23 (Tigers); 22 (Twins)

The Sox took two out of three from the Indians over the weekend, but it should have been three out of three. Yesterday, Javier Vazquez, not an Update favorite, pitched well enough to win (two earned runs on four hits over seven innings), but for the second night in a row, the relievers couldn't shut down Cleveland. Unlike Saturday, however, the Sox didn't have a huge margin to play with. They lost to the Tribe 5-2, after hanging on for a 10-8 victory the day before and squeaking out an 8-7 win on Friday on A. J.'s walkoff home run.

Having played .500 ball since June 21, the Sox find themselves with a Magic Number of 23 and only 3.5 games back of the slumping Tigers. They have a slightly better Magic Number of 22 against the Twins, whom they trail by 1.5 games for the Wild Card lead. Unfortunately, the Sox head out to California to play the Angels, the team immediately behind them in the Wild Card race, and the A's, their long-time nemesis. The first-place A's are being led by none other than Update favorite, Frank Thomas. The Big Hurt has homered in five straight games and is up to 35 on the season. He's also batting .281 with 97 RBIs. I know there's no room for two DHs on a team, but I sure miss seeing his name in our lineup. Even Kenny Williams will be rooting for Frank and his teammates now, as they play in Minnesota. Texas, which at least has a winning record, is in Detroit. The Sox can still do this, but it's got to start now. Go Sox!