Detroit this weekend.

 

GO SOX

 

[southsider2k5]

Hopefully he gets things figured out tonight. He has had no control this year. Danks has got to get the ball down, and in the zone.

[LittleHurt05]

Earn that $15 million tonight Danks!

[caulfield12]

This is the one game all year I'd be tempted to bet against the Sox because of Masterson's recent dominance against us...and Danks' trend line this season.

 

Of course, that probably means a blowout White Sox victory, but is sure feels going in with CLE playing so well on the road, us the opposite at home, the pitching match-ups, the presence of Escobar in the line-up....but that's why betting on baseball is silly, when you THINK you know something and all the signs and indicators are going in one direction, the opposite happens just as frequently.

 

[The Ginger Kid]

they should cancel it now and save folks the trip to the park

[NorthSideSox72]

This is the one game all year I'd be tempted to bet against the Sox because of Masterson's recent dominance against us...and Danks' trend line this season.

 

Of course, that probably means a blowout White Sox victory, but is sure feels going in with CLE playing so well on the road, us the opposite at home, the pitching match-ups, the presence of Escobar in the line-up....but that's why betting on baseball is silly, when you THINK you know something and all the signs and indicators are going in one direction, the opposite happens just as frequently.

um... the Sox beat Masterson the last time they faced him, earlier this year. He went 5 innings, gave up 5 runs (3 earned). Of what recent dominance do you speak?

 

Also, Masterson has just not been himself most of this year. His fisrt outing was good, and so was his last one, but the 3 between were pretty bad. And even his most recent outing, it looks like he got a little lucky - he walked 5 guys, but only managed to give up 2 runs (to a LAA team that has been struggling).

 

 

 

[jeffro2525]

um... the Sox beat Masterson the last time they faced him, earlier this year. He went 5 innings, gave up 5 runs (3 earned). Of what recent dominance do you speak?

 

He speaks of every Masterson start vs. the White Sox besides the last one. He's owned us for a while.

 

8/18/11 6.0 innings 2 ER, 7 hits

7/24/11 7.0 innings 1 ER, 4 hits

5/18/11 8.0 innings 1 ER, 5 hits

4/3/11 7.0 innings 1 ER, 7 hits

8/31/10 7.2 innings 1 ER, 4 hits

7/4/10 5.2 innings 1 ER, 5 hits

 

Do I need to continue?

Edited May 3, 2012 by jeffro2525

[NorthSideSox72]

He speaks of every Masterson start vs. the White Sox besides the last one. He's owned us for a while.

Kind of useless to me then. Look at the lineup today. De Aza, the-new-Dunn (who went 2-for-3 against him last time), Escobar, Fukudome... none of these guys were around last year. Then there is the new version of Rios. And the guys who HAVE seen a lot of him are guys like Paulie (who is hitting very well this year and went 2-2 +BB against him last time, and hit him hard in 2011) and AJP (who also went 2-2 against him last time, and is hitting over .300 against him the last few years).

 

Basically, looking at previous years are kind of pointless in this case, other than Beckham and Ramirez (who have indeed been bad against him - they were both o-fer-2011).

[ILMOU]

Fukudome and Escobar playing, Morel/Viciedo sitting

 

If Dome can't hit in April, might as well DFA him. I hate that he's taking AB's from DV, regardless of the matchup.

 

I just hope this is a final-or soon-to-be-final chance for him to show something.

[elrockinMT]

Find that changeup, Johnny!

 

 

I want to see Mr Danks step up tonight. He has been so inconsistent so far and allows too many walks and homers. I think tonight he finds the way and changes all that up

Edited May 3, 2012 by elrockinMT

[jeffro2525]

Kind of useless to me then. Look at the lineup today. De Aza, the-new-Dunn (who went 2-for-3 against him last time), Escobar, Fukudome... none of these guys were around last year. Then there is the new version of Rios. And the guys who HAVE seen a lot of him are guys like Paulie (who is hitting very well this year and went 2-2 +BB against him last time, and hit him hard in 2011) and AJP (who also went 2-2 against him last time, and is hitting over .300 against him the last few years).

 

Basically, looking at previous years are kind of pointless in this case, other than Beckham and Ramirez (who have indeed been bad against him - they were both o-fer-2011).

 

Simply stating that he HAS had the Sox number over the last couple of seasons...we can twist it any way we want. If the Sox win tonight we are much more likely to see a 3-2 win than a 10-6 one like last time.

[South Side Fireworks Man]

Fukudome and Escobar playing, Morel/Viciedo sitting

I'd rather it was Beckham sitting instead of Morel.

[BigEdWalsh]

If Dome can't hit in April, might as well DFA him. I hate that he's taking AB's from DV, regardless of the matchup.

 

I just hope this is a final-or soon-to-be-final chance for him to show something.

Finally. I've heard so much about what a great hitter he is early in the season. Well, he was pretty atrocious in spring training and not much better so far in the season. He needs to go. I'd rather have Jordan Danks.

[ScottyDo]

I'd rather it was Beckham sitting instead of Morel.

Why's that? Beckham's had a small burst of success

[South Side Fireworks Man]

Why's that? Beckham's had a small burst of success

Very small, like one game two nights ago. He sucked last night.

[caulfield12]

It's not like we're facing Johan Santana or CC Sabathia or Liriano when he was dominant.

 

Masterson's not that good. Just stating the fact that he was very very good against us in 2011.

 

And the fact that Rios, AJ and Konerko have all cooled off in the last 3-5 games, at least compared to where they were a week ago.

 

 

So I'll just say this, score 4 runs, we win (hopefully). The problem is you can't really feel confident that Danks will give us a quality start, EXCEPT for the fact there are so many LH hitters on that roster.

[Cali]

Hey Johnny... look at your most recent pay stub and, ya know, pitch like you deserve it....

 

I think it's safe to say if John is not cracking 90 on his fastball tonight he's gonna get lit up. I think it would also be safe to say he should get an MRI if he's not cracking 90. It would be one hell of a "dead arm" period for this to still be the issue. Maybe the White Sox can pull a Boston and put John on the DL for "Shoulder Discomfort" but really for "Sucking" like they'd do with Matsusaka....

[Dick Allen]

I'd rather it was Beckham sitting instead of Morel.

Why is that? I don't understand the Morel over Beckham people at all. As bad as Beckham has been this year, he has looked a lot better at the plate than Morel. Morel is younger, a whole 7 months, but has had one good month at the major league level. Beckham had a nice stretch in 2009 and the second half of 2010.

 

Defensively, its a wash at best for the Morel people. I guess my thinking is if you think Beckham is garbage, don't you have to think the same of Morel?

[Baron]

Why is that? I don't understand the Morel over Beckham people at all. As bad as Beckham has been this year, he has looked a lot better at the plate than Morel. Morel is younger, a whole 7 months, but has had one good month at the major league level. Beckham had a nice stretch in 2009 and the second half of 2010.

 

Defensively, its a wash at best for the Morel people. I guess my thinking is if you think Beckham is garbage, don't you have to think the same of Morel?

 

Yeah I dont understand it either. Sure Gordon didnt play all that well last night. But atleast we saw signs of life with him. Remember More's last 2 at bats? Take fastball up the middle then swing at everything out of the zone. He was up 3-0 and didnt swing on 2 pitches up the middle. Last one he swung at was out of the zone.

 

He is just completely lost right now.