With the start of the White Sox regular season postponed due to coronavirus concerns, NBC Sports Chicago has decided to re-air 70 victories from the 2005 season from now until June. Here at Sox On 35th, we will also be following along and recapping those games for you in our Tale of the Tape series.
Date of Game: May 5th, 2005
The Kansas City pitching staff literally handed the Sox the game by loading the bases and walking home two batters in a wild 2-1 victory. The South Sider’s record improves to 21-7.
W: Jose Contreras (1-0) | L: Zack Greinke (0-3) | S: Shingo Takatsu (8)
The Good
- Scott Podsednik (LF): 1-for-3, RBI, BB
- Juan Uribe (SS): 0-for-2, RBI, BB
- Jose Contreras (SP): 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 HR
- 102 pitches – 69 strikes, 33 balls
The Bad
- Tadahito Iguchi: 0-for-4, 3 K
- Carl Everett (DH): 0-for-3, K
Moment of the Game
With a 1-0 lead heading to the bottom of the eighth, Kansas City couldn’t afford to make mistakes. Unfortunately for the Royals, Zack Greinke and Andy Sisco loaded the bases via a walk, hit by pitch, and another walk. To no surprise, Sisco still couldn’t find his command and brought in Juan Uribe for the tying run. This set things up perfectly for today’s key moment, which was the would be game-winning walk issued to Scotty Pods by Ambiorix Burgos out of the pen. Just beautiful stuff.
Stats On 35th – Let’s Break This One Down by the Numbers
Today’s Numbers:
29.9, 4, 2, 15
29.9
Today’s MVP in terms of Win Probability Added is starting pitcher Jose Contreras with 29.9 percentage points added. He went a full eight innings, limited the Kansas City offensive to just one run. The runner-up was Scott Podsednik who was exactly two points below at 27.9.
4
The Royals issued four walks and a hit by pitch in a wild two-run eighth inning for the Sox that featured no hits. They were the only free passes in an otherwise clean game for KC.
2
The Sox bats couldn’t generate much offense at all against Greinke and co., recording just two singles courtesy of Scott Podsednik and A.J. Pierzynski.
15
Shingo Takatsu didn’t make things easy in the ninth inning after an already crazy bottom of the eighth. The closer threw 15 of his 28 pitches for balls, walking two and throwing a wild pitch, to put runners on second and third before getting Terrence Long to flyout to center.
Looking Ahead:
Next up is a game from the next day in 2005 as the White Sox visit the Toronto Blue Jays up North. NBC Sports Chicago will be airing it at 4:00 pm. As always, check back here at Sox On 35th for the recap!
Player of the Game
Today’s Player of the Game is Jose Contreras for his solid pitching performance.
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