Exactly how many chances does one team need?
The White Sox had a golden opportunity on Friday night to alleviate the pressure on themselves and the stress of their fans, but as often has been the case the last few months, an ineffective bullpen cost them a game. The Minnesota Twins fell victim to the classic letdown game - they were so emotional and focused in the White Sox series you could see a loss to Kansas City coming from a mile away - but the Sox weren't able to capitalize as they lost to the Cleveland Indians 11-8.
After John Danks ran out of gas in the fifth inning, Ozzie Guillen had no choice but to go to his bullpen, and it was a choice it didn't take long for him to regret. In two and two-thirds of an inning, D.J. Carrasco, Mike MacDougal, Ehren Wasserman, and Horacio Ramirez combined to walk five guys, hit two others with a pitch, throw a wild pitch, and just for good measure, give up a grand slam to Ryan Garko.
Needless to say, Ozzie wasn't very pleased with his bullpen afterwards.
''I don't think it was a baseball game -- it was a pitching parade,'' said Guillen, who used five relievers before the night ended. ''I think those guys should be a little embarrassed, because I was. I didn't want the fans to see me go out there any more. I begged [Octavio] Dotel [the last reliever] to please get it done.
''I already got mad, breaking things in the dugout. It got to the point I started laughing. I didn't have any other choice. You can't try to play [as badly] as we did. I apologize to the fans who saw me. I think that's the worst first five innings I remember in a long time. We have 40,000 [36,494] looking at stupid baseball. We fought back, yes, but it's getting old."
It is getting old, and unless the White Sox get things turned around immediately, there will be no baseball on the south side come October.
