It was a great month on the south side of Chicago as the White Sox streaked to a 15-7 record. It took a team-wide effort of course, but no player helped the cause more than 1B/DH Frank Thomas, who created more runs in the month than any other hitter. Highlights of the Big Hurt’s month included driving in the winning run in the 10th inning on a sac fly on July 9, twice reaching safely four times in a game, and capping off a big bottom of the ninth comeback on July 14 with a walk-off single. Most impressively, he reached safely in 50 of his 106 July plate appearances.
Thomas’s month in numbers:
PA AB BB H 2B 3B HR AVG OBP SLG WOBA 106 87 19 31 8 0 2 .356 .472 .517 .444
It was not a great month in Boston as the first-half juggernaut Red Sox gave way to a listless month with a 9-12 record. One steady presence amidst the slide was Smoky Joe Wood, who led the way to a 3-1 record in his four starts during the month. Wood allowed zero earned runs in seven innings pitched in his first two starts in July, resulting in victories over Cleveland and Detroit. Next up was a 7.2 inning start against New York in which he allowed just one run and again led the Sox to victory. His final start was merely decent with three runs allowed in seven innings that ended in a close loss to Chicago.
Wood’s month in numbers:
IP R ER HR BB SO ERA 28.7 6 4 0 10 9 1.26