Levine: Night Of Redemption For White Sox Hurlers
By Bruce Levine-
(CBS) On a cold evening when baseball shouldn't have been played, the White Sox on Tuesday stole a game and added some much needed swagger to their pitching staff. The game-time temperature of 37 degrees wasn't suitable for high-quality baseball, but starter Erik Johnson did himself proud by gutting out 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball in a 2-1 win against the world champion Red Sox.
Johnson left the game to a suspect bullpen, which pitched 2 1/3 innings of no-hit baseball. Johnson set a career high in strikeouts with nine, allowing just three hits, including a Daniel Nava fourth-inning solo home run.
"Everything he threw looked sharp," Chicago manager Robin Ventura said. "His fastball was hitting the corners, and he was keeping his stuff down. He has a curveball when he needed it. He got us where we needed to be."
Johnson was facing former White Sox pitcher Jake Peavy, who left some sage advice behind for Johnson last season.
"I remember my first spring training when he talked about fastball command," Johnson said Tuesday evening. "Just hearing him talk in the locker room -- I respect him a lot for what he has done. He always had good advice."
Daniel Webb got his first big league win, retiring one hitter with the go-ahead runs on base and two out in the ninth.
"I got the ball, and it is going home to my dad," Webb said. "Today showed we have good arms, and although we have struggled it is still early. (Tuesday) was proof we can get outs and compete."
The White Sox are now 8-6.
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.
