Remember that scene in the Godfather, after the Don is shot, and Tom Hagen is kidnapped, Solozzo tells Hagen: "He's still alive! We hit him six shots and he's still alive!" That scene is emblematic of the White Sox. No matter how many shots they are hit with, they're still alive. They won their must-win game against the Rays today at U.S. Cellular Field. In front of a black-clad crowd, John Danks earned the win with strong contributions from several different players.
Danks pitched well, giving up 7 hits, 3 runs and striking out seven in six and two thirds innings. His relief finished what Danks had started. Matt Thornton threw several pitches in the top of the eighth that broke the 95-mph mark. Closer Bobby Jenks gave up one hit to Bobby Jenks, and then struck out Rays' slugger Carlos Pena.
Though the White Sox have been known to rely on home runs, small ball won it for the Sox today. A.J. Pierzynski earned an RBI with a game-tying single in the third inning. In the fifth, Jim Thome scored on a sacrifice fly and then DeWayne Wise sent home two runners on a one-out single. Brian Anderson scored an insurance run in the sixth on a Juan Uribe single.
The Rays fought back in the seventh with a towering, two-run HR by B.J. Upton. Outside of that, they couldn't really get a rally going.
Matt Thornton and Willy Aybar showed how sportsmanship should be done after they collided on a dropped-third strike. After Aybar is called out, he and Thornton slap hands to ensure that there are no hard feelings. That is the sort of thing that doesn't make the highlights on Sportscenter, but is also what makes this game great. Nicely done, gentlemen.
The Sox and Rays will bring their sportsmanship to the Cell tomorrow at 4:07 p.m. CT. Even with one win, the situation does not change for the Sox. They still need to win to keep their season alive, but the Don lived for quite a while after he was shot, so the Sox have hope.
