A Job Well Undone

The White Sox bullpen is terrible. There are only 2 pitchers, Boone Logan and Bobby Jenks (we’ll get to him later), who are currently posting an ERA under 4.00. That’s just not very good.

People can point fingers at whatever they want, whether it be Ozzie, Jermaine Dye’s poor performance (he struck out 3 times and went 0 for 4 in his return from the DL), or any other litany of excuses, but the fact of the matter is that the bullpen is absolutely terrible.

Their most dependable piece, All-Star Bobby Jenks blew a 1 run lead, allowing the Orioles to tie the game at 6 and then eventually win 7-6 in the top half of the 9th inning. Jenks was preceded by the immortal Ryan Bukvich who came into relieve Mark Buehrle in the 8th with runners on 1st and 2nd and promptly threw a wild pitch that moved the runner to 3rd, followed up by an RBI double, than eventually a 2 RBI triple. So while, those runs count against Buehrle, it was Bukvich who blew the comfortable margin that his team once held.

Its just one of those things, that when Buehrle left in the 8th after pitching a stellar game, you just knew the White Sox back end would find some miraculous way to blow it. Not that they get all the credit, Josh Fields helped out with a tough error in the 8th, making the devolvement of the White Sox possible.

Some credit must be given to the lineup though as they were able to bring home six runs against one of the hottest pitchers in baseball in Erik Bedard. It was a nice change for the O’s, seeing someone else’s bullpen blow the win, instead of their overpaid conglomeration. Bedard gave up 6 in 5.2 IP, which was surprising considering his recent hot streak. The O’s bullpen combined for 3.1 IP and 5 K’s to get the job done for interim manager Dave Tremblay.

After the game, Buehrle seemed fairly confident that this wouldn’t be his last start for the club, which has to be at least somewhat comforting for the Sox fans, already planning for an existence without the talented and personable lefty.