37

The White Sox regained the Wild Card lead last night with an ugly, 12-9 win over the Devil Rays. Freddy Garcia (13-4) got the win, but allowed five earned runs in his seven-inning stint. The D-Rays also stole four bases on Freddy, who can't seem to hold a runner and still concentrate on pitching -- something the Update has been complaining about all season. Neal Cotts and David Riske "Business" tried to let Tampa Bay back into the game, but couldn't quite manage to fritter away the big lead the Sox had built up. Riske was particularly ineffective, giving up two runs on hits to each of the three batters he faced in the eighth. Fortunately, Matt Thornton put out the fire before giving way to Bobby Jenks, who pitched a spotless ninth to rack up his major league-leading 37th save. The offense was in high gear, led by Jermaine "MVP" Dye's 39th homer and Joe Crede's four hits. Every Sox batter except Juan Uribe managed at least one hit, including Brian Anderson, whose batting average crept up to .231. Ross Gload, who played because Jim Thome was a late scratch due to wet grounds -- no chances being taken with his hammy -- had a pair to raise his average to .313. Ozzie needs to find a spot in the lineup for Gload after Thome comes back.

The Sox now trail the Tigers by only five games, with Detroit scheduled to play two games today against the first-place Yankees to make up last night's rainout. The Tigers' slated starters are nothing to write home about (Ledezma at 2-1 and Robertson at 11-10), so maybe the Bronx Bombers can sweep the day-night affair. Throw a Sox win on top of that and the Good Guys are only 3.5 games out. Enough fantasizing. The reality is that we've got a Magic Number of 37 and are a half game up on the Twins in the Wild Card chase. The Sox have a Magic Number of 32 to win that last playoff spot, but the Update is not giving up on the Central Division crown. We're going to need better pitching to achieve that goal. And speaking of better pitching, Jon Garland is just the man to provide it tonight. Go Sox!