AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISIONAL SERIES
Chicago White Sox vs. New York Yankees 
Game 1: Mark Buehrle vs. Mike Mussina, Yankee Stadium
CHISOX STEAL ALDS OPENER FROM YANKS
Sloppy Defense Aids NY Loss
NEW YORK, Sept. 30 (AP) - The Chicago White Sox broke a three-all tie with an
unearned run in the top of the 8th inning and slipped past the New York Yankees,
4-3, in Game 1 of the teams' American League Divisional Series at Yankee
Stadium. In a contest marred by sloppy execution--the teams combined to
strand 22 baserunners and the Yankees committed three errors, the last of which
was fatal--the White Sox had just enough to take a 1-0 series lead.
Facing Cy Young Award candidate Mike Mussina, the White Sox took a surprising
2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Carlos Lee started things off
with one out by crushing the first pitch he saw from Mussina into the netting
above the bullpen area in left-center field for a 1-0 Chicago advantage.
One out later, Magglio Ordonez laced a double into right-center field and Carl
Everett followed by roping a two-bagger of his own off the base of the center
field wall, doubling the White Sox's lead.
The Yankees immediately responded against Chicago starter Mark Buehrle in the
bottom of the opening frame. Alfonso Soriano led off the inning with a
base hit and moved to third one out later on Derek Jeter's single to
right-center. Jason Giambi drew a four-pitch walk to fill the bases and
Jorge Posada lifted a sacrifice fly to the edge of the warning track in right
field, scoring Soriano to cut the deficit to 2-1.
The White Sox got the run back in the second inning when Jose Valentin doubled
to right-center to start the inning and scored two outs later when Roberto
Alomar grounded a single through the box, upping the lead to 3-1.
But the Yankees roared back to even the game in the bottom of the third.
Soriano again led off with a single. Nick Johnson flied to left and
Soriano moved to second on Jeter's ground out. Giambi walked for the
second straight plate appearance and Posada drove home his second run of the
contest by slapping a 3-2 offering from Buehrle into center field. With
the runners moving on the play Soriano scored without a throw and Giambi
advanced to third. Bernie Williams' broken bat blooper to center dropped
for a base hit and Giambi trotted home with the game-tying run.
After a rough first couple of innings, Mussina settled in nicely, pitching
around a Jeter error in the third and a walk to Frank Thomas in the fifth.
With the score still tied, Everett led off the sixth inning with a single and
New York manager Joe Torre got the bullpen up as Mussina approached the 90-pitch
mark for the game. But the Yankees right-hander retired the next three
batters in order, ending with a strikeout of Joe Crede. As the inning
ended, however, it was clear that Mussina--who had thrown 108 pitches in six
innings--was done for the night.
Buehrle held the Yankees off the scoreboard in the fourth and fifth innings, but
ran into trouble in the sixth. Back-to-back singles off the bats of Posada
and Williams opened the frame. Hideki Matsui's slow roller to short
resulted in the inning's first out, but the runners advanced to second and third
on the play. With right-handed batters due up in the next three slots and
the game potentially on the line, White Sox manager Jerry Manuel summoned Scott
Sullivan from the bullpen to replace Buehrle. With the infield drawn in,
Sullivan rose to the occasion and struck out Aaron Boone for the second out of
the inning. Torre called on pinch hitter Karim Garcia to bat for Juan
Rivera and Manuel countered with lefty Kelly Wunsch. Garcia grounded to
Roberto Alomar at second to end the inning with the score still tied.
The Yankees avoided falling behind in the top of the seventh. With one
out, Roberto Alomar grounded to first but Johnson's flip to pitcher Jeff Nelson
covering the bag was errant and Alomar was safe on the second New York error of
the game. On the first pitch to Carlos Lee, Alomar stole second base, and
the second pitch to Lee was wild, allowing Alomar to advance to third with one
out. But Nelson came back to strike out Lee for the second out.
After falling behind Frank Thomas, Nelson walked the Chicago designated hitter
intentionally and then retired Ordonez on a pop to second to close out the
frame.
The Yankees' third error of the game came in the top of the eighth inning and
led to the club's undoing. Felix Heredia was on the mound for New York and
he plunked Everett with an 0-1 pitch to open the frame. Everett was
replaced by pinch runner Willie Harris who promptly stole second base.
Paul Konerko then rolled a grounder to Johnson's right. Had he let the
ball go, Soriano had an easy play and would have thrown the lumbering Konerko
out easily. But Johnson tried to make a play on the ball, had it go off
his glove and everyone was safe. The White Sox had runners on first and
third and no one out. Heredia induced a pop fly off the bat of Valentin,
leaving runners on the corners with one out. Antonio Osuna was then
brought on to face Crede, but the Chicago third baseman lifted a sacrifice fly
to right, scoring Harris and giving the White Sox a 4-3 lead. Sandy Alomar
followed with a double to right-center, chasing Konerko to third and Osuna
walked Roberto Alomar to load the bases. Carlos Lee struck out, however,
to end the inning.
Damaso Marte pitched around a pair of Yankees singles to keep New York off the
scoreboard in the bottom of the eighth and Mariano Rivera worked around a pair
of White Sox baserunners to keep Chicago scoreless in the top of the
ninth.
Tom Gordon came on for the White Sox in the bottom of the ninth to try to close
out the game. He struck out Soriano to open the inning but Johnson, in an
attempt at redemption, grounded a single to center. But Gordon rose to the
occasion, striking out both Jeter and Giambi to earn the save and put the White
Sox ahead in the series, 1-0.
9/30/2003, CWS03-NYY03, Yankee Stadium
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
2003 White Sox 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 4 8 0 12 1
2003 Yankees 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 12 3 10 0
White Sox AB R H BI AVG Yankees AB R H BI AVG
Alomar,R 2b 4 0 1 1 .250 Soriano,A 2b 5 1 2 0 .400
Lee,Ca lf 5 1 1 1 .200 Johnson,N 1b 5 0 2 0 .400
Rowand lf 0 0 0 0 .000 Jeter ss 5 1 2 0 .400
Thomas,F dh 2 0 0 0 .000 Giambi,Ja dh 3 1 0 0 .000
Graffanino pr 0 0 0 0 .000 Posada c 3 0 2 2 .667
Ordonez,M rf 5 1 1 0 .200 Williams,B cf 4 0 3 1 .750
Everett,C cf 3 0 2 1 .667 Matsui lf 4 0 1 0 .250
Harris,W pr 1 1 0 0 .000 Boone,A 3b 4 0 0 0 .000
Konerko 1b 5 0 1 0 .200 Rivera,J rf 2 0 0 0 .000
Valentin,Jo ss 5 1 1 0 .200 Garcia,K ph 1 0 0 0 .000
Crede 3b 3 0 0 1 .000 Sierra ph 1 0 0 0 .000
Alomar,S c 4 0 1 0 .250 Dellucci rf 0 0 0 0 .000
37 4 8 4 37 3 12 3
White Sox INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Buehrle 5.1 8 3 3 2 1 86 51 5.06
Sullivan 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 5 3 0.00
Wunsch 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 13 8 0.00
Koch W 1-0 0.1 1 0 0 0 0 8 5 0.00
Marte H 1 1.0 2 0 0 0 1 18 11 0.00
Gordon S 1 1.0 1 0 0 0 3 16 10 0.00
9.0 12 3 3 2 6 146 88
Yankees INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Mussina 6.0 6 3 3 1 5 108 70 4.50
Nelson 1.0 0 0 0 1 2 25 12 0.00
Heredia L 0-1 0.1 0 1 0 0 0 9 4 0.00
Osuna 0.2 1 0 0 1 1 16 9 0.00
Rivera,Ma 1.0 1 0 0 1 2 22 13 0.00
9.0 8 4 3 4 10 180 108
CWS: Harris,W ran for Everett,C in the 8th
Harris,W moved to cf in the 8th
Graffanino ran for Thomas,F in the 9th
Rowand inserted at lf in the 9th
NYY: Garcia,K batted for Rivera,J in the 6th
Garcia,K moved to rf in the 7th
Sierra batted for Garcia,K in the 8th
Dellucci inserted at rf in the 9th
E-Johnson,N 2, Jeter. 2B-Ordonez,M(1), Everett,C(1), Valentin,Jo(1),
Alomar,S(1). HR-Lee,Ca(1). RBI-Alomar,R(1), Lee,Ca(1), Everett,C(1),
Crede(1), Posada 2(2), Williams,B(1). SB-Alomar,R(1), Harris,W(1).
K-Lee,Ca 3, Thomas,F, Ordonez,M 2, Valentin,Jo 2, Crede, Alomar,S, Soriano,A,
Jeter, Giambi,Ja, Boone,A, Rivera,J, Sierra. BB-Alomar,R, Thomas,F 3,
Giambi,Ja 2. SF-Crede, Posada. HBP-Everett,C. HB-Heredia. WP-Nelson.
GWRBI: Crede
Temperature: 64, Sky: clear, Wind: left to right at 1 MPH.
Attendance: 57,374
Game Time: 3:29
Game 2: Jon Garland vs. Andy
Pettite, Yankee Stadium
CHISOX TAKE COMMAND OF SERIES WITH LONG BALL AND BULLPEN
Wright Unlikely Hero; Yanks Head to Chicago with No Room for Error
NEW YORK, Oct. 1 (AP) - The Chicago White Sox took a commanding 2-0 lead of
their American League Divisional Series with the New York Yankees following an
8-5 Game 2 victory at Yankee Stadium. Dan Wright gave the White Sox a huge
lift, earning the win with three shutout innings of work in relief of an
ineffective Jon Garland. And the Chicago batsmen pounded Yankees starter
Andy Pettite for eight runs (six earned) in 5 1/3 innings. For the second
straight game, the Yankees had defensive problems; the club has now committed an
embarrassing six errors in two games, three of them by first baseman Nick
Johnson.
After the White Sox surprisingly won the series opener, things seemed to be
returning to normal in the first inning of Game 2. Chicago was retired
without scoring in the top of the inning and in the bottom half the Yankees
pounced on Garland. Alfonso Soriano led off with a single. Nick
Johnson struck out and Derek Jeter lined back to Garland. But Jason Giambi
dropped a single into left field and then Jorge Posada crushed a home run into
the right field bleachers, giving the Yankees a 3-0 lead. Bernie Williams
singled and Hideki Matsui walked before Aaron Boone's liner into right was
caught by a diving Magglio Ordonez to keep the damage from being any
worse. It proved to be a key play.
The White Sox immediately struck back in their half of the second inning against
Pettite. Carlos Lee jumped on the first pitch he saw and hammered his
second home run of the series, this one up against the center field
bleachers. Paul Konerko followed with a single to right and then Joe Crede
unloaded on a 2-2 Pettite change up, depositing the ball deep into the left
field grandstand for a game-tying two-run home run.
The Yankees came right back to take the lead in the bottom of the inning.
Juan Rivera led off by grounding a single to right and, one out later, Johnson
walked, putting runners on first and second. Jeter then looped a single
down the right field line, scoring Rivera to make it 4-3. Johnson advanced
to third on the play. But Garland, who was hanging on for dear life,
avoided further trouble by inducing a double play ball off the bat of Giambi to
end the inning.
The Yankees knocked Garland out of the game in the fourth, but failed to put the
contest away. Rivera led off with a double into the right field corner,
which was followed by Wright replacing the Chicago starter on the mound.
On the very first pitch to Soriano, a passed ball charged to catcher Miguel
Olivo allowed Rivera to take third. Soriano swung at the next pitch and
hit a routine grounder to third baseman Crede who kicked it for an error,
allowing Rivera to score on the play. Johnson struck out for the first out
of the inning, but Soriano stole second base. Jeter then walked but Giambi
and Posada both flied out to end the threat. Still, the Yankees led 5-3.
But the White Sox immediately squared the game in the fifth. Frank Thomas
led off the inning with a single to center and Ordonez followed with his club's
third home run of the contest. The game-tying two-run shot landed just
inside the left field foul pole.
In the sixth, the White Sox took their first lead of the game. With one
out, Olivo walked, and Roberto Alomar followed with a free pass of his
own. New York manager Joe Torre visited the mound, intent on giving his
bullpen time to get ready. He wanted the left-handed Pettite to face the
switch-hitting Carl Everett but he had right-hander Jose Contreras warming up to
face Thomas and Ordonez. But Everett dropped a single into shallow right
field. Olivo scored and Alomar and Olivo advanced to third and second
respectively on the throw. Contreras entered the game and the Yankees, now
trailing 6-5, brought the infield in. Thomas struck out for the second out
of the frame and the infield backed up to normal depth. Ordonez hit a
swinging bunt to the left of the mound. Contreras fielded it and then
dropped the ball trying to get it out of his glove. Alomar scored on the
error and Olivo took third. Lee added insult to injury by lining a single
to right field, scoring Olivo and chasing Ordonez to third. Konerko lined
out to left to finally end the inning, but the White Sox had thoroughly turned
the tables, turning a two-run deficit into a three-run lead.
Wright wrapped up the sixth with his third inning of shutout relief. He
gave way to Scott Schoeneweis in the seventh, who pitched around a pair of walks
to keep the lead intact. Tom Gordon came on in the eighth, yielded a
one-out double to Rivera, but struck out Soriano and Johnson to preserve the
Chicago advantage. Damaso Marte entered in the ninth, gave up a two-out
double to Posada, but retired Williams on a routine fly ball to end the game.
The series now heads to Chicago with the White Sox needing only one more victory
to punch their ticket to the American League Championship Series. The
Yankees have yet to face either of the White Sox's two best starting pitchers--Bartolo
Colon and Estaban Loaiza.
10/1/2003, CWS03-NYY03, Yankee Stadium
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
2003 White Sox 0 3 0 0 2 3 0 0 0 8 11 2 8 3
2003 Yankees 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 12 3 10 0
White Sox AB R H BI AVG Yankees AB R H BI AVG
Alomar,R 2b 4 1 0 0 .125 Soriano,A 2b 5 1 1 0 .300
Everett,C cf 5 1 2 1 .500 Johnson,N 1b 4 0 0 0 .222
Rowand lf 0 0 0 0 .000 Jeter ss 4 0 1 1 .333
Thomas,F dh 5 1 1 0 .143 Giambi,Ja dh 4 1 1 0 .143
Ordonez,M rf 5 1 1 2 .200 Posada c 4 1 3 3 .714
Lee,Ca lf 5 1 3 2 .400 Williams,B cf 5 0 3 0 .667
Daubach 1b 0 0 0 0 .000 Matsui lf 3 0 0 0 .143
Konerko 1b 5 1 3 0 .400 Boone,A 3b 4 0 0 0 .000
Harris,W pr 0 0 0 0 .000 Rivera,J rf 4 2 3 0 .500
Crede 3b 5 1 1 2 .125 37 5 12 4
Valentin,Jo ss 4 0 0 0 .111
Olivo c 3 1 0 0 .000
41 8 11 7
White Sox INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Garland 3.0 9 5 4 2 2 65 37 12.00
Wright,D W 1-0 3.0 1 0 0 1 1 44 25 0.00
Schoeneweis H 1 1.0 0 0 0 2 1 19 10 0.00
Gordon H 1 1.0 1 0 0 0 2 17 11 0.00
Marte S 1 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 9 6 0.00
9.0 12 5 4 5 6 154 89
Yankees INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Pettitte L 0-1 5.1 9 8 6 2 4 108 70 10.13
Contreras 1.2 1 0 0 0 3 29 18 0.00
Hammond 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 14 10 0.00
White,G 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 14 9 0.00
9.0 11 8 6 2 9 165 107
CWS: Harris,W ran for Konerko in the 9th
Rowand inserted at lf in the 9th
Daubach inserted at 1b in the 9th
Harris,W moved to cf in the 9th
E-Crede, Olivo, Johnson,N, Boone,A, Contreras. 2B-Everett,C(2), Posada(1),
Rivera,J 2(2). HR-Ordonez,M(1), Lee,Ca(2), Crede(1), Posada(1).
RBI-Everett,C(2), Ordonez,M 2(2), Lee,Ca 2(3), Crede 2(3), Jeter(1),
Posada 3(5). SB-Soriano,A(1). K-Alomar,R, Everett,C, Thomas,F 2, Crede 2,
Valentin,Jo, Olivo 2, Soriano,A, Johnson,N 3, Jeter, Matsui. BB-Alomar,R,
Olivo, Johnson,N, Jeter, Giambi,Ja, Posada, Matsui. PB-Olivo.
GWRBI: Everett,C
Temperature: 59, Sky: clear, Wind: left to right at 10 MPH.
Attendance: 57,454
Game Time: 3:10
Game 3: Roger Clemens vs. Bartolo
Colon, U.S.Cellular Field
5-RUN 8TH LEADS TO CHISOX SWEEP
Yanks Bullpen Melts Down in Elimination Game
CHICAGO, Oct. 3 (AP) - The Chicago White Sox erupted for five runs in the bottom
of the eighth inning, keying a 7-3 victory resulting in a series-clinching sweep
over the New York Yankees at U.S. Cellular Field. The Yankees had, at one
point, been held to just three hits by White Sox starter Bartolo Colon, but all
three of those hits had been solo home runs, giving New York a 3-2 lead heading
into the bottom of the fateful eighth inning.
The White Sox had taken an early lead against New York starter Roger
Clemens. Roberto Alomar led off the bottom of the first with a single and,
after Carl Everett flied out, Frank Thomas' infield hit put Chicago runners on
first and second. Magglio Ordonez followed with a swinging but that
resulted in another infield single, loading the bases. Carlos Lee then
lined a single to left-center, scoring Alomar and Thomas to give the White Sox a
2-0 lead.
Clemens escaped a bases loaded jam in the third, retiring Joe Crede on a
grounder back to the mound to end the inning. That was the beginning of a
long stretch of consecutive batters retired for the Yankees right-hander.
Clemens set down 13 straight White Sox batters, taking him through the seventh
inning.
Colon, meanwhile, held New York hitless through five frames. But Aaron
Boone led off the top of the sixth with a home run into the left field
grandstand, breaking up the no-hitter and the shutout, and cutting the deficit
to 2-1. Then, with one out in the seventh, Jason Giambi recorded the
second Yankees hit of the game, driving a Colon offering into the right field
seats, just inside the foul pole, tying the game. In the eighth, it was
Boone again. With one out, he hit his second home run of the contest; the
ball landed not more than 40 feet from the location of his first homer and put
the Yankees on top for the first time in the game, 3-2.
Clemens' string of consecutive batters retired ended in the bottom of the eighth
when Everett led off with a single to right on a 3-2 fastball. Everett was
replaced at first base by pinch runner Willie Harris. New York manager Joe
Torre wasted no time going to the bullpen, calling on Jeff Nelson to replace
Clemens. Nelson struck out Thomas for the first out of the inning but
yielded a double into the left field corner to Ordonez, with Harris advancing to
third. Lee followed with a grounder to the left of shorstop Derek Jeter
who smothered the ball with a dive but had no play. Harris scored to tie
the game and Ordonez took third. Paul Konerko followed with a double to
left-center, scoring both runners and putting the White Sox back on top,
5-3. Aaron Rowand came on to run for Konerko at second base. In
desperation, the Yankees summoned closer Mariano Rivera to try to stem the
uprising but Crede greeted him with a long home run to right-center, sending the
already animated sellout crowd into a full-blown frenzy. The Chicago lead
was now 7-3.
Tom Gordon replaced Colon on the mound for the White Sox in the ninth and
retired Jeter on a ground ball to short before walking Giambi. Jorge
Posada struck out but Bernie Williams singled to right, with Giambi taking
second. Chicago manager Jerry Manuel brought Damaso Marte on to face lefty
swinging Hideki Matsui and Marte closed out the game with a flourish, blowing a
high fastball past Matsui for a swinging strike three to end the game and the
series.
The White Sox will now rest up and await the winner of the Boston-Oakland
divisional series which will resume tomorrow, following an off-day, tied at a
game apiece.
10/3/2003, NYY03-CWS03, U.S. Cellular Field
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
2003 Yankees 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 3 5 0 4 1
2003 White Sox 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 x 7 11 0 5 1
Yankees AB R H BI AVG White Sox AB R H BI AVG
Soriano,A 2b 3 0 0 0 .231 Alomar,R 2b 4 1 1 0 .167
Johnson,N 1b 4 0 0 0 .154 Everett,C cf 4 0 2 0 .500
Jeter ss 4 0 0 0 .231 Harris,W pr 0 1 0 0 .000
Giambi,Ja dh 2 1 1 1 .222 Thomas,F dh 4 1 1 0 .182
Posada c 4 0 0 0 .455 Ordonez,M rf 4 1 3 0 .357
Williams,B cf 4 0 1 0 .538 Lee,Ca lf 4 1 2 3 .429
Matsui lf 4 0 0 0 .091 Daubach 1b 0 0 0 0 .000
Boone,A 3b 3 2 2 2 .182 Konerko 1b 3 0 1 2 .385
Garcia,K rf 3 0 1 0 .250 Rowand pr 0 1 0 0 .000
31 3 5 3 Crede 3b 4 1 1 2 .167
Valentin,Jo ss 3 0 0 0 .083
Olivo c 4 0 0 0 .000
34 7 11 7
Yankees INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Clemens 7.0 7 3 3 2 3 105 67 3.86
Nelson BS 1, L 0-1 0.1 3 3 3 0 1 11 6 20.25
Rivera,Ma 0.2 1 1 1 0 0 12 9 5.40
8.0 11 7 7 2 4 128 82
White Sox INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Colon W 1-0 8.0 4 3 3 1 5 102 69 3.38
Gordon 0.2 1 0 0 1 1 21 12 0.00
Marte S 2 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 4 3 0.00
9.0 5 3 3 2 7 127 84
CWS: Harris,W ran for Everett,C in the 8th
Rowand ran for Konerko in the 8th
Harris,W moved to cf in the 9th
Daubach inserted at 1b in the 9th
Rowand moved to lf in the 9th
2B-Ordonez,M(2), Konerko(1). HR-Giambi,Ja(1), Boone,A 2(2), Crede(2).
RBI-Giambi,Ja(1), Boone,A 2(2), Lee,Ca 3(6), Konerko 2(2), Crede 2(5).
CS-Soriano,A. K-Soriano,A, Johnson,N, Jeter, Posada 2, Matsui, Garcia,K,
Thomas,F 2, Lee,Ca, Olivo. BB-Giambi,Ja 2, Konerko, Valentin,Jo.
HBP-Soriano,A. HB-Colon.
GWRBI: Konerko
Temperature: 56, Sky: clear, Wind: right to left at 15 MPH.
Attendance: 45,762
Game Time: 2:34