Sweep undone in sixth
CHICAGO -- For 5 1/2 innings Wednesday it looked like the Diamondbacks were going to sweep the three-game series with the White Sox.
For the third straight night they had their way with Chicago pitching while Russ Ortiz seemed to be in control.
Then came the bottom of the sixth.
That's when things unraveled for the Diamondbacks, as the White Sox managed to put together a stunning 10-run inning to turn a 6-2 Arizona lead into a 12-6 loss.
"We swung the bat well early on and put some pressure on them," D-Backs manager Bob Melvin said. "Usually in a game like that you want to try to put them away. They just came up with an inning ... you certainly don't forecast a 10-run inning."
No, and you certainly don't forecast a couple of miscues by normally sure-handed shortstop Royce Clayton.
With two runs already in and runners at first and second, A.J. Pierzynski hit a grounder to Clayton's right that he slid and fielded nicely. But his throw to second for the force went into right field, allowing a run to score and Jermaine Dye to advance to third.
Joe Crede then hit a grounder again to Clayton's right and the ball rolled under third baseman Troy Glaus' glove where it was fielded by Clayton, who looked home, hesitated, looked towards first, and looked again to home, but by then it was too late to get anyone as another run scored.
"I couldn't really tell how far [Dye] was down the line, and by the time all that happened, Crede was getting down the line and I didn't have a play there," Clayton said. "I should have went with my first instinct and thrown the ball home, but I held onto it and let the run cross and nothing happened. It's just a mistake on my part."
It proved to be costly. Instead of the inning potentially being over, the White Sox still had life and two runners on.
They didn't stay on base for long, though, as Juan Uribe cracked a 2-2 slider from Ortiz over the wall in left for a three-run homer and a 7-6 Chicago lead.
The pitch was not a bad one, but Uribe was able to go down and yank the ball out.
"It was a decent pitch and I think he just did a good job of going out and getting it," Ortiz said. "He's a pretty strong fellow so he went out and got it, put it on the barrel and with that I was like, 'What am I going to do?'"
Ortiz was removed after that in favor of Claudio Vargas and the right-hander retired the first two batters he faced before giving up a triple to Tadahito Iguchi, a walk to Frank Thomas and then a crushing three-run homer to Paul Konerko.
"We didn't make the plays when we should have that could have cut it off a little bit earlier and got us back in the dugout with a chance to get some more hits, score some more runs and put some more pressure on them," Melvin said.
The Diamondbacks did put early pressure on White Sox starter Jon Garland, scoring six runs off him in six innings. The 10-run frame, though, made him a winner as he raised his recorded to 11-2 and joined the Marlins' Dontrelle Willlis as the Majors' only 11-game winners.
"They did what they had to do," Ortiz said. "They put the ball where they needed to and just took advantage of everything. They showed why they are as good as they are."
Source: http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/
For the third straight night they had their way with Chicago pitching while Russ Ortiz seemed to be in control.
Then came the bottom of the sixth.
That's when things unraveled for the Diamondbacks, as the White Sox managed to put together a stunning 10-run inning to turn a 6-2 Arizona lead into a 12-6 loss.
"We swung the bat well early on and put some pressure on them," D-Backs manager Bob Melvin said. "Usually in a game like that you want to try to put them away. They just came up with an inning ... you certainly don't forecast a 10-run inning."
No, and you certainly don't forecast a couple of miscues by normally sure-handed shortstop Royce Clayton.
With two runs already in and runners at first and second, A.J. Pierzynski hit a grounder to Clayton's right that he slid and fielded nicely. But his throw to second for the force went into right field, allowing a run to score and Jermaine Dye to advance to third.
Joe Crede then hit a grounder again to Clayton's right and the ball rolled under third baseman Troy Glaus' glove where it was fielded by Clayton, who looked home, hesitated, looked towards first, and looked again to home, but by then it was too late to get anyone as another run scored.
"I couldn't really tell how far [Dye] was down the line, and by the time all that happened, Crede was getting down the line and I didn't have a play there," Clayton said. "I should have went with my first instinct and thrown the ball home, but I held onto it and let the run cross and nothing happened. It's just a mistake on my part."
It proved to be costly. Instead of the inning potentially being over, the White Sox still had life and two runners on.
They didn't stay on base for long, though, as Juan Uribe cracked a 2-2 slider from Ortiz over the wall in left for a three-run homer and a 7-6 Chicago lead.
The pitch was not a bad one, but Uribe was able to go down and yank the ball out.
"It was a decent pitch and I think he just did a good job of going out and getting it," Ortiz said. "He's a pretty strong fellow so he went out and got it, put it on the barrel and with that I was like, 'What am I going to do?'"
Ortiz was removed after that in favor of Claudio Vargas and the right-hander retired the first two batters he faced before giving up a triple to Tadahito Iguchi, a walk to Frank Thomas and then a crushing three-run homer to Paul Konerko.
"We didn't make the plays when we should have that could have cut it off a little bit earlier and got us back in the dugout with a chance to get some more hits, score some more runs and put some more pressure on them," Melvin said.
The Diamondbacks did put early pressure on White Sox starter Jon Garland, scoring six runs off him in six innings. The 10-run frame, though, made him a winner as he raised his recorded to 11-2 and joined the Marlins' Dontrelle Willlis as the Majors' only 11-game winners.
"They did what they had to do," Ortiz said. "They put the ball where they needed to and just took advantage of everything. They showed why they are as good as they are."
Source: http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/
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