110

The White Sox continued their winning ways last night in Cleveland, as Orlando Cabrera drove in the go-ahead run in the 12th inning of what ultimately expanded to a 6-3 margin. Cabrera's hit was his fourth of the night. Jim Thome pounded his 10th homer of the season, along with a single. A.J. Pierzynski chipped in with three singles, including one that tied the game in the seventh. In fact, hitting seemed to be contagious, with the Sox totalling 17 hits on the night. Only Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko seemed to be immune as they combined to go 0 for 11.

Javier Vazquez contributed another quality start, giving up only three runs in his six innings. But the pitching story of the night was the bullpen. Six relievers -- Octavio Dotel, Matt Thornton, Scott Linebrink, Nick Masset, Boone Logan, and Bobby Jenks -- threw six innings of scoreless relief. Logan got the win and Jenks came in to earn his 13th save of the year and 100th of his career. Bad Bobby reached the century mark in just 187 appearances, faster than everyone but Kazuhiro Sasaki, who did it in 160 games.

Now here's something you don't see everyday: Joe Crede trying to steal a base. The Update doesn't think of him as a speedster -- and our beliefs were confirmed as he was caught stealing. (Actually, Update reader Les Reiter informs us that Crede wasn't really stealing, but was the victim of a botched hit-and-run attempt.) And speaking of getting thrown out while running the bases, Orlando Cabrera committed another mistake trying to stretch his 12th inning single into a double, just as he did the night before trying to stretch a double into a triple. Cabrera needs to be a bit more cautious on the basepaths.

The win leaves the Sox with a 3.0 game lead over the Twins in the A.L. Central race. That's the biggest margin in the League. It chops the Magic Number to 110.

In many ways, last night's game was similar to Sunday's thriller. All of these stats increased by one on Sunday night and now by one more as a result of the Memorial Day win:

• The Sox are now 6-2 in games decided in the last at bat
• They're 5-0 when tied after the eighth inning
• The team is 24-8 when getting a quality start
• Monday's win improves the record to 18-12 in games when the Sox commit no errors
• The Sox are 25-10 in games when they hit a homer
• They're 19-6 when scoring first
• The record is 22-7 when holding the opponent to three runs or fewer
• Finally, the team is 22-4 when outhitting the opposition

The Sox face Cleveland again today. Let's keep the recent mastery of the Indians going. Go Sox!