White Sox @ Twins: Battle for the AL Central

[ISUMatt]

W Sox up 2.5 games with 3 @ Minnesota this week...

Tuesday is Vazquez vs Baker
Wednesday is Buehrle vs Blackburn
Thursday is Floyd vs Slowey

[bodoyle]

3 huge games for us.

[Gil Dobie]

Twinkies win, Morneau could be MVP. xeekx

[YaleFootballFan]

This is a huge series because the loser in this division race goes home. We already know the Wild Card is coming out of the AL East, with Boston comfortably ahead of New York.

[UNHWildCats]

This is a huge series because the loser in this division race goes home. We already know the Wild Card is coming out of the AL East, with Boston comfortably ahead of New York.
kinda odd too to see the AL East as the best division in baseball... its generally been Yanks and Sox and the rest suck.... 4 of the teams were right in it until the final two weeks.

[FargoBison]

W Sox up 2.5 games with 3 @ Minnesota this week...

Tuesday is Vazquez vs Baker
Wednesday is Buehrle vs Blackburn
Thursday is Floyd vs Slowey

Some good match-ups there, but Wednesday does worry me considering how Blackburn has been going as of late. That said, crazy things tend to happen in the Dome so who knows what will happen in this series.

[bodoyle]

The way we have been completely inept at executing fundamentals, I would not be surprised to see us leave the Land of 10,000 Lakes .5 games behind.

[bodoyle]

Twinkies win, Morneau could be MVP. xeekx

Hell if Billy Bear comes back for the last home series he could still be MVP.

[bodoyle]

This should make tonight interesting:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-22-white-sox-bits-chicagosep22,0,4537275.story

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3602173

[ISUMatt]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quJsSBpAMH4

[ISUMatt]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjGWcklpGwg

[BisonBacker]

Neither the Twins or the White Sox have been playing worth a crap. Neither one really deserves to be the Central rep but the other teams really don't leave any choice in the central either. I can't recall a season like this where the two leading candidates for the division title limped to the end in losing fashion. IMHO it doesn't matter as either one will likely be eliminated in the first round. The twins starting staff can't seem to pitch more then 2 or 3 innings xsmhx

[bodoyle]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quJsSBpAMH4

A THING OF BEAUTY!

[ISUMatt]

White Sox strike 1st in the series on a Griffey Jr DP....

1-0 Sox

[ISUMatt]

2 run HR for Kubel

2-1 Twins

[bodoyle]

As usual, Javy falls behind, walks a batter and doesn't have the mental strength to move on and gives up that tater.

[bodoyle]

As usual, Javy falls behind, walks a batter and doesn't have the mental strength to move on and gives up that tater.

[bodoyle]

As usual, Javy falls behind, walks a batter and doesn't have the mental strength to move on and gives up that tater.

[bodoyle]

3-1 twinks.

SOx sucking as usual.

[bodoyle]

4-1

Sox choking again. Amusing to watch.

[ISUMatt]

5-1 Twins after 4...Vazquez showing why he is NOT a big game pitcher

[BisonBacker]

9-1 Twins on cruise control but nothings changed. Crain comes in the 8th to releive Baker and immediately walks the first batter xsmhx

[BisonBacker]

Double play saves his bacon and then gets AJ to pop out.

[Thunderstruck84]

Don't put too much into this game, the White Sox have a great luxury that the Twins do not, and that's margin for error. They know that they only need to win one of these 3 games to put a hammerlock on the divison.

A wise man once said "Momentum is as good as tomorrow's starting pitcher". A win tonight won't mean anything unless the Twins can follow it up with one tomorrow.

This is why baseball is America's Pastime. xnodx GO TWINS!

[BisonBacker]

Hey I'm not fooling myself the chances are still slim they can win out. I don't have that much confidence in the Twins starting pitching. The only saving grace is both teams have played like crap coming into tonights game so it's not like the Twins are facing the Angels or Tampa Bay again. They are playing a team that has struggled just like the Twins have.

[bodoyle]

Hopefully Buehrle can straighten things out tonight and give our crap bullpen a breather.

[TwinTownBisonFan]

Last nights game had that '06 magic to it i have to say... balls just falling in all over the place.

delmon young's homer might be the second biggest fly i've ever seen at the dome (McGwire went upper tank to LEFT with Oakland back in the day)

[bodoyle]

I wish he hit about 5 of them. Javy was rolling everything up there. He is a pathetic pitcher in important games, but put him out there against $#!t teams and he is great.

[ISUMatt]

I must admit, I went to sleep after 5-1

[Eight Legger]

As a Tigers fan, I hate both of these teams (nearly as much as I despise my own, admittedly), but I have stronger dislike for the Twins. I'm especially hoping that the White Sox will have to play the makeup game against Detroit on Monday so that we can start a Triple A lineup and hand the division to the Sox.

[bodoyle]

Looks like it will be hard to get to that game 8. The umps have blown a call that cost us 1 run and we are down 3-2 in the Top 6. 2nd base ump missed a call where Buehrle picked the runner off by 18" and then the runner came around to score. Pathetic umpiring.

[bodoyle]

3-2 twinks Bot 7

[bodoyle]

As usual, Buehrle pitches a gem, the ump screws him, and our offense forgets to show up.

Congrats on the AL Central Title Minnesota. We will not win it.

[Thunderstruck84]

As a Tigers fan, I hate both of these teams (nearly as much as I despise my own, admittedly), but I have stronger dislike for the Twins. I'm especially hoping that the White Sox will have to play the makeup game against Detroit on Monday so that we can start a Triple A lineup and hand the division to the Sox.
Looks like it boils down to a 4 games season starting tomorrow for the Twins and Sox.

Just curious Eight Legger, why the animosity towards the Twins?

[BisonBacker]

Every game at a this point is a playoff game for both the Twins and the White Sox. Go Twinsxthumbsupx

[bodoyle]

Every game at a this point is a playoff game for both the Twins and the White Sox. Go Twinsxthumbsupx

You guys are playing like it is. Someone forgot to tell my Sox that.

And if you guys get 1 more BS broken bat duck-snort I'm going to bash in my tv!

[darell1976]

Looks like Twins fans will become Indians fans this weekend!!

[ISUMatt]

I just cant believe that 2nd base ump missed that call that bad last night...that being said, the Twins are killing my Sox, but the goal was to win 1 so lets go Sox, we need it tonight!!

[bodoyle]

Alphonso Marquez is a horse**** ump. He just called Swish out in the 9th inning of a tied game on a 3rd strike that Swish checked it on. Must be nice to be a pu**y and cave to the crowd. Not even close. This is a joke. He also called a foul ball fair that was foul by 3 feet for the twinks. Complete joke and embarrassment to the game.

[ISUMatt]

Alphonso Marquez... He also called a foul ball fair that was foul by 3 feet for the twinks. Complete joke and embarrassment to the game.

3 FEET, 3 INCHES, BUT WHO IS COUNTING xlolx

[BisonBacker]

What an exciting game. Go Twins xnodx

[Thunderstruck84]

Alphonso Marquez is a horse**** ump. He just called Swish out in the 9th inning of a tied game on a 3rd strike that Swish checked it on. Must be nice to be a pu**y and cave to the crowd. Not even close. This is a joke. He also called a foul ball fair that was foul by 3 feet for the twinks. Complete joke and embarrassment to the game.
I admit that he blew the call on the Swisher check swing but the ball he called fair on the 3rd base line was at the very most a inch or two away from line, nowhere close to 3 feet away. The replays I saw looked like it hit the line. If it would've been that far you can be assured the Sox players and Ozzie would've been raising holy hell whereas they just let it go and played on.

[bodoyle]

3 FEET, 3 INCHES, BUT WHO IS COUNTING xlolx

I know it wasn't 3 feet, but my point being there was enough space between where the ball landed and the chalk (or whatever is used in the dome) to fit another baseball.

He blew that call, the check swing on Swish and the one AJ that was worse than the call on Swish.

I love it when the fat, overweight umps take the game out of the player's hands

[bodoyle]

I admit that he blew the call on the Swisher check swing but the ball he called fair on the 3rd base line was at the very most a inch or two away from line, nowhere close to 3 feet away. The replays I saw looked like it hit the line. If it would've been that far you can be assured the Sox players and Ozzie would've been raising holy hell whereas they just let it go and played on.

You know as well as I do that Guillen can't argue anything without being tossed out of a game and suspended. Right now he can't get suspended at the end of the season.

[Thunderstruck84]

I know it wasn't 3 feet, but my point being there was enough space between where the ball landed and the chalk (or whatever is used in the dome) to fit another baseball.

He blew that call, the check swing on Swish and the one AJ that was worse than the call on Swish.

I love it when the fat, overweight umps take the game out of the player's hands
Here's the replay (http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200809253550040)

Not saying it was definitely a fair ball but it looked like it hit the line.

[bodoyle]

Why did they cut off the clip before the close-up replay? On Comcast SN here they showed a closer, slower replay that showed it was foul. I assume FSNN had the same ability?

[Thunderstruck84]

Why did they cut off the clip before the close-up replay? On Comcast SN here they showed a closer, slower replay that showed it was foul. I assume FSNN had the same ability?
That could be true, FSN didn't show a close up replay of it during the broadcast and I wouldn't be surprised if it's because the closeup showed it was foul.

[bodoyle]

That could be true, FSN didn't show a close up replay of it during the broadcast and I wouldn't be surprised if it's because the closeup showed it was foul.

I'm glad you said it, b/c that's what I was thinking. xthumbsupx

[Thunderstruck84]

Apparently both teams forgot that they still have games to play against major league competition. xnonono2x