If Monday afternoon is truly going to be the biggest moment right-hander Gavin Floyd will have faced on a baseball field, he was saying all of the right things. Or at least he was doing a heck of a job fooling himself.
"Well, my start in Minnesota (last week) was pretty big," Floyd said Sunday. "New York was big. My focus is going out there to keep us in the game. "A chance to make the playoffs and me on the mound? Not a position I'd rather be in."
That remained to be seen.
Coincidentally, the man opposing him for the Detroit Tigers has made a living delivering on that big stage. The Sox didn't call Freddy Garcia "Big Game Freddy" for nothing. Adding to the intrigue, in six degrees of Freddy Garcia: Floyd was the pitcher the Sox acquired after the 2006 season when Garcia was traded to Philadelphia.
"I just sent him a text message," manager Ozzie Guillen said of Garcia, who is not only a close friend but married into Guillen's wife's family. "We have to be ready for Freddy. I know him real well."
Floyd doesn't.
But he hardly seemed fazed with the magnitude the makeup game with Detroit brings. Win, and live to play Minnesota in a one-game playoff. Lose, and enjoy the winter. Perform badly, and Floyd will find out how quickly the South Side can turn on you.
"Yeah, I'm sure I will be nervous and anxious. I'm a human being," Floyd said. "But I know when I throw that first pitch, I'll be into the game."
WHITE SOX 5, INDIANS 1: Paul Konerko got the ball rolling with his third home run in as many days, while Jermaine Dye put his foot on Cleveland's throat with a huge two-run single in the seventh inning. Konerko is hitting .407 with nine homers and 17 RBI in his last 20 home games. The heart of the starting rotation once again came through when the club needed him as Mark Buehrle threw 111 pitches on just three days' rest and got the win. Buehrle is 4-1 with a 2.70 ERA on three days' rest in his career.
