Chicago White Sox Beat Detroit – Play Minnesota Twins Today
by Mike Zink
The modern day “Shot heard round the world came off the bat of 27-year old Chicago White Sox rookie Alexei Ramirez in the form of a 388-foot blast over the right field fence for his rookie record fourth grand slam of the year. The blast catapulted the Sox to a come from behind 8-2 win over the Tigers, forcing a one game shootout with the Minnesota Twins for the right to advance to the playoffs.
“Win or lose tomorrow, we will hold our heads high,” Konerko said, as reported by chisox.com. “It’s really a good story either way. Minnesota or Chicago is not supposed to be here. Everyone is proud no matter what happens. But we aren’t satisfied. We want to win and get in the playoffs.â€
Ramirez jumped on an off speed pitch that caught the heart of the plate by former White Sox pitcher Gary Glover for his 21st round tripper of the year, and the rest as they say is history as the Sox plated an insurance run for a five run sixth inning.
“I’ve had 10 or 11 at-bats where I haven’t hit the ball really well,” added Ramirez, after his home run broke a 0-for-13 stretch on the home stand. “But I told Ozzie [Guillen], ‘Have confidence in me. I’m going to go out there and get those runners home somehow.’”
Sox ace Gavin Floyd (17-8) gave yet another masterful performance coming off of three days rest for the second time in nine days gave up just one earned run in six full innings of work while shutting down the
Tigers bats with eight strikeouts in just 118 pitches.
The Tigers took the lead in the home half of the sixth when Miguel Cabrera lined a sharp double to left and came around to score on a throwing error by Floyd. The Sox hurler tried to field a comebacker to the mound by left fielder Ryan Raburn but slipped on the wet grass throwing over the head of first baseman Paul Konerko for the error.
The last couple of weeks have been an uphill battle all the way for the Sox who not only survived a five game loosing streak which included a three game sweep at the hands of the Minnesota Twins, nut a three and a half hour rain delay at US Cellular Field before downing the Tigers to force the one game playoff before the playoff.
The Sox face off against a team that seems to have their number when they square off against the Minnesota Twins Tuesday for the right to go to the playoffs. This time the Twins have to face the Sox on their home turf. “”I don’t think you ever expect a one-game playoff,” said Konerko, “It’s an oddity. We are just scrapping, fighting and trying to get to where we want to go.”
“You get passed feeling tired and forget about all those aches and pains,” added White Sox reliever Scott Linebrink, who struck out the side during an impressive eighth inning. “Adrenaline gets you going. Our situation is great — we fought for this and earned it. One hundred and sixty-two [games weren't] enough so we need one extra, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.”
The Tigers faced the Sox as part of a make-up earlier in the month, have been mired in last place throughout the year were hoping against hope that they could play the role of spoilers, but the Sox will to win seemed to play a more important role tonight.
“Maybe this is justice, who knows?” Detroit manager Jim Leyland added. “Maybe this is the way it’s supposed to be. The two best teams in the division all year have to play one game to see who goes.â€
[tags]chicago white sox, detroit tigers, alexei ramirez, baseball, mlb, mlb playoffs[/tags]
Tags: alexei ramirez, baseball, chicago, Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers, minnesota twins, MLB, mlb playoffs, paul konerko
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