107

The White Sox defied the odds last night. They acheived metrics usually -- and especially lately -- found in games that the Sox win, but still managed to drop one to the Tampa Bay Rays, 2-1.

• Quality start? Jose Contreras hurled seven innings and gave up only one run.
• Opponents score fewer than four runs? Rays could muster only two.
• Outhit the opposition? We had eight, two more than Tampa Bay.
• Sox home run? Alexei Ramirez tied it up with his second jack of the season.
• No Sox errors? None. In fact, Ramirez made a nifty diving stop and throw from his knees.
• Not trailing after eight innings? Tied up going into the ninth, with a bullpen that hadn't given up a run in 28 consecutive innings, including the eighth inning of this game.
• Game decided in last at bat? Yes, but this time it was the Rays' Cliff Floyd who hit a walkoff homer off of Scott Linebrink.

Well, this isn't college football or even the New England Patriots. You don't have to win them all to win it all. Even the best teams usually lose 60 games and even the worst teams usually win 60. It's what happens in the other 42 that matter. It's just hard to identify which games are "the other 42."

The only good thing about last night is that the Twins lost, too, so the Magic Number is now down to 107, and the lead remains at 2.0 games. We've got another chance tonight with Javy Vazquez on the mound. Go Sox!