The LoHud Yankees Blog

YANKEES (67-42)
Brett Gardner LF
Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Eric Chavez 3B
Jorge Posada DH
Russell Martin C

RHP Ivan Nova (9-4, 4.01)
Nova vs. White Sox

WHITE SOX (52-57)
Juan Pierre LF
Alexi Ramirez SS
Paul Konerko DH
Adam Dunn 1B
Carlos Quentin RF
A.J. Pierzynski C
Gordon Beckham 2B
Alejandro De Aza CF
Brent Morel 3B

RHP Philip Humber (8-7, 3.44)
Humber vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 8:10 p.m., YES Network

WEATHER: Nice and sunny all day today. Looks like we’re leaving Chicago on a high note in terms of weather. Very slight chance of rain with temperatures in the 70s.

UMPIRES: HP Marvin Hudson, 1B Tim McClelland, 2B Ted Barrett, 3B Brian Runge

THAT’S A BIG NUMBER: The Yankees have scored at least 17 runs in three games this season, matching the total for the other 29 teams combined in 2011. It’s the Yankees most such games in one season since 2005, when they also did it three times. They’ve posted all three totals in their past 13 games, becoming the first Major League team to score at least 17 runs three times over a span of 13 games or fewer since the 1993 Detroit Tigers, who did it three times over a 10-game span from in April. That’s all according to Elias.

LIKE HIS IDOL: According to Elias, last night Derek Jeter became the second player since 1900 to record two five-hit games in the same season at age 37 or older. The other was Dave Winfield, who did it at age 39 in 1991.

IT’S BEEN A WHILE: The Yankees had three players with at least four RBI last night (Curtis Granderson had five, Robinson Cano had four and Eric Chavez had four). It was the first time the Yankees had three players reach the mark in the same gave since a 17-3 win on September 13, 2005 at Tampa Bay (Jason Giambi had five, Hideki Matsui had four and Jorge Posada had four).

IN CLOSING: The Yankees are 23-12 in series finales this season. They are 10-6 in series finales on the road.

UPDATE, 8:22 p.m.: I never once thought that was a home run until it landed in the bullpen. Looked like a double at best off the bat, but Cano must have hit it harder than it looked. It’s a 1-0 Yankees lead in the second.

UPDATE, 8:53 p.m.: Nova was either crossed up or just made the worst pitchout imaginable. That moved the lead runner into scoring position, and a single and sac fly later, that runner has scored to tie the game 1 in the third inning.

UPDATE, 9:15 p.m.: Every professional baseball player has heard a hundred times that sliding into first base is slower than running through the bag, but every now and then, they simply cannot help themselves. Martin is out on a sliding play at first and it’s still 1-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth.

UPDATE, 9:21 p.m.: Because of Monday’s off day, it’s really hard to imagine the Yankees sticking with a six-man rotation after this weekend. It would throw everyone’s routine into disarray, but Nova looks awfully good tonight. How do you tell this guy that he’s going to the bullpen or Triple-A?

UPDATE, 9:29 p.m.: Gotta execute that play quickly and accurately to get Gardner at the plate. He scores on a ground ball to first, and the Yankees are up 2-1 in the sixth.

UPDATE, 9:32 p.m.: I don’t think I’ve ever seen a player do what Juan Pierre just did. With Eric Chavez playing extremely close to the plate, he clearly wasn’t planning to lay down a bunt. He obviously meant to square up and pop the ball over Chavez’s head. Perfectly executed for a leadoff single in the bottom of the sixth. Must say, that was pretty cool.

UPDATE, 9:36 p.m.: Strikeout, throw out. Pierre is gunned down and Nova is through six, still a 2-1 Yankees lead.

UPDATE, 9:51 p.m.: RBI single by Posada, sac fly by Martin, and the Yankees lead is 4-1 in the seventh. No one currently getting loose in the Yankees bullpen. If Nova can give them one more, then it’s Robertson and Rivera to close out the win and send this team to Boston.

UPDATE, 10:30 p.m.: Robertson gets the last out of the eighth, and the Yankees still have a 4-1 lead heading into the ninth. Meanwhile, the Red Sox are losing in the ninth.

Ivan Nova takes the mound in about an hour, the weekend series against Boston doesn’t start until tomorrow and there was no real breaking news coming out of the Yankees clubhouse this afternoon. Today’s most significant development happened in Tampa, where Alex Rodriguez began baseball drills, so I’ll start today’s pregame notes with the latest from the Associated Press down in Florida, then I’ll jump in with some nuggets from Chicago.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Alex Rodriguez refused to discuss a Major League Baseball investigation into his involvement in illegal poker games, ending an interview Thursday with a one-word answer.

The New York Yankees had said the injured star would stop his post-workout media session at the team’s minor league training complex if any reporter posed an non-baseball question.

Rodriguez spoke for several minutes about his recovery from knee surgery. But when asked if he would not discuss the poker games, he said “yep” and walked to his car.

Rodriguez’s publicist, however, said the slugging third baseman was looking forward to cooperating with MLB in its poker probe.

Star Magazine reported last month that several people saw A-Rod playing in games hosted at Hollywood hotels and residences.

Richard Rubenstein, Rodriguez’s publicist, said in a statement Thursday morning that the Star’s story contains “numerous factual inaccuracies.”

Rodriguez said it will take a few days to get a timeframe for rejoining the Yankees.

“I think I’ll have a much better indication over the next 48 hours,” he said. “I’m curious to see how my body reacts, responds tomorrow. Tomorrow and the next day will be a good indication.”

The 36-year-old Rodriguez arrived at the Yankees’ minor league complex just before noon, pulling up in his Mercedes and waving to a group of 25 or so fans before entering the building.

This was his first on-field activity since having right knee surgery July 14. He worked out for a half-hour, doing light running, playing catch, taking grounders and hitting in the batting cage off a tee and against a soft toss. He wore a light brace on the knee and showed no signs of difficulty moving. Rodriguez then went inside to ice the knee and run in the pool.

“I feel good. A good day today. Encouraging first day out there on the field and felt pretty good,” said Rodriguez, who signed autographs before talking to the media outside the complex.

Rodriguez said the intensity of the workouts will be increased each day.

“Hopefully 5, 10 percent more every day and see over the next four, five days (how it goes),” Rodriguez said. “It will be a big key to see when I can actually get back on the field for real.”

Rodriguez is hitting .295 with 13 home runs and 52 RBIs.

—

• Joe Girardi said the Yankees haven’t made a decision about what to do with Ivan Nova after tonight’s game, and he also indicated that tonight’s performance might not be a significant factor in what happens next. “There’s decisions that we’re going to have to make,” Girardi said. “But his work has been good and, as I said, I don’t make too much of one start whether it’s great or whether it’s bad. We’ll just have to discuss what we’re going to do.”

• Could the Yankees make a move to give themselves a full bench before getting to Boston? “That’s something we’ll talk about tonight and maybe after the game or tomorrow,” Girardi said. “We’ll just have to see.”

• Girardi said he’s not sure what Rodriguez’s schedule will beyond today. He said Rodriguez is supposed to increase the intensity tomorrow, but he’s not sure to what extent. He said it could be a full week of workouts before Rodriguez is ready to play in a game, but that’s a very vague estimate. Girardi’s really not sure how long it will be.

• Both Bartolo Colon and CC Sabathia flew ahead of the team, leaving for Boston before tonight’s game. That’s a whole lot of baseball player on one flight.

• Eric Chavez is back in the lineup after his four-RBI game last night. He’s been a nice addition, quickly helping to fill the Rodriguez void. “He’s been good, defensively or offensively,” Girardi said. “He played so well before he got hurt, we weren’t sure if we were going to get him back. The foot was like, we’re going to try this and hopefully we’re going to get through this and he’s not going to have surgery. I’m really pleased because there were a lot of days were I felt like we missed him. There were some opportunities for him to play and be a big part of our lineup but we didn’t have him.”

• Obviously there was a lot of pregame talk about the Yankees heading into Boston. Just as obvious, the Yankees didn’t like looking ahead. “All the games are big,” Derek Jeter said. “Our game tonight is big. I’ve always been a firm believer in, if we win our games we’ll be where we want to be. If we were going to Tampa tomorrow I’d tell you the same thing. If we were going to Kansas City tomorrow I’d tell you the same thing. We need to continue to play well and win games. If we do that, then at the end of the year we’ll be where we want to be.”

WHITE SOX
Juan Pierre LF
Alexi Ramirez SS
Paul Konerko DH
Adam Dunn 1B
Carlos Quentin RF
A.J. Pierzynski C
Gordon Beckham 2B
Alejandro De Aza CF
Brent Morel 3B

Associated Press photos

Alex Rodriguez came through today’s workouts with no problems, but he’s still not sure when he’ll be ready to begin playing in games.

“I had an encouraging day today,” Rodriguez told the AP. “I will have a better idea of a timetable in four or five days. The most important thing is to go back healthy.”

Here’s the lineup.

Brett Gardner LF
Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Eric Chavez 3B
Jorge Posada DH
Russell Martin C

Associated Press photo of Rodriguez at the Yankees minor league complex

Here’s the latest from The Associated Press in Tampa, where Alex Rodriguez began baseball activities today at the Yankees minor league complex. Rodriguez’s publicist says recent reports about Rodriguez’s gambling contain “numerous factual inaccuracies” and today’s Daily News quotes professional poker player Dan Bilzerian saying Rodriguez wasn’t involved in the scandalous game in question. “He was playing in the World Series at the time,” Bilzerian said.

CHICAGO (AP) — Alex Rodriguez’s publicist says the Yankees third baseman is looking forward to cooperating with Major League Baseball in its investigation of his alleged involvement in illegal poker games.

Star Magazine reported last month that several people saw A-Rod playing in games hosted at Hollywood hotels and residences.

But Richard Rubenstein, Rodriguez’s publicist, says in a statement Thursday morning that the Star’s story contains “numerous factual inaccuracies.”

The 36-year-old Rodriguez arrived at the Yankees’ minor league training facility in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday to resume baseball activities for the first time since having right knee surgery on July 14.

He arrived in a Mercedes just before noon, waving to a group of 25 fans before entering the complex. He later took the field for about 33 minutes, doing light running, playing catch, taking grounders and hitting in the batting cage off a tee and against a soft toss.

He wore a light brace on the knee and showed no signs of difficulty moving.

Rodriguez then went inside to ice the knee and run in the pool. He plans to meet with the media, but Yankees spokesman Howard Grosswirth said Rodriguez would not comment on non-baseball topics.

The Yankees have signed 15 of their top 24 picks from this year’s draft. The deadline to sign players is next Monday, August 15.

The team’s top pick, Dante Bichette Jr., drove in another run last night and leads the Gulf Coast League with 34 RBI in 34 games. He’s hitting .341/.460/.535 and was named Gulf Coast League Player of the Month for July. Another early standout is 11th-round pick Mark Montgomery — that’s him on the right — who’s already advanced to Low-A Charleston and has 30 strikeouts and five walks in 16.1 innings.

Just a few more quick highlights from the early results of this class: Outfielder Justin James (a 6-foot-5 13th rounder) is hitting .385 with a .500 OBP through his first 11 pro games;  Right-hander Philip Wetherll (also 6-5, 8th rounder) has a 1.10 ERA and 21 strikeouts through 15 relief appearances for Staten Island; Lefty Matthew Tracy (born in Missouri, taken in the 24th round) has allowed one run in 22 relief outings, but coughed up five runs in his only start for Staten Island.

The team has officially announced these signings from the draft:

3B Dante Bichette Jr. (Supplemental first round)
RHP Jordan Cote (3rd round)
INF Matt Duran (4th)
1B Austin Jones (7th)
RHP Philip Wetherell (8th)
RHP Zachary Arneson (9th)
RHP Mark Montgomery (11th)
OF Cody Grice (12th)
OF Justin James (13th)
RHP Branden Pinder (16th)
RHP Hayden Sharp (18th)
RHP Robert Paullus (19th)
INF Zach Wilson (21st)
RHP Corey Maines (23rd)
LHP Matthew Tracy (24th)

Ivan Nova has no idea what’s next. He’s going to start tonight’s game in Chicago, and then… who knows? The Yankees could give him another start in the big leagues. They could move him to the bullpen. They could ship him back to Triple-A.

It’s just a day in the life of a Yankees rookie.

“I love too much this game to have pressure on myself,” Nova said. “If it’s last year, I’m not going to tell you I didn’t have a little bit of pressure at the beginning, but I’m relaxed (this year). I’m enjoying the stay here, and I love too much the game to put pressure on myself. Pressure’s not good for anybody, so I’m relaxed.”

With Nova, you actually believe that a little bit. I’m sure he’s feeling the pressure to some extent, but he does have that always-smiling, happy-to-be-here attitude. He actually seemed more tense during that half season I covered him in the minors than he’s been this season.

Left unprotected in the Rule 5 draft just three years ago, Nova’s now such a prized commodity that the Yankees didn’t want to lose him at the trade deadline. He clearly has a future with this organization. It’s his present role that remains unclear to everyone, including Nova himself.

“This start is like any other start for me,” Nova said. “I just have to go out there and try to do my job, concentrate on what I have to do. I don’t have to worry nothing about what’s going on outside of my job… If you don’t do your job, bad things are going to happen. If you do your job, you can’t control nothing outside of the game. I know there are a lot of decisions that have to be made, but I just gotta stay focused and do my job.”

Here’s Nova, speaking before last night’s game.

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A.J. Burnett should have won tonight. Shoot, anyone should have won tonight. He had a 13-1 lead before he walked to the mound in the third inning, but he still couldn’t last long enough to get a decision. Was there anything positive to take from tonight?

“I get to go in five days,” Burnett said. “That’s about it. It was one of them days, man.”

Burnett will, in fact, make his next start. Phil Hughes and Ivan Nova have been sweating their rotation spots, but Burnett is safe.

“He’s starting on Wednesday,” Joe Girardi said. “His numbers aren’t that bad. If you look at the numbers of Hughes, I mean, Hughesy made one good start. We look at the whole year, and A.J.’s been decent for us.”

That’s true. Burnett’s been decent. He’s had three truly terrible starts, but all the rest have been four earned runs or less. He hasn’t been great, but he’s been better than last season, and the Yankees will stick with him even with Hughes and Nova seemingly pitching better lately.

“I believe I’m a big part of this team and I’m going to be a big part,” Burnett said. “I’m going to get on a roll and it’s just a matter of time… I got five days to be better, and I will be better.”

Tonight’s problem, Burnett said, was a combination of a flat curveball and a high fastball. He didn’t have the hook, so he needed to spot the heater. He couldn’t, and the White Sox took advantage of hitters counts and hittable pitches.

Girardi talked before the game about wanting to see Burnett finally get a win. He pitched well enough to win a few games last month and never did it. Tonight was a prime opportunity to get it done, but Girardi said he felt he had to make a change in the fifth — “I see that he’s struggling and we’ve got to win,” Girardi said — and whatever frustration Burnett showed was fine with Girardi. Burnett insisted that the frustration walking off the mound and into the dugout was directed at himself, not as his manager.

“I was a little upset,” he said. “But then again, he’s got to look at how I’m pitching too. I wasn’t exactly doing anything out there. I had one good quick inning but then you got to stop the bleeding somehow… Joe’s got to do what’s best for the team, keep us ahead in that game. The way I was throwing the ball, it didn’t seem like I could do it.”

Here’s Burnett.

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And here’s Girardi.

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• In the big picture, it’s impossible to ignore Burnett. But here and now, this was a big night for the Yankees, who have won six straight and 10 of their past 13. They have 33 extra-base hits in the past eight games. “It’s not too often during the course of the season where it seems like everyone is swinging the bat well at the same time,” Derek Jeter said. “But it’s been the case for us the last few days.”

• Jeter had the fourth five-hit game of his career, and his second of the season (I’m sure you remember the other one). He passed Lou Brock for 23rd on baseball’s all-time hits list with 3,026.

• Don’t look now, but Jeter’s hitting .280, the same as Brett Gardner. “I’m having good at-bats, trying to swing at good pitches,” Jeter said. “I feel as though since I’ve been back, I’ve been swinging the bat a lot better. I just want it to continue.”

• Eric Chavez homered for the first time since May 11, 2010 with Oakland. He had four RBI for the first time since May 10, 2007 at Kansas City.

• Other offensive notes: Gardner scored a career-high four runs and recorded his 19th consecutive successful steal… Robinson Cano has a hit in 39 of his past 50 games and had four RBI for the fourth time this season… Curtis Granderson is hitting .538 with three doubles, a triple and six RBI this series. He was a home run short of the cycle tonight.

• The Yankees bullpen pitched 4.2 scoreless innings allowing just one hit. Cory Wade got the win in relief of Burnett. The bullpen has a 1.93 ERA in the past 18 games.

• Burnett usually speaks glowingly of Russell Martin and their ability to work together, but tonight Burnett said some of the pitch sequences were predictable. “You know, you try to attack but I just felt like we got in sequences here and there: heater, hook, heater, hook, heater, hook,” Burnett said. “Me and Russ will watch tomorrow and we’ll figure it out.”

• Martin on the pitch sequences: “It’s a possibility, but he’s a three-pitch guy. His best pitch, his strikeout pitch, is his curve. I’ve been trying to talk to him, get him to elevate a little bit and use his fastball when he’s got a couple strikes to change the eye level. At this point, I think it would be a good idea to make some adjustments and change a couple things.”

• Martin said he thought falling behind in counts was a key to the White Sox getting their offense going in that fourth inning. He seemed to take Burnett’s struggles personally. “I’m just disappointed in myself that I couldn’t get him through five innings with that lead,” Martin said. “He’s going to say that he’s the one throwing the ball, but that’s why I’m not smiling much right now. I felt if there was any game to get him a win and get him back on track, this was it. There’s a whole lot of season left. As long as we can get him going in the right direction from here on out, I want him to start taking steps forward and not backward.”

• We’ll end this night on a positive note, with Girardi talking about the recent surge from the Yankees offense: “It’s just good at-bats is what it is, and guys getting their pitches and not missing them. Sometimes we’ve been missing them, and sometimes pitchers are going to make pitches on you, but their at-bats have been tremendous. It seems like we’ve jumped on teams early, and that’s important too.”

Associated Press photos

On an unmistakably good night for the Yankees, A.J. Burnett managed to steal the show in a bad way. The Yankees won 18-7 — the second time in five days that they scored at least 17 runs — but still Burnett couldn’t get a victory. He gave up a season-high 13 hits while pitching a season-low 4.1 innings. All seven White Sox runs were his, and this is a White Sox team that was without Paul Konerko and had scored a total of seven runs in its past four games. The Yankees bullpen held the White Sox to just one hit the rest of the night, while the Yankees finished with 23 hits, five of them by Derek Jeter. Curtis Granderson had five RBI, Brett Gardner scored four times and Eric Chavez hit his first home run as a Yankee.

Associated Press photo

YANKEES (66-42)
Brett Gardner LF
Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Eric Chavez 3B
Jorge Posada DH
Russell Martin C

RHP A.J. Burnett (8-9, 4.23)
Burnett vs. White Sox

WHITE SOX (52-56)
Juan Pierre LF
Omar Vizquez 2B
Carlos Quentin DH
Adam Dunn 1B
Alexi Ramirez SS
A.J. Pierzynski C
Alex Rios CF
Alejandro De Aza RF
Brent Morel 3B

RHP Gavin Floyd (9-9, 3.96)
Floyd vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 8:20 p.m., YES Network / ESPN

WEATHER: It’s officially hot in the midwest. It’s in the 80s, but feels hotter. Clear blue sky all afternoon, with no real chance of rain.

UMPIRES: HP Brian Runge, 1B Marvin Hudson, 2B Tim McClelland, 3B Ted Barrett

BLAME IT ON THE RAIN: According to Elias, the last Yankees pitcher — before Phil Hughes last night — to be credited with a shutout despite not pitching nine innings was Sam McDowell in 1973. That was also against the White Sox. McDowell threw only six innings in the second game of a doubleheader at the original Yankee Stadium that was halted by rain.

ON THE RUN: Curtis Granderson got his 20th stolen base last night. He’s reached that mark three times in his career (26 stolen bases in 2007 and 20 in 2009).

OFFICIALLY (RE)SCHEDULED: The Yankees’ makeup game against the Rays on Thursday, September 22 has been scheduled for a 7:05 first pitch. That’s the makeup for a July 8 rainout.

UPDATE, 8:21 p.m.: My friend Tony, the only White Sox fan I know, just sent me this text message: “Seriously? To start off the game with the 2 most perfect bunts I’ve ever seen in my life?”

UPDATE, 8:23 p.m.: A follow-up text from Tony: “There’s 1-0… game over.”

Must be nice to be a White Sox fan these days.

UPDATE, 8:25 p.m.: Bunt singles by Gardner and Jeter. Bloop single to no-man’s land by Granderson. Sac fly by Teixeira. Three-run homer by Cano. It’s just that easy to take a 4-0 lead.

UPDATE, 8:54 p.m.: With two outs, Gardner HBP, Jeter single and Granderson two-run triple. Top of the order is getting it down tonight. It’s 6-1 in the middle of the second.

UPDATE, 9:00 p.m.: The Yankees didn’t get the double play, but Burnett still managed to get out of the second inning with runners stranded at the corners.

UPDATE, 9:08 p.m.: Eric Chavez’s first homer of the season is a two-run show in the third inning, giving the Yankees an 8-1 lead. They’ve made seven outs and scored eight runs.

UPDATE, 9:27 p.m.: Can this game end after six and a half innings, too? It’s 13-1 in the middle of the third. Derek Jeter already has three hits. Brett Gardner has reached base three times without getting the ball out of the infield. Russell Martin is the only Yankees starter without a hit, and he’s walked and scored a run.

UPDATE, 9:58 p.m.: Take the good with the bad, I guess. The Yankees still have a comfortable lead, but Burnett just struggled through a five-run fourth inning and the White Sox have cut the lead to 13-6.

UPDATE, 10:00 p.m.: Jeter is 4-for-4, batting average up to .279.

UPDATE, 10:15 p.m.: Given a 13-1 lead, Burnett couldn’t last long enough to get the win. That’s brutal. Here’s Cory Wade with the score 13-7 in the fifth.

UPDATE, 10:44 p.m.: Gardner looked safe to me. Bruney disagreed, he’s been ejected and the Yankees are in position to build on their lead in the seventh.

The Yankees made one rotation decision today. The rest remains as unsettled as ever.

“Our plans right now are to keep Phil on rotation for Tuesday,” Joe Girardi said. “We want Nova to throw well, and if he continues to throw well, we’re going to have to answer some questions of exactly what we’re going to do, but Phil was real good last night.”

As he’s done the past few days, Girardi ruled out nothing for Ivan Nova. The Yankees could stick with some sort of six-man rotation for another turn. They could move Nova to the bullpen. They could option him back to Triple-A, with plans to have him start a doubleheader later this month. Girardi ruled out nothing today, but he did acknowledge that Monday’s off day would make it difficult to keep a six-man rotation going without significant changes. As it is, Hughes’ start on Tuesday is coming with six days rest.

It’s easy to point to tomorrow’s start by Nova as a significant turning point one way or the other, but Girardi said it’s more complicated than that. What happens this weekend could also play a role, as could the desire to keep the other guys on a fairly regular schedule.

“I always say, the big-leagues is the big-leagues,” Nova said. “Nobody wants to be in the minor leagues. If they need me in the bullpen, I’ll go to the bullpen. I’m not saying I want to go there, but any decision that they make, that’s what I gotta to do.”

• Alex Rodriguez remains on schedule to begin baseball activities tomorrow in Tampa, but there’s still no schedule in place for when he might begin a rehab assignment or return to the big leagues. “I’m not exactly sure what he’s going to do,” Girardi said. “I would think he would start with tee and toss. That would be my guess… I think you’ve got to see how he’s doing tomorrow and the next couple of days before you can say he’s this many days away.”

• As you might expect, Girardi had nothing to say about the Rodriguez gambling story.

• The most significant big leaguer still rehabbing in Tampa is probably Damaso Marte, but Girardi said he had no update on him. The assumption seems to be that he’s still just throwing bullpens.

• A.J. Burnett went winless in July. He made five starts, allowing either three or four runs each time, but he never got a win. That’s not a great month, but it’s not a terrible month either. “I think it’s important (that he get a win) because I think everyone wants to feel like they’re contributing,” Girardi said.

• Girardi on Mark Teixeira’s recent hot streak: “This guy has put up big numbers for a long time. That’s what he does. You look at his RBIs, his homers, they’ve very good. You hope he can carry it out, what do we have, eight weeks left? That would be awesome. The chances of a guy staying hot for eight weeks, sometimes you’re going to go through some little blips, but this guy’s a good hitter and he’s capable of doing it.”

• I guess because the game is on ESPN, first pitch is actually scheduled for 8:20 ET tonight.

WHITE SOX
Juan Pierre LF
Omar Vizquez 2B
Carlos Quentin DH
Adam Dunn 1B
Alexi Ramirez SS
A.J. Pierzynski C
Alex Rios CF
Alejandro De Aza RF
Brent Morel 3B

Associated Press photo