And just when it looked like the Chicago White Sox had gotten on the right track back into playing good baseball…the unexpected happens. Gavin Floyd, who has pitched as badly as any of our disappointing starting pitchers, had just turned in a very solid 6 IP of 1-run ball, keeping the Detroit Tigers completely off balance, and at bay primarily with his virtually un-hittable curve ball…and then it was time to summon the bullpen for some “relief”. In a move that you can most often count as a welcome sight, was the appearance of Matt Thornton, without question the most reliable of the White Sox arms in the ‘pen. Not on this night…
Thornton, who had not been his usual effective self for the last 2 outings surrendering a run in each previous appearance, absolutely combusted what was an otherwise very well-pitched game to the tune of: (get this) 5 runs, on 3 hits, and 2 walks, with the death-blow coming on a 3-run homer to dead-center field (against the wind, no less)! In 28 pitches, Thornton single-handedly turned a 2-1 Sox lead, into a 6-2 defecit on the way to a crushing 7-2 division loss to the Detroit Tigers. I only mention the number of pitches because I was shocked at how few the number was, since he probably threw an additional 20 or more others to the first base bag with what has got to be one of the League’s worst “pick-off” moves. The inning started bad, as Thornton himself misplayed a weakly-hit liner back to the mound that was in his glove, and then out of his glove, and that as they say…was all it took for the fireworks to start. You see folks, when you are dealing with combustibles (like the fragility of the 2010 Chicago White Sox), even the most innocent of sparks can set off a raging inferno.
This is starting to become a familiar equation…
Baseball Jones 
