Clement (6.0 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 5 K, 2 BB, 109 pitches)7/24 @ CHA
Everett, Konerko, and Rowand all homered off Clement.
Clement actually pitched well, but was unlucky with those homers.
In the game against Clement and our BP, only Rowand hit well (3/4) other than Perez's 1-3 with a BB. Everyone else had a poor batting average that game (only 1 of the 3 homers were not solo shots).
He just needs to keep his pitches down to make it tough to get those deep fly balls.
Contreras (5.2 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, 6 K, 2 BB, 116 pitches)
Ortiz and Tek both homered off Contreras.
Extremely high pitch count for Contreras in only 5.2 IP.
In the game against Contreras and the ChiSox BP, Millar went 2-3 with 1 BB; Tek went 2-4; and Cora went 2-3 (and the one missed hit was a deep ball that served as an RBI sac fly). Cora started the season with the Indians and was facing Contreras for the second time this year, FWIW.
Manny looked awful against Contreras, with 3 Ks. He needs to look at some video of him before Tuesday.
You have to jump Contreras' fastball and smack it around to get him off his game. If you let him establish his fastball for strikes he will kill you with his splitter.
Clement needs to get his slider and 2 seamer over. If he can do that and keep the walks to a minimum he can do okay. Once guys get on base he tends to lose focus and panic.
The Black Sox don't get on base like the Red Sox do but they also steal a lot more and can create havoc on a team They play aggressive and force teams to make plays.
All comes down to whether or not we can light up their pitching early. Their bullpen is rather good....
This is going to be an interesting week...