Some offense has made Guillen and the White Sox happy again

ESPN.com

Updated: June 8, 2008

M. Spencer Green/AP Photo

Joe Crede drove home a pair of runs Sunday as the White Sox won their sixth game in a row.

THE WIZARDRY OF OZZIE

By Mark Simon, ESPN Research

A week ago, Ozzie Guillen was ranting and raving about the performance of the White Sox lineup. He no longer is complaining.

MONDAY NIGHT BASEBALL
• Indians at Tigers, 7:05 p.m. ET, ESPN
The White Sox have won six straight thanks to an offense that is hitting and scoring runs in bunches. (On Sunday, the White Sox scored 12 times and pounded out 15 hits against Minnesota). Joe Crede has led the charge with a couple of monstrous games. He has hit .611 with five homers and 12 RBIs in the six-game run. The White Sox have overpowered their opponents with an aggressive attack, pouncing early in the count and bludgeoning teams with their power.

Suddenly, what was a very slim lead in the American League Central is a 5½-game advantage. And talk of Guillen being fired has gone away as quickly as it came.

White Sox's past six games
Team BA .351
First-pitch BA .490
Runs per game 9.0
Slugging pct .627

Past Baseball Tonight Clubhouses: June 5 | June 4 | June 3 | June 2 | June 1 | May 29

FORWARD THINKING: MONDAY

Cliff Lee • Indians at Tigers, 7:05 p.m. ET, ESPN: After a nearly flawless start to the season, Cliff Lee (9-1, 2.45 ERA) has limped along in his past four starts. In all four, he has given up at least seven hits while not pitching more than 6 2/3 innings. He gave up nine hits and six runs his last time out, yet was bailed out by the Cleveland offense. Dontrelle Willis (0-0, 4.50 ERA) did not give up a run in four innings in his first start since April 5 -- but he did hand out five walks to go with two hits.

Edinson Volquez • Reds at Marlins, 7:10 p.m. ET: Edinson Volquez (8-2, 1.32 ERA) leads all of baseball in ERA and has not permitted more than two runs in an outing all season. Right-handers are having the most trouble against him, hitting just .157. Over his past four starts, Mark Hendrickson (7-3, 5.33 ERA) has seen his ERA jump from 3.72 to 5.33. Yet he is 2-1 with a no-decision in those four starts and the Marlins are 3-1.

Joe Saunders • Rays at Angels, 10:05 p.m. ET: Opponents haven't had much success against Joe Saunders (9-2, 2.63 ERA) this year -- except on the first pitch. Batters are hitting .405 with 17 hits (most against any pitch) and two homers (tied for most). The Rays have lost by the same score -- 5-1 -- in each of Edwin Jackson's (3-5, 3.95 ERA) past two outings. Both times, he was responsible for four runs.

• Complete list of pitching probables for Monday's games


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BBTN ON THE AIR: MONDAY

TIME WHO'S ON?
10 p.m. ET
ESPN2		 Host: Steve Berthiaume
Analysts: John Kruk, Buck Showalter, Eric Young
12 a.m. ET
ESPN		 Host: Steve Berthiaume
Analysts: John Kruk, Buck Showalter, Eric Young

BASEBALL TONIGHT MINUTE: WHITE SOX RESPOND TO GUILLEN

SUNDAY DOUBLE PLAY

Every Sunday on the 12:30 p.m. ET "Baseball Tonight" show, Karl Ravech, John Kruk and Steve Phillips take part in the Sunday Double Play competition. Each of them selects a starting pitcher and a hitter to play for Sunday's games. They compete in three categories -- wins, hits and home runs -- based on the results of their selections. The results are cumulative for the season.

This Sunday's pitcher selections and results:

John: Pedro Martinez (no-decision vs. Padres)
Steve: Roy Halladay (win vs. Orioles)
Karl: Aaron Harang (loss vs. Marlins)

This Sunday's hitter selections and results:

John: David Wright (0 hits, 0 HR vs. Padres)
Steve: Milton Bradley (1 hits, 0 HR vs. Rays)
Karl: Ryan Braun (2 hits, 0 HR vs. Rockies)

Here are the standings after the first 10 Sundays:

Wins Hits HRs
John 3 13 0
Steve 3 9 0
Karl 5 9 3

Tune in to "Baseball Tonight" at 12:30 p.m. ET Sunday for the latest Sunday Double Play selections.

SUNDAY'S NOTEWORTHY PERFORMANCES

GOOD
Mark Ellis• Mark Ellis' game-ending grand slam snapped the Angels' seven-game winning streak. It was the first walk-off slam for the A's since 1995.
BAD
Blaine Boyer• Blaine Boyer entered a tie game with the Phillies in the ninth and promptly gave up three runs in the Braves' 6-3 loss while retiring just one hitter.
UGLY
Kevin Slowey• Kevin Slowey was hammered for 10 hits and eight runs over three innings. It didn't get much better for the Twins, with Juan Rincon giving up four in two innings.

FANTASY: PREVIEW OF MONDAY'S GAMES

Adam Madison examines the pitching matchups in store for the eight games on Monday's schedule in the American League and National League.

Fantasy Madison also looks at current injuries and details player reports that could help shape the way you put together your roster for Monday's games. Daily Notes