May 30, 2012

Prospectus Game of the Week

Memorial Day Sale

by R.J. Anderson

Memorial Day means many things to many people. For Major League Baseball, the holiday means a full slate of games, stretching from midday to midnight.  Some games with no business being entertaining became just that (like the Cubs-Padres and Astros-Rockies games), but the day’s best pitching matchup happened at Tropicana Field. The White Sox and Chris Sale were in town to take on the Rays and Matt Moore. There’s nothing quite like two young, power-armed southpaws going at it, and Sale and Moore made it worth everyone’s while. Here were the lineups for both teams:

White Sox

Alejandro De Aza CF
Gordon Beckham 2B
Adam Dunn 1B
Paul Konerko DH
Alex Rios RF
A.J. Pierzynski C
Dayan Viciedo LF
Alexei Ramirez SS
Orlando Hudson 3B

Rays

Sean Rodriguez 3B
B.J. Upton CF
Ben Zobrist RF
Drew Sutton 1B
Jose Lobaton DH
Elliot Johnson SS
Will Rhymes 2B
Jose Molina C
Rich Thompson LF

Robin Ventura ran the better lineup out there. Not only did the White Sox enter the day with more runs scored than the Rays, but Joe Maddon chose to rest arguably his three best hitters in an already injury-depleted lineup.  Under normal circumstances, the final score would not be revealed in this column until the conclusion. This game, however, garnered as much publicity as any on Monday’s schedule. Almost everyone knows that the White Sox won (by a 2-1 score) and that Sale and Moore combined for 25 strikeouts (with Sale contributing 15). The pitchers made this game, and the pitchers will make this article.

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