Last night’s game was yet another example of an offense not showing up for a game. John Danks was spectacular through his 6 innings of work, allowing only 4 hits, striking out 5 and walking two (7 combined walks from starting pitchers so far). Our bullpen was, once again, stellar up until Bobby Jenks made his second appearance of the season.

Here’s a rundown of the Sox ‘pen from the Royals series.

Sox Relievers in Game 1

• Clayton Richard | Threw 2 innings, struck out 1 with no hits.
• Octavio Dotel | Struck out 3 of the 4 batters he faced. Yeah, I said 4.
• Bobby Jenks | One strike out in his only inning of work for his first save.

Sox Relievers in Game 2

• Matt Thornton | One inning pitched, 1 strike out.
• Scott Linebrink | Struck out the 3 batters he faced in the 9th inning.

Sox Relievers in Game 3

• Mike MacDougal | Pitched one third of the eighth inning, giving up 2 hits.
• Matt Thornton | Mopped up Mac’s mess with a ground out and a strike out. 
• Octavio Dotel | Faced 4 batters, punched out 3. 6/6 in K opportunities. 
• Bobby Jenks | Gave up the winning 2-run homer to Coco Crisp.

Dewayne Wise didn’t help us in any way last night. I’m not laying the blame entirely on Dewayne’s shoulders because the team only collected 4 hits in total so it’s everyone’s fault that we lost. One thing I always like to remind people is that players don’t win and lose games. They can influence a win, but they can’t do it all themselves. If a player hits a walk-off grand slam he doesn’t score all 4 runs — there were 3 guys who got on base before him to to put the batter in the situation where a home run would win the game. It works the other way as well; a single player can’t lose the game. It’s impossible for one player to make 27 outs. You win as a team and you lose as a team — simple Little League philosophy.

Tuesday, April 8th – Game 1 vs. Royals
Mark Buehrle (0-0, 0.00) vs. Gil Meche (0-0, 0.00)
Game one of the opening three-game series was an Opening Day to remember! The game was originally scheduled for Monday but was postponed due to the high chance of snow. Boy were we happy when there was not a cloud in the sky and the temperature on our computers read near 50 degrees. Starting left-hander Mark Buehrle cruised through his 5 innings pitched with the only significant bump being a solo shot off the bat of Royals’ third baseman Alex Gordon. With the score at 2-1 Royals in the 8th inning, Josh Fields led off with a single. Second baseman Chis Getz placed a grounder in between the second baseman and short stop after a Dewayne Wise pop out to center. Carlos Quentin struck out with runners on first and third and walked to the dugout with his head hung low. However, designated hitter Jim Thome saved his skin by slamming a 2-1 pitch into the batters’ eye in center field, giving the Sox the 3 runs they needed to win the ballgame. In the top of the 9th Bobby Jenks logged his first save of the season. Sox 4 – Royals 2.

Wednesday, April 9th – Game 2 vs. Royals
Gavin Floyd (0-0, 0.00) vs. Zack Greinke (0-0, 0.00)
Coming off a dramatic Opening Day win the best thing you can look for in the following game is another victory. With Gavin Floyd on the mound it was pretty much a guarantee the Sox would begin the year 2-0. Floyd dominated the Royals over seven innings, striking out nine and walking two while allowing only 2 runs. If it wasn’t for the extreme lack of offense, it would’ve been safe to say the two runs wouldn’t matter and the Sox would eventually come back. Royals’ starter Zack Greinke surprised everybody watching at U.S. Cellular field, on television or listening through the radio as he completely shut down the Sox bats through his 6 innings. Juan Cruz came out of the bullpen for Kansas City and did a fare job keeping the Sox offense as quite as they were with Greinke on the mound. All-Star closer Joakim Soria pitched an impressive ninth inning for his first save of the 2009 campaign. Royals 2 – Sox 0.

Thursday, April 10th – Game 3 vs. Royals
John Danks (0-0, 0.00) vs. Kyle Davies (0-0, 0.00)
Yet another match-up that looked to be in Chicago’s favor going into the start of the ballgame. John Danks had a break-out season in 2008 while Kyle Davies went 3-7 for Kansas City in the ’08 regular season.John Danks was overpowering on the mound, striking out 5 of the 25 batters he faced and walking only two of them. The offense, as was the case in game 2, unfortunately was nowhere in sight. Davies mowed down the Sox allowing a mere 3 hits in an effort of seven strong innings. Bobby Jenks pitched the 8th inning for the Sox and the game could’ve lasted a while longer if he didn’t serve up a first-pitch cookie to Royals’ center fielder Coco Crisp (teehee… cookie… Crisp…? Anyway…). The White Sox attempted a comeback in the bottom of the 9th inning, and managed to push a run across against Joakim Soria. But that Crisp homer ended up sealing the deal for the Royals as they beat the Sox and took the series two games to one. Royals 2 – Sox 1.

With those games behind us we welcome the Minnesota Twins into U.S. Cellular field for a three-game weekend series, kicking off tonight with Jose Contreras on the mound for the first time since last August.

Let’s murder those Twinkies!!

Go Sox!!