No doubt about this one.
Paul Konerko made sure of that.
Konerko hit a two-run homer deep into the left-field seats in a three-run first inning, Jon Garland pitched a four-hitter, and the Chicago White Sox silenced the Los Angeles Angels 5-2 Friday night to take a 2-1 lead in the AL championship series.
There weren't any discussions of dubious decisions by the umpires, unlike Wednesday night in Chicago when umpire Doug Eddings set off days of debate with a controversial call in the ninth that led to the White Sox's winning run.
Not that umpires had a quiet night.
The sellout crowd of 44,725 at Angel Stadium repeatedly booed the umpires and Chicago's A.J. Pierzynski, who ran to first with two outs in the ninth Wednesday after he swung and missed strike three, a pitch Eddings ruled hit the dirt.
Replays seemed to show Angels backup catcher Josh Paul grabbed the pitch in the air, and the Angels were furious, especially after Joe Crede hit an RBI double later in the ninth inning, handing Chicago a 2-1 victory.
Before Friday's game, Angels manager Mike Scioscia insisted there wouldn't be any carry-over.
"Our guys have moved on. I feel the same way," Scioscia said.
But the White Sox found new punch against John Lackey, scoring as many runs in the first three innings as they did in the first two games.
Ervin Santana, the 22-year-old rookie who won the first-round clincher against the New York Yankees, will try to tie the series for the Angels on Saturday when he pitches against Freddy Garcia.
Eddings, who worked the right-field foul line, was the focus of fans as the game began in twilight with unusually warm temperatures. Behind the plate, one spectator held a bright yellow sign referring to the number on the sleeve of Eddings' shirt: "Eddings 88. 87 other guys were busy so we got you!"
Fans booed loudly when Pierzynski was introduced, when the umpires walked out to home plate, when the umps ran to their positions in the field and again when the umps were introduced. A profane chant aimed at Eddings followed briefly.
In the middle of the first, a red banner was draped over the front of the right-field bleachers: "Eddings go home." Fans booed when foul balls were hit near him and mocked him with cheers when he made obvious calls.
In the sixth, fans pointed their Thunder Stix toward first base after Vladimir Guerrero struck out, even though Garland's pitch wasn't near the dirt, and booed loudly in the seventh when Eddings signaled on Garret Anderson's line drive that clearly was foul.
Chicago, meanwhile, needed just 12 pitches to take a 3-0 lead.
Scott Podsednik singled on an 0-2 pitch leading off, Tadahito Iguchi sacrificed him to second and Jermaine Dye doubled to right-center to put the White Sox ahead.
Lackey, who allowed just 13 homers during the regular season, then made a mistake on a 3-2 offering to Konerko, who was just 4-for-20 in the postseason coming in. Catcher Bengie Molina set is target low and outside, the pitch went high and inside, and there was no doubt when Konerko connected,
The mostly red-clad crowd was stunned. Garland, from nearby Valencia and pitching in front of friends and family, never let Los Angeles back into the game.
Pitching against a team he nearly was traded to and taking the mound for the first time since Oct. 1, Garland allowed three runners in the first five innings.
Darin Erstad had the first hard-hit ball, a second-inning, two-out double, but was thrown out trying for third.
Garland didn't give up any runs until the sixth, when Orlando Cabrera hit a two-run homer down the left-field line. Garland then retired his final 10 batters.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB