Power struggle

The White Sox are a home-run hitting team. Let's just acknowledge that fact and examine what it means. “It’s the quickest way to score," Sox manager Robin Ventura said before Wednesday night's game against the Yankees. The White Sox, by the way, are shooting for their first three-game home sweep of New York since 1991. After stating the obvious, Ventura stressed the importance of manufacturing runs from time to time. The Sox rank second in the major leagues with 163 home runs and are on pace to hit 216. They have cleared the fence 53 times in the last 28 games. "You just need to balance it out," Ventura said. "I think sometimes we get a little bit of a reliance on hitting home runs. It’s more approach and being able to score in other ways, and that’s part of it. Home runs are great, but if you’re going to continue to win into September you've got to score in other ways.” In 2000, the White Sox also hit 216 homers as Frank Thomas, Magglio Ordonez, Paul Konerko and Carlos Lee combined for 122. They won the AL Central but were swept by the Seattle Mariners in the ALDS. The Sox scored just 7 runs in 3 games vs. Seattle and hit 1 home run (Ray Durham). Ventura is worried about a similiar power outage - assuming the White Sox make it to the playoffs. "When you look at nine innings, you have a better chance of getting runs by getting good at-bats and moving guys around the bases instead of waiting for a home run," RV said. Kevin Youkilis, who hit a grand slam in Tuesday night's 7-3 win over the Yankees, agrees. "There's some power on this team and guys can go deep," Youkilis said. "We've been very fortunate, it's helped us out the past couple of days. But we also have to do little things, get those basehits, more than just relying on home runs."