Morning Box Score: Cubs in First. White Sox All In... A Slump

By Chuck Sudo in News on Apr 21, 2011 2:46PM

After last night's 4-1 loss to Tampa Bay, The White Sox hitting slump is now so pronounced that people are calling for the firing of hitting coach Greg Walker. Demanding Walker's head may as well be a rite of spring at this point. Not trying to defend him here, but critics are quick to lay the blame on Walker when the bats go quiet and hesitant to give him propers when the team is hitting the cover off the baseball. Walker giving the press sound bites like, "our hitters aren't making adjustments" only add fuel to the fire. But Walker can't hit for them, and he isn't making fielding calls or getting picked off first base like Paul Konerko did the other night. This is a team wide slump. As Talking Chicago Baseball notes, this is some of the worst baseball the White Sox have played in Ozzie Guillen's time as manager. As bad as the White Sox played early last season, their longest losing streak before their June hot streak was four games. Last night's loss marked the Sox' seventh in a row. But at least they're keeping pace with Minnesota. At the bottom of the Al Central standings.

Meanwhile, the Cubs find themselves in first place after splitting a day-night doubleheader with San Diego. Yes, the Cubs are 9-9 and it's the NL Central, but the foundation is there for the Cubs to actually be a fun team to watch, even with Mike Quade burning through his bullpen in the first game. Reed Johnson provided the heroics in that game with a walkoff homer in the 11th inning to beat the Padres 2-1. The second game, a 5-4 Padres victory. Ryan Ludwick hit a two-run homer, Cameron Maybin and Chris Denorfia added solo shots to tag James Russell with the loss. But Cubs fans have to like the way Quade is directing this team. A .500 record may be enough to win the NL Central.