NewsFloyd continues to impress
White Sox aided by overturned call in seventh inning
By Matt O'Donnell / MLB.com
06/29/09 11:59 PM ET
CLEVELAND -- The question at the beginning of the season was, "What's wrong with Gavin Floyd? "The only question now, is, "How long can he continue?" Floyd had yet another big outing for the White Sox in a 6-3 win over the Indians on Monday at Progressive Field. The right-hander shut down a downtrodden Indians lineup in the first of a crucial 13-game stretch against divisional opponents. "Outstanding job. Wow," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "I don't care what people say, this is a pretty good hitting ballclub. To shut them down like that, it was a tremendous job once again." Floyd pitched 7 2/3 innings, giving up no runs on five hits with five strikeouts and two walks. He is now 4-1 with a 1.39 ERA in his last eight starts. "I'm trying to get better, execute better and get more aggressive," Floyd said. "I believe in my abilities and I'm trying to feed off each start." Floyd was just 3-5 with a 6.12 ERA in 10 starts in April and May. In his last start at Progressive Field on May 11, Floyd was rocked for eight runs and 11 hits over five innings. But virtually the same Tribe lineup didn't even threaten to score on Floyd until the seventh inning. "My fastball location was pretty good," Floyd said. "I think everything was pretty good." Everything has been so good for Floyd lately that his biggest problem has not been with opposing hitters, but his own. The right-hander had received just 10 runs of support in his previous four road starts. And it looked like it was going to be more of the same through the first eight innings on Monday. The White Sox got on the board quickly off starter Carl Pavano in the first inning. Left fielder Scott Podsednik led off the game with a single and then stole second base. He later scored on a Jermaine Dye single to give the South Siders a 1-0 lead. Chicago followed with another run in the second. Second baseman Chris Getz doubled to right field and then scored on a Gordon Beckham single to give the Sox a two-run lead. But that was all the runs Pavano would give up in his seven innings of work. The Tribe finally threatened Floyd in the seventh. First baseman Ryan Garko came to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the inning. Garko then grounded an 0-1 pitch up the first-base line. Floyd waited as the ball teetered on the foul line before picking it up and nipping Garko for the third out. But home-plate umpire Scott Barry called the ball foul. After further discussion with first-base umpire Phil Cuzzi, who called the ball fair, the umpires reversed the call. Indians manager Eric Wedge came out to argue the call and was tossed. "Everyone was screaming [at Floyd to pick it up]," Guillen said. "That was a big play. That was game right there. I knew the ball was foul when Paul Konerko was arguing. You never see P.K. argue about anything." Floyd, though, said he didn't hear the screaming and made a split-second decision to pick the ball up. "I saw the ball getting closer to the line and saw Garko move out of the way," Floyd said. "I took a gamble and picked it up and threw him out." But things would suddenly get interesting again in the ninth inning. Shortstop Alexei Ramirez led off the inning and was promptly hit in the head by newly acquired Indians reliever Chris Perez. Jayson Nix replaced Ramirez, who left the game but was OK. The very next batter, Dye, was also hit by Perez, this time in the hand. But Dye would stay in the game. Jim Thome walked and A.J. Pierzynski scored Nix with a groundout one batter later. A Getz RBI double and a Beckham RBI single blew the game wide open, giving the White Sox a 6-1 lead. Shin-Soo Choo and Garko hit two meaningless home runs in the ninth inning before reliever Octavio Dotel struck out Luis Valbuena swinging to end the game. The White Sox have now won five of their last six games and seven of their last nine.Matt O'Donnell is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
