White Sox set tone with dominant starting pitching

	Like Mark Buehrle in Game 2, Jon Garland worked quickly and pounded the strike zone. Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images
	POLL Who is the true ace of the Chicago White Sox? Mark Buehrle Jose Contreras Freddy Garcia Jon Garland  View Results

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- That phone in the White Sox's dugout? Don't worry. We've got maintenance working on it. Should be up and running soon.

"Bleep," Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen offered in a response that is as typical for him as drawing a breath. "I don't want it to work."

Who needs to communicate with the bullpen when you have starting pitchers who work as if they left their car double parked at a yellow curb with the engine running? You just don't see this kind of pitching at this time of year in this league.

It's been 23 years since any American League staff threw back-to-back complete games in an ALCS -- and the Sox missed by two outs in Game 1 of rendering the bullpen entirely superfluous in the series. Game 3 winner Jon Garland took the baton from Game 2 winner Mark Buehrle, who took it from hard-luck Game 1 loser Jose Contreras. Next up in the 4x9 relay: Freddy Garcia.

At this rate, FOX is going to have to hand out rebates to its advertisers. With no pitching changes and quick games, their inventory of unused ads must be piling up. My goodness, what will they do without getting in that 864th promo for House?

"The key for us is if we don't walk anybody, I like our chances," catcher A.J. Pierzynski said.

The White Sox's pitchers have faced 96 hitters in this series and walked one of them -- that on a borderline 3-and-2 pitch in Game 3 to leadoff batter Chone Figgins.

There is no secret to what Chicago is doing: pound the strike zone early with hard stuff. Garland, for instance, pitching for the first time since Oct. 1, took advantage of his rest and stamina by relying more on four-seam fastballs than sinkers. While he had been throwing 90-91 mph toward the end of the season, he topped out at 95 mph in Game 3. And when he needed to, he dropped in beautifully camouflaged changeups.

Of the first 15 batters he faced, Garland threw a first-pitch fastball 14 times, opting to throw a slider on the one occasion when he didn't. The White Sox starters don't dally between pitches. They strike a commanding presence by staying around the rubber, working quickly and attacking.

How aggressive have they been? Of the 94 batters they faced, the Chicago starting pitchers:

• went to a 2-0 count on only seven batters.
• went to any three-ball count only 10 times.
• threw a first-pitch strike 64 percent of the time.
• allowed only three hits to the 24 hitters who came up with a runner on base.

In a word? Dominant.

The Angels are in trouble, especially with Contreras looming in Game 5.

They were able to beat him in Game 1 on a bunt and two topped grounders, managing only two hard hit balls that entire night. They better attack Garcia early, but you look for offense in Los Angeles' lineup right now and you come up empty.

Through three games, Chone Figgins hasn't scored a run, Vladimir Guerrero has one single, Garret Anderson is 0-for-10 since his first at-bat homer off Contreras and Bengie Molina has one single and no RBIs.

Guerrero looks stiff, almost wounded. There is a creakiness to his gait. It makes you think health is an issue for him. He's hit two balls out of the infield the entire series. The White Sox are preying upon his aggressiveness at bat. In 12 trips to the plate, Guerrero has seen a total of 27 pitches. He's been retired on one or two pitches seven of his 12 times up and never once seen a three-ball count. He's been disposed of way too easily.

The tone of this series has been set, and it begins with the first pitch of every confrontation encountered by the Sox's pitchers. They are in constant attack mode. They are pitching as if they want this series over in a hurry.