20 (Tigers); 19 (Twins)

For the second time in two years, Freddy Garcia took a no-hitter into the eighth inning only to watch it slip away. Last year, Jacque Jones homered to end the No-No, and the run he scored proved to be the winning run. Yesterday, Adam Kennedy singled to center to end Garcia's bid for a perfect game, but failed to score. Neal Cotts pitched a perfect ninth to seal the 9-0 victory over the Angels.

If Garcia's pitching performance hadn't been so noteworthy -- another in a recent spate of fine efforts by a Sox starter -- the White Sox batters would have been the lead story. Apparently, the Good Guys thought that they were starring in a remake of that old Wrigley's gum commercial, as six different players doubled their pleasure, doubled their fun by stroking two-baggers: Tadahito Iguchi, Jermaine Dye, Paul Konerko, Joe Crede, Juan Uribe, and Brian Anderson. The team had fifteen hits all told, with every spot in the batting order notching at least one safety and led by Captain Konerko's 4 for 4.

The lead was so comfortable that Ozzie was able to play four of the new guys: Ryan Sweeney, Josh Fields (his Major League debut), Jerry Owens, and Chris Stewart. Sweeney was the only one to actually bat, and he went 1 for 2.

Both Detroit and Minnesota lost yesterday, so the Magic Numbers dropped to 20 and 19 respectively. The Sox now trail the Tigers by three games and the Twins by 1.5. Thanks again, Oakland for beating Minnesota (who lost Francisco Liriano for the season), but it's time to stop rooting for Frank Thomas and friends as the Sox begin play with the A's tomorrow night after an off day today. The Sox are four games over .500 on the road and Oakland is 13 games over .500 at home, and Oakland has not been very hospitable, so the Sox have their work cut out for them. Once they finish up in the Bay area, the team heads back to the Cell to face the Tigers in a crucial three-game series and Seattle (28-42 on the road) for four.

Speaking of home, there is a very outside chance of the Sox reaching three million in attendance. It requires there to be a playoff game and an average attendance of 38,286 for the remaining eight games. While neither of those is likely, no one would be surprised if the Sox were to host a one-game playoff, and the team has exceeded the required attendance figure 32 times in 74 home games this season. (If you're wondering how this season's attendance compares to last year's, the answer is the Sox outdrew their total for last year in their 65th game this year. This year's worst attended game outdrew 17 games played at the Cell last year.) So, Go Sox, and Go Sox Fans!