Freddy Garcia became the latest White Sox ace to pitch a gem, Paul Konerko homered in the first inning again and Chicago beat the Los Angeles Angels 8-2 to lead the American League championship series 3-1 on Saturday.
Chicago can wrap up the AL pennant today, when Jose Contreras pitches against Paul Byrd in a rematch of Game 1 starters.
Garcia pitched a six-hitter, following up on Mark Buehrle's five-hitter and Jon Garland's four-hitter. The White Sox became the first team to pitch three straight complete games in the postseason since 1973.
PHOTO: AFP
A.J. Pierzynski also homered for the White Sox, his third of the postseason. That was more than enough offense for Chicago -- its pitchers have given up just eight runs in the series and 17 in seven postseason games.
While the Windy City team found its power stroke on the West Coast, some of Los Angeles' leading lights have flamed out: Vladimir Guerrero, the 2004 AL MVP, is hitting .063 (1-for-16), with cleanup hitter Garret Anderson at .133 (2-for-15) and Bengie Molina at .154 (2-for-13). The trio have combined for three RBIs and Guerrero, who grounded out four times, was repeatedly booed.
With two on in the first, Konerko checked his swing on a 2-2 pitch in the dirt, and first-base umpire Ed Rapuano ruled he didn't go around. Konerko, whose two-run homer sparked Chicago on Friday, deposited Ervin Santana's next offering into the left-field seats for a 3-0 lead.
PHOTO: EPA
Los Angeles closed to 3-1 in the second on Molina's soft RBI single and had runners at the corners with one out when Steve Finley pulled the ball between first and second. Pointing toward the plate as he ran up the first-base line, Finley claimed Pierzynski's mitt nicked his bat.
But plate umpire Ron Kulpa didn't call it, and Chicago turned an inning-ending double play, with shortstop Juan Uribe's relay just beating Finley to the bag. Angels manager Mike Scioscia and Finley argued in vain, though a replay appeared to show the bat hit the glove.
After Scot Shields relieved in the fifth, his pickoff attempt appeared to beat Scott Podsednik at first. Rapuano ruled the runner slid in ahead of Darin Erstad's tag. Scioscia, in the dugout, shook his head.
Podsednik swiped second and scored on Carl Everett's two-out single for a 6-2 lead.
Roger Clemens held the St. Louis Cardinals in check with six gritty innings, Mike Lamb homered and the Houston Astros won 4-3 in Game 3 of the National League championship series on Saturday.
Brad Lidge finally allowed a run against the Cardinals, but got David Eckstein to fly out with a man on second to close it out. The Astros took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series and need only two more wins to reach the first World Series in the franchise's 44-year history.
With two games left at Minute Maid Park, they can wrap it up at home, too. Game 4 is on Sunday, with Brandon Backe scheduled to face the Cardinals' Jeff Suppan.
The banged-up Cardinals, already playing without left fielder Reggie Sanders, lost third baseman Abraham Nunez to a knee injury.
Third-stringer Hector Luna made a key error, and the Cardinals dropped their second game in a row after taking the opener at home.
Missing his most overpowering stuff, Clemens struck out only one -- matching his lowest total of the season, also against St. Louis on July 17. But he kept the ball down and minimized the damage in the fifth and sixth, allowing six hits and walking two overall.
Chad Qualls pitched two scoreless innings, even jumping to elude So Taguchi's bat when it slipped out of his hands after a foul ball in the seventh. Lidge worked the ninth for the save.
Losing pitcher Matt Morris, who won the clincher in a first-round sweep of San Diego, matched Clemens until the fourth inning, when he issued a leadoff walk to Morgan Ensberg. Lamb then lifted a 2-1 pitch to the opposite field over the short porch in left, his second homer of the postseason.
For St. Louis, Eckstein's sacrifice fly scored Yadier Molina in the fifth, and Larry Walker's sac fly scored Albert Pujols to tie in the sixth.
Jason Lane followed with a go-ahead single in the bottom half of the inning, and scored on an error to give Houston a 4-2 lead.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS