17 (Tigers and Twins)

When they're good, they're very good. That's been the frustrating thing about following this year's edition of the White Sox. Last night, the Sox combined masterly pitching -- another eight-inning, one-hit effort by Freddy Garcia (his second in a row) and a one-hit, strike-out-the-side inning of relief by Bobby Jenks -- with a potent, four-home run offense -- A.J. Pierzynski's 16th, a Grand Salami (the team's 10th this season); Tadahito Iguchi's 16th; and back-to-backers by the Big Boys, Jermaine Dye (43rd) and Jim Thome (41st) -- to defeat Central Division leader (by a half game) Detroit, 7-0. This is how they could -- some will say "should" -- have been playing for much of the season. Unfortunately, the Sox are running out of games to turn it around. (Wink, wink. The baseball gods may be nearby, so we must pretend to think that there is no hope.)

The Sox find themselves five games back of the Tigers and 4.5 behind the Twins. While their Magic Number against both of those teams is 17, their elimination number is a measly seven vis-a-vis Detroit and eight with respect to Minnesota (which beat Boston last night). It appears that the Good Guys have been reduced to the role of spoiler (the gods are still lurking) and have another chance tonight to put a dent in the Tigers' chances of winning the Central Division crown. Jon Garland looks to improve his record to 18-5 and the Sox look to continue on life support for another day. Go Sox!