96

It wasn't another sweep, but it was the next best thing as the White Sox took two out of three from the Royals over the weekend. They dropped the opener as a result of a poor outing by Jose Contreras, while winning the next two on the strength of outstanding starting pitching by John Danks and Jon Garland and scoreless relief pitching, including Bobby Jenks's 21st and 22nd saves. On the offensive side of the ledger, there wasn't a whole lot of good things, but Paul Konerko got back on track with a double and homer in the finale (after going hitless in the first two games).

The Sox are 12.5 games out, but at least the Magic Number continues to drop -- it's now down to 96. The Update has noticed that the Sox and the Tigers (the current Wild Card team) have very similar records against the American League. Against the A.L. East, both teams are one game over .500; against the Central, they're both right at .500; and against the West, Detroit is two games to the good, while the Sox are one game on the plus side. In all, the Tigers would be only a half game ahead of the Good Guys but for Interleague play. In games against the N.L., Detroit is 10 games over the break-even mark, while the Sox are 10 games below water. The Interleague success of the last two seasons is what separates us from the Tigers this year.

Final comment: If Kenny Williams expects to get a home-town discount from Mark Buehrle, he needs to give Buehrle the no-trade clause he wants. Taking less to stay in Chicago means that Buehrle should have some guarantee he's actually going to stay in Chicago. Not that the Update wants to see it happen, but, otherwise, Buehrle should test the free agent market and get full value for his services. Get it done, Kenny. Go Sox!