Tuesday, Oct. 07, 2008

Sonnanstine gets 1st win since August

Andy Sonnanstine hadn't pitched since Sept. 26.

He hadn't won since Aug. 18.

And none of that seemed to bother the right-hander Monday when he pitched the Rays past the Chicago White Sox and into the American League Championship Series with a 6-2 victory at U.S. Cellular Field.

Sonnanstine allowed only three hits and two runs in 5 2/3 innings to earn his first-ever postseason victory.

He did so without the 90-plus fastball that Scott Kazmir and Matt Garza carry with them to the mound, but with an array of off-speed pitches, breaking balls and good control.

Sonnanstine walked one batter and struck out four. The only runs he allowed were solo home runs by Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye.

Both came with two outs and Sonnanstine responded by retiring the next batter for the final out of the inning.

Sonnanstine made the ALDS roster over Edwin Jackson because he pitched better down the stretch. While he went the final seven starts without a win, five of those were no-decisions. Included were consecutive starts against Boston in September where Sonnanstine did not allow an earned run over 13 innings.

The might 'pen

The Rays bullpen allowed only one earned run in 11 2/3 innings. That was Konerko's leadoff home run against Dan Wheeler in the ninth inning of Game 1.

The bullpen finished the ALDS with nine consecutive scoreless innings.

The mighty Peña

Since returning from the scratched cornea in his left eye that forced him to miss all but the first two innings of Game 1, Carlos Peña was 5-for-9 with two RBIs and two stolen bases.

Not so mighty

Evan Longoria, who turns 23 today, was hitless in his final nine at-bats against Chicago.

After becoming the first rookie in major league history to homer in his first two postseason at-bats and after following those two Game 1 bombs with an RBI single, Longoria was 1-for-12 with a pair of walks and six strikeouts.

He was 0-for-5 Monday with three strikes and stranded six runners.

Upton unloads

B.J. Upton homered three times in the span of four at-bats during Games 3 and 4, matching his home run totals for April and June and exceeding the number of home runs he hit in May (0), July (0), august (2) and September (1).

Monday was the first multi-home run game for Upton, who finished with only nine homers during the regular season.

Upton's last regular season home run came Sept. 26. Combine that with the three he hit against the White Sox and Upton has four home runs in his last six games.

Noteworthy

Carl Crawford was struck on the left side of his face by Dioner Navarro's bat during batting practice, but was able to play. Crawford walked twice, stole two bases and scored the Rays third run of the game when he came all the way home from first on Cliff Floyd's double ... Floyd, a native of Chicago, had an RBI double and scored a run in the fourth inning ... Jason Bartlett had four hits in the four games. He scored on three of those occasions.