A pretty good weekend for the Sox. First we’ll take a look at the weekend series, then we’ll contemplate the Sox playoff picture.
Things got off on a down note Friday when the Mariners rolled into town and shut down the Sox. Joel Pineiro and four Mariner relieverz held the home team to two runs on eight hits.
All six runs in the game were scored in different innings. Aaron Rowand and A.J. Pierzynski both homered to account for the two White Sox runs.
Mark Buehrle turned the tables on the M’s this past Saturday. The score was the same (4-2) but this time it was the Sox who came out on top. Mark Buerhle was his typical, reliable self. Seven innings, one run and seven hits. The Sox only managed four hits, but they only left two men on base. Paul Konerko connected for a two run homer and Scott Podsednik scored twice.
Yesterday was the third straight two run game of the series and this time it was Jon Garland throwing the gem. Garland held the Mariners to five hits through 7 1/3 and earned his sixteenth win of the season (Cy Young?). Paul Konerko helped out with the bat again by going yard with a two run shot. Joe Crede helped out with a solo homer.
If you’re a Sox fan, you definitely like close games. At least this year. The White Sox are twelve games above .500, at 24-12, in one run games. The Padres are the only team even close to that at 10 games above .500 (21-11). The Diamondbacks are next closest at only six games above .500 (21-15).
In two run games. the Sox are just as impressive at 42-20. And while they’ve outplayed their expected win/loss by six games, they still lead the league in expected wins. You can check this out at the Hardball Times team stats page.
At this point, with a thirteen game lead over the Indians, the White Sox simply need to play .500 ball. There’s only eight weeks left, so the Indians would then need to play at least .650 ball to keep pace. If the Sox finish the season winning six out of every ten, then the Indians need to be nearly perfect the rest of the way.
Which brings us to who the Sox likely first round opponent will be. If the season ended now, it would either be the Angels or the A’s, who are tied for both the Wild Card lead and the AL West Crown. The White Sox can also play spoiler as they go up against the Yankees. I think the Yanks are still the team to beat even though they’re a few games out of the Wild Card, and if we can knock them down a peg, we’ll be that much better off come playoff time.
