Heheh, Kelvim Escobar drilled pierzynski last niight.
Guillen puts blame on Angels
By Scot Gregor
Daily Herald Sports Writer
Posted Sunday, April 30, 2006
ANAHEIM, Calif. — In the wake of the White Sox’ 2-1 victory over the Angels on Saturday night, Jose Contreras should have been talking about his latest gem.
Or Jim Thome should have been talking about his clutch home run in the sixth inning that decided the outcome.
Instead, the buzz centered around Los Angeles starter Kelvim Escobar, who drilled A.J. Pierzynski in the leg with a pitch in the second inning.
While Escobar denied the intent, there’s little doubt it was a purpose pitch stemming from last season’s American League championship series between the clubs.
Pierzynski was involved in two controversial plays, and Escobar was on the mound for both of them.
In Game 2, Pierzynski reached first base when Angels catcher Josh Paul apparently trapped a third strike. In Game 5, Escobar fielded a comebacker but tagged Pierzynski with his glove when the ball was in his other hand.
After Saturday’s game, Sox manager Ozzie Guillen went off on Escobar.
“If Escobar is going to hit somebody, he should hit himself,’’ Guillen said. “A.J. didn’t have anything to do with the dumb(bleep) plays they made. Josh Paul and him, the two dumb (bleeping) plays they made and now they’re blaming A.J.
“You have to be dumb enough to blame it on somebody when you screwed it up. If you’re going to blame somebody, look in the mirror. A.J. didn’t have anything to do with that. I think that’s a low-(bleep) way to play baseball.’’
Guillen was just getting warmed up.
“People in Los Angeles should remember that play like the Bill Buckner thing,’’ said Guillen, recalling Buckner’s infamous error in the 1986 World Series.
“It’s nobody’s fault Josh Paul didn’t tag the guy. It’s nobody’s fault (Escobar) tagged the guy with the wrong hand. Blame yourself. And now you’re going to hit somebody for no reason? You can get somebody hurt with no reason.’’
Pierzynski appeared to have a few words for Escobar as he headed to first base after being hit, but he denied saying anything.
“I don’t know why the (heck) he’s hitting me,’’ Pierzynski said. “I just ran to first. Maybe he should hit the guy (Paul) that rolled the ball back to the mound. I didn’t do anything to show him up.’’
Contreras (4-0), meanwhile, pitched 8-1/3 innings and allowed 1 run on 5 hits to win his 12th straight regular-season decision dating to last year.
“Contreras dealt and we got a win,’’ Pierzynski said. “That’s the biggest thing. It’s a shame people will be talking about all of this stupid stuff.’’