Encouraging signs: Contreras, Colon solid in final preseason tune-up

April 4, 8:31 PMChicago White Sox ExaminerJJ Stankevitz

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With opening day just two days away, the White Sox got a much-needed confidence booster from Jose Contreras and Bartolo Colon, who combined to shut out the Diamondbacks in the White Sox' final game before the regular season, a 2-0 win over Arizona Saturday afternoon.

While nobody should ever read too much into spring starts, the fact that Contreras and Colon both put together excellent outings is at least somewhat encouraging given their recent struggles. Contreras tossed four scoreless innings, allowing just one hit with no walks and three strikeouts. His splitter was working very well and, more importantly, he was throwing a good amount of strikes.

Colon was even more impresive, scattering three hits and a walk to go along with six strikeouts in his five innings of work. His pitches had excellent life on them—and while he hasn't looked bad in his last couple of spring starts, the results weren't necessarily there. Today, the results were there, so he and Contreras will enter the 2009 season on a high note.

So, hey, opening day is Monday. Check back tomorrow for a Royals series preview and some basic predictions on the AL Central.