The White Sox took the first game of their series against Oakland Monday, notching a 4-1 victory in McAfee Coliseum. There were a couple of pleasant surprises for the team, in the form of solid performances from a pair of unlikely players.
The first was starting pitcher Jose Contreras, who gave up just four hits and one run in six innings on the mound, effectively bouncing back from the Opening Day debacle that left his ERA at a ripe 63.00.
The other was speedy outfielder Scott Podsednik, who broke a 1-1 stalemate and fulfilled his annual home run quota when he knocked one out of the park in the fifth. He also singled in the eighth inning and was driven in by a Jim Thome base hit.
“Whew, that’s a relief!” Podsednik said after the game. “Now I can coast through the rest of the regular season getting the occasional single, sac fly or stolen base.”
Podsednik explained that his home run was not motivated by a dying kid’s wish or anything like that, but something decidedly less noble.
“We all know that chicks dig the long ball, right? Well, let’s just say that my wife Lisa (Dergan) promised me we’d get to sample some new boudoir techniques if I got one over the fence.”
Number of the Night: 0
Celebratory alcoholic beverages downed by Sox players in the locker room after the game. Seriously, an alcohol ban at a baseball locker room? In Oakland of all places?
