2009 Chicago White Sox season
The Sox entered the 2009 season as the defending American League Central champions, attempting to repeat against the Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins.
On July 23 Mark Buehrle threw the eighteenth perfect game in Major League history, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays 5–0.
The Sox entered the off-season expecting to part ways with 3B Joe Crede,[1] SS Orlando Cabrera,[2] and CF Ken Griffey Jr.[3] They were expected to move Rookie of the Year runner-up Alexei Ramírez to shortstop, leaving openings at second base, center field, and third base.
There may also be opening in the starting rotation as José Contreras is not expected to be back until after the all-star break, as he recovers from a ruptured Achilles tendon.
On May 11 against the Cleveland Indians in Progressive Field, Carlos Quentin hit a slump after suffering from plantar fasciitis which hampered his swing.
On May 24 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, in the top of the ninth inning, Jack Wilson hit his first home run of season and tied the game at 3.
Also on that day, Carlos Quentin suffered his heel injury after he hit a double and he was placed on the 15-day disabled list.
On June 9 against the Detroit Tigers in the bottom of the ninth inning, bases loaded, trailing 6–4, Paul Konerko doubled down the left field line in which Scott Podsednik and Alexei Ramírez scored, but DeWayne Wise was called out at home plate even though replays showed that he looked safe since Wise's hand touched the home plate before he got tagged.
On June 16, it was scheduled that Sox should have played with Cubs in Wrigley Field, but it was postponed due to rain, and the make-up date is announced to be September 3.
In next day, the Sox defeated the Dodgers 6–5 for thirteen innings after Scott Podsednik hit a bases-loaded single and Beckham scored.
Finally, Gordon Beckham hit a walk-off RBI in the bottom of the ninth inning and Josh Fields scored to give Sox an 8–7 victory.
On July 17 against the Baltimore Orioles, Jim Thome hit a grand slam and a three-run homer in a same game for his career high seven RBIs.
On September 2 against the Minnesota Twins at the Metrodome, the Sox trailed 2–0 before Gordon Beckham and Paul Konerko hit back-to-back home runs with 2 outs in the ninth inning when both had 3–2 accounts off of Joe Nathan.
The White Sox starting pitcher Carlos Torres picked up his first major league victory after he was debuted on July 22.
On the next day against the Oakland Athletics, Carlos Torres pitched for just two-thirds of an inning as he allowed 5 runs on 4 hits with 2 homers.
In the bottom of the fourteenth inning, Ichiro Suzuki hit a walk-off single to center field with men on first and second in which Ryan Langerhans scored.
The White Sox finished October 2–1 after winning two-out-of-three games in a series against the Detroit Tigers in Comerica Park.
