Apparently those scribbles about what White Sox players to remove before the trading deadline were written in pencil.
With their recent hot streak – winning 11 of 12 games after a 9-6 beating of the Braves Tuesday night – putting the Sox above break-even, general manager Ken Williams said he could become a buyer as trading deadline nears.
Tuesday’s victory could only have firmed up the notion, with his White Sox equaling a season high with 16 hits in taming a team that had baseball’s best record in May and June.
“I didn’t expect us to be back to .500 this quickly,” Williams said. “This team has responded and showed some resiliency. Those efforts should be commended and acknowledged in the form that, ‘Ok, they are going to keep pushing, we have to see what the possibilities are out there to help them out.’
“There’s a lot to weigh in and over the next number of weeks, this team will show me more of either consistent play or more of the inconsistent play that has been prevalent. To me, you keep pushing and trying to add to the puzzle until you are forced not to.”
Sox hitters kept pushing against Braves’ starter Tommy Hanson, who was removed in the fourth inning after a career high in hits (13) and runs (9), much to the delight of 28,773 fans at U.S. Cellular Field.
The final blow was Carlos Quentin’s three-run, fourth-inning homer, the first for the Sox after an eight-game drought.
Actually, Quentin should not have come to bat in that inning, but Alex Rios’ two-out grounder went right down the jersey front of Brooks Conrad, who couldn’t find it until Rios was safe.
But it was a five-run second inning that took starter John Danks out of a 3-0 hole.
The big hits in that rally were two-RBI singles from A. J. Pierzynski and Omar Vizquel. And that helped Danks (7-5) coast, as he allowed only two hits from the third to seventh innings.
Only Scott Linebrink’s ninth-inning meltdown and a split nail on Alexei Ramirez’s middle finger ruined an otherwise joyous night. Before it was over Bobby Jenks had to make a one-out save, his 166th to tie for second all-time for the Sox.
But what a difference two weeks makes, as the Sox closed to within 41/2 games of the first-place Twins in the American League Central.
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“Nothing has changed in (the clubhouse) except the record,” Danks said. “We’ve been saying all along we have a good team.”
This seven-game winning streak started with victories over the Pirates and Nationals and now is punctuated by one over the Braves.
“We’re lucky, that’s what people want to hear,” said Ozzie Guillen, who presented retiring Braves manager Bobby Cox with a humidor. “People don’t believe we can play very well. But the (players) we have have some credentials.”
And it looks like all of them could be staying.
“One of the things I keep talking to the coaches about are additions,” Williams said. “The thing they get tripped up on is who they are going to replace.”