ALCS Game 2
The White Sox can still conceivably pick up a win here in Detroit to give them the advantage in this playoff series. Of course, it'll be tough but it was always going to be tough. Chris Messina (13-19, 3.41) goes against Bruce Rubio (14-13, 3.39) in this matchup of guys with really average records given their team's overall record. Messina's a 10 year vet who uses his guile and a nasty forkball to get outs. He's also pretty solid at not making big mistakes with just 20 HRs allowed in the past 2 seasons combined. Bruce Rubio is a 25 year old who maybe still hasn't hit the top of his potential but already mixes in 6 pitches he can throw at any time. It's clear skies, 51 degrees, and the wind blowing in from the right at 10 mph today.
Top 1st: SS John Johnson leads things off with a little chopper back to the mound that gets in for a base hit. It's like he planned it! Hatoyama singles back through the box to put on some early pressure. Josh Wade hits one to SS Rob Curran, who fires to 2nd but Hatoyama is able to upend Joey Ramone before he can make the pivot to first base. Johnson moves up to 3rd so we've got runners on the corners with 1 out. 1B Jeff Nation smashes one past 3B Joe Theismann for a RBI single! 1-0! Maccioli flies to center. Peabo Bryson, hitless in game one, belts one DEEP to right field! It's going back! It's going way back! It is gone! a 3-run homerun for the Chicago left fielder! 4-0! Hopka grounds out 5-3 to retire the side. 4-0, White Sox, and oh boy does Rubio wish he could have that pitch back.
Bottom 1st: Romero flies to left. Faison flies to center. Ramone strikes out swinging. 4-0, White Sox.
Top 2nd: CF Alan Parsons grounds out to short. C Chris Flores hits one towards the 2nd base bag that looks like a single but SS Rob Curran dives for it, gets up, and throws Flores out at first! Johnson flies to left. 4-0, White Sox.
Bottom 2nd: DH Jose Ayala fights off a 1-2 pitch but only pops it up to short right field where 2B Chance Hopka makes a play on it for 1 out. 1B Niki Lauda strikes out swinging. 3B Joe Theismann grounds out to 2nd. 4-0, White Sox.
Top 3rd: Hatoyama flies to short center. Wade bloops a single into right. Nation grounds to third and gets the force at 2nd but once more the runner breaks up the double play. And that turns out to mean a lot because Brian Maccioli hits one the other way for a 2-run homerun! 6-0, White Sox! Bryson flies out to left. 6-0, Chisox.
Bottom 3rd: The Tigers have their work cut out for them but hey, die by the homerun, live by the homerun. LF Danny Hohman grounds to 1st base unassisted. C Armando Flores, who was just 3-31 this year against the Sox, walks. Rob Curran hits a smash towards the hole at short, where John Johnson makes a diving grab for it... but his throw to 2nd is off line and everyone's safe! Score that one an error. Alvin Romero gets Detroit's first hit all game long, a screamer down the right field line that turns into a double! 6-1! Rob Curran comes around and tries to score... and he's cut down! Moreno stays at 2nd on the play but if anyone can steal 3rd it's this man. He stays on his bag though and Frankie Faison hits a 3-2 pitch to 2nd base for a 4-3 grounder to end the inning. 6-1, White Sox.
Top 4th: Hopka grounds out 6-3. Parsons grounds out 4-3. Rubio did score a 52% groundball rate this year, the highest of his 3 year career, which probably did cut down on the HRs... well, until today. Flores knocks a base hit past 1B Niki Lauda and into right field. Johnson hits one into left that looked like trouble off the bad but hangs up and is caught by Danny Hohman for the easy out. 6-1, White Sox.
Bottom 4th: Joey Ramone leads it off by hitting a grounder towards first that tests Jeff Nation. He lets it go by and it's a leadoff single to right. Jose Ayala is hit by a pitch! Messina only hit 3 guys this year; usually he's pretty good with that. Niki Lauda slaps a base hit into right. Joey Ramone's going to score from 2nd base! 6-2 with runners at first and second and nobody out. Theismann walks on 7 pitches to drunken up the sacks. Danny Hohman hits a short popup on the right side of the infield that 2B Chance Hopka catches just this side of the first base line. Flores hits a grounder right at SS John Johnson who induces an inning-ending, rally-killing 6-4-3 double play. 6-2, White Sox.
Top 5th: Hatoyama grounds out 6-3. Wade flies to left. Jeff Nation flies out the other way to right. 6-2, White Sox.
Bottom 5th: Curran draws a leadoff walk. That's the 3rd walk issued by Messina and the 4th man he's allowed on base through his own wildness if you count the hit batsman last inning. He's usually a bit better with the control but a. Detroit and b. these veteran slopballers have to nibble to survive and sometimes they miss. Romero drives one into center field for a base hit, Curran taking 2nd. Make it a walk and two base hits, as Frankie Faison gets his first base knock of the night with a single to right. Joey Ramone makes it three straight hits! Rob Curran scores but Alvin Romero sticks at 3rd base; CF Alan Parsons caught up to the ball too quickly and the team's down by too many runs to waste a rally on the basepaths. With the bases still loaded, Jose Ayala hits what looks like an easy fly out to center... but Alan Parsons loses track of it and it drops in front of him for the bloopiest blooper that ever bloopered! 6-4 and the bases are still loaded up! Messina's up to 83 pitches but maaan I can't pull my starter just yet, can I? Niki Lauda hits a spinner back to the mound where Messina goes home for the 1-2 force. They aren't able to get the ball to 1st for the double play though. Theismann grounds to shortstop and Josh Johnson is once more able to prevent the run with a force play at home! Danny Hohman knocks one to the wall in left-center! Ayala will score! Lauda will score! Theismann will score without a throw! And Danny Hohman slides into 3rd with a bases-clearing triple! 7-6, Tigers! Can you believe it???
All right, *that* is going to be it for Messina. I thought he was going to get out of that jam but I guess not... instead, in comes long reliever Rich Whetzel (4-18, 4.27). Whetzel spent most of the year with the last-place Twins so I'd say that record is worse than it looks but he was 1-4, 5.03 with the Sox including 0-2, 7.27 in September when they could have really used another viable starter. He's mopping up now but the White Sox could definitely stand to avoid more damage. Armando Flores does not oblige; he hits a single to left to score Hohman. 8-6! Curran grounds out to 2nd to finally end this one. 8-6, Tigers, after a 6-run 5th!
Top 6th: Bruce Rubio's been pitching to contact this game so in spite of 6 runs and 7 hits allowed he's only thrown 53 pitches so far. He gets his very first strikeout of the game on Brian Maccioli to lead it off. Peabo Bryson flies to center. Chance Hopka hits one towards Rob Curran at short. The ball hits a pebble and Curran misplays it for an error. No matter, as it just gives Rubio a chance to get his 2nd strikeout, this time looking off of Alan Parsons. 8-6, Tigers.
Bottom 6th: Whetzel stays in to face Alvin Romero and he gets the speedy speed demon to strike out. Faison flies out to center. Ramone goes down 6-3 for the 1-2-3 6th. 8-6, Tigers.
Top 7th: Rubio's still in there because after all he really only made 2 bad mistakes, right? Flores goes down 5-3. Johnson grounds out to short. Hatoyama hits an "atom" ball right at SS Rob Curran for out #3. 8-6, Tigers.
Bottom 7th: Ayala flies to right. Lauda hits one the other way into left field for a one-out base hit. Theismann strikes out; that's Rich Whetzel's 2nd of the day. He maintained a kind of bad 81/77 K/W ratio in the regular season (over 173 IP). Hohman strikes out looking and Whetzel's been surprisingly good in long relief. 8-6, Tigers.
Top 8th: Rubio's still only up to 76 pitches and let's be honest, the White Sox lineup sans Alice Cooper is not exactly scary. He'll remain in the game. Josh Wade lines out to first base. Jeff Nation strikes out looking on a knuckle curve. Is Rubio actually getting stronger? Maccioli grounds out to third base. 8-6, Tigers.
Bottom 8th: Whetzel did his job and it's time to bring in Damian Seja (4-1, 2.03) to make his first ever postseason appearance. Seja pitched in 17 games, starting 5, and did a great job of pitching to contact with 17 walks and 15 Ks in 44.1 IP. Flores flies out to left field. Rob Curran will stay in the game since Seja's a righty. He flies out to center. Romero grounds out 3-1. 8-6, Tigers, and it's hold onto your butts time!
Top 9th: This isn't like the ideal complete game situation but a. Rubio's still only thrown 87 pitches and b. we just used Jim Marceau for 2 innings last night, so in he stays. Peabo Bryson hits an 0-2 knuckle curve juuuust past a diving Joe Theismann at third and into left field for a leadoff base hit. Now Chance Hopka, representing the tying run, is lifted for PH Patrick Tambay. He also makes contact with a 2 strike pitch and bloops it into left for a base hit. 1st and 2nd, nobody out.
And we're pulling in lefty specialist Simon Crean (2-0, 2.88). Crean is a 24 year old who started the season in AAA Toledo but earned a callup with a 1.92 ERA in 16 starts. He's... not an ideal choice as a LOOGY given that his arsenal includes both a circle change and a screwball, but you can't argue with the results. Crean gets to 0-2 on Alan Parsons and then throws one past C Armando Flores and all the way to the backstop. The tying run's in scoring position! However, he strikes out Parsons on the very next pitch for one out. Little-used SS Chris Morgan (.333, 0, 0) comes in for the catcher next and is promptly walked.
Tired or no, we've got to bring in Jim Marceau again. He'll face Josh Johnson, who's 1-4 with a run scored tonight and 0-5 lifetime vs Marceau. The Tigers trade the run for the out, getting a 4-6 force at 2nd while Peabo Bryson scores. 8-7 but we're one out away! With a 3-2 count Yukio Hatoyama swings at ball four and it's over!
For the 2nd straight game the Tigers have to battle back from a deficit to win a close one at home. But hey, it's the W that counts, right? They send the series to Chicago now with the White Sox needing to sweep to make it out of this round.
