Everyone on Earth had pretty much gifted this game to the White Sox. What a fabulous effort by Paul Byrd ? a tip of the Halo to the Yankee offense, they might have sharpened this pitching staff beyond imagination.
Garret?s bomb was awesome, and Vladdie almost had one as well, to the wall in Left Center, but the wind held it back.
The other two runs were courtesy of back-to-back leadoff hits by Slumpy and Lumpy ? Frosty and A.K. with rare consecutive singles (all safe hits being rare for Frosty). Figgy bunted them over and neither Cabby nor Vlad hit a ball out of the infield but it plated each of them. Fielders Choices scored the runs ? they should have listened to Geddy Lee: If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.
This is still a close series, but getting a win (especially after two red-eye flights and a champagne bath) has inestimable value for the rest of the ALCS. To make it even better, Kevin Gregg (aka, Secret Weapon), has yet to make an appearance. Look for him to start tomorrow if Washburn is anything short of 100%.
With this win, the first ever postseason series Game One win in Scioscia's tenure (tip to Sean Purgatory for confirming this), we have taken away home field advantage from the team with the best record in the American League.