Konerko wallop powers Chisox
WHITE SOX 8 ANGELS 2 Dominant Garcia goes the distance
ANAHEIM, CALIF.—
It was in the seventh inning of last night’s laugher that Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen decided to pass the time by asking a couple of relief pitchers to warm up. A resounding “ Why?’’ echoed around parts of the ballpark, given how the White Sox had followed the familiar script of riding an early Paul Konerko home run and a dominant starting pitcher to an eventual easy victory. Konerko went deep in the first inning for a second straight night, his three- run homer off Los Angeles Angels rookie Ervin Santana giving Chicago starter Freddy Garcia plenty of breathing room.
Garcia went on to post the third consecutive completegame win by a White Sox pitcher and put his team in position to clinch its first World Series appearance in 46 years as early as tonight.
“ When you’re on the road, in front of a big crowd that’s rowdy and into it, it’s always good to get on the board with a run in the first,’’ Konerko had said before Chicago’s 8- 2 victory in front of 44,857 demoralized- looking fans at Angels Stadium. “ If you can get some hits early, it kind of takes the crowd out of it.’’
A. J. Pierzynski added a monstrous solo homer in the fourth and Scott Podsednik had a triple, three walks and scored three runs as Chicago grabbed a 3- 1 stranglehold on this best- ofseven AL Championship Series. The Angels haven’t had a starter work beyond the fifth inning since Paul Byrd went six frames in a Game 1 victory. Santana was in trouble right away, walking leadoff man Podsednik and then hitting Tadahito Iguchi. Both moved up on a deep flyout by Jermaine Dye and then, as in Game 3, the Angels opted to pitch to 41- homer man Konerko with first base open. And just as Konerko did in that previous contest, he deposited a full- count offering from Santana beyond the fence in left- centre to give Garcia a 3- 0 lead before he’d even taken the mound. It also gave Konerko five RBIs in the first two games in this ballpark and put him on the fast track to series MVP honours. Los Angeles had a chance to get back in it in the second when Bengie Molina — with just one single in 10 at- bats in the series to that point — drove in a run with a base hit to centre. That made it 3- 1 and put runners at the corners with one out and struggling Steve Finley due up. But Finley promptly rapped into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play, then erupted at plate umpire Ron Kulpa, claiming Sox catcher Pierzynski was guilty of interference for touching his bat on his backswing.
Pierzynski was at the centre of a controversial call involving umpire Doug Eddings that led to the winning rally in the ninth inning of Game 2. But Kulpa was having none of the arguments presented by Finley or Angels manager Mike Scioscia, who left his dugout to protest.
Chicago restored its three- run lead in the third after a throwing error by Angels shortstop Orlando Cabrera put Dye on. Carl Everett later singled in Dye and Pierzynski made it 5- 1 in the fourth with his solo shot well beyond the centre- field fence.
Scioscia had shuffled his lineup to generate offence from a lineup in which mid- order hitters Vladimir Guerrero, Garret Anderson and Molina had combined for just three hits in 33 atbats. Scioscia bumped Molina down to seventh in the order and inserted lefty hitter Casey Kotchman for the first time in the series in the No. 6 spot. Kotchman responded with two hits his first two at- bats, including an RBI double, but the big bats still struggled.