Sox lose

Anyone who believes in fate, or maybe karma, knows that yesterday’s White Sox/Indians result was inevitable. I stopped paying attention when it was 5-1 good guys in the 7th. Silly me.

It’s the top of the ninth and here comes the easy save opportunity. This has not been the week for protecting three-run leads, at least in the South Side. U.S. Cellular Field lived up to its launching-pad reputation. Shingo Takatsu, our closer who throws slower than my grandma but somehow is effective in late-inning situations, threw up three tater balls in the ninth. I can see how in the ninth inning of a series finale that batters would go for the gopher ball, seeing as Shingo throws 86 with the wind behind his back, the stadium is made for the home run, and the longer the Indians played, the less time they had to spend in Detroit, their next destination.

What might be even more painful is Luis Vizcaino, the reliever who came in after Shingo and at least got the game into extra innings, was left out to dry. Ozzie Guillen used up his bullpen like it was game seven of the World Series. Three pitchers went a third of an inning. So, when Vizcaino started giving up runs in bunches in the 11th, there was no one left. Now his confidence is shot for a while and we get the lovely taste of defeat heading into an important series at Minnesota.

Yesterday I thought we weren’t quite 2-0 material. Today, 2-1 seems about right.