Thursday, May 15, 2008

125

Sorry for the gap in publication, but the entire Update family -- publisher, editors, reporters, all one of us -- have been under the weather for a week. (If you're feeling well, does that mean you're over the weather?) Since our last edition, the Sox have sliced six games off the Magic Number, but have dropped into the third spot in the A.L. Central. When last we wrote, though, it was the Twins who held down first place. We warned you not to sleep on Cleveland, and it has come to pass that the Tribe is atop the division -- 1.5 games ahead of the Good Guys, who trail Minnesota by a half game and lead the Royals by one. Even the disappointing Tigers are only 2.5 games back of the Sox, so no one is really out of it.
At the start of the West Coast trip, we were hoping to take two out of three from the Mariners and the Giants and split with the Angels, which would mean going 6-4 over the 10 games. Well, with a win in the finale against the Halos, we can still be on track to accomplish that relatively modest goal and return home to the Cell, where we're 9-7. Of course, the next 13 games after the road trip are against the three A.L. division leaders, so don't expect too much. A 7-6 record over that stretch would look pretty good, especially if a cluster of those wins come against the Indians. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. First, we have to win today's game and take care of business against the Giants. Normally, we worry about playing National League teams on the road because that takes the bat out of DH Jim Thome's hands. But with Thome batting only .203, how much worse can the pitchers hit? We will miss Thome's speed, however, as he has 9% of the team's stolen bases this season.
Last night's game featured another top-notch pitching performance by Jose Contreras, who threw seven innings of one-run ball, allowing the Angels a mere four hits. Scott Linebrink and Bobby Jenks each contributed an inning of scoreless relief. Carlos Quentin maintained his league lead in home runs with his 10th of the season, a grand slam. Qunetin was batting third for the first time, as Ozzie juggled the lineup (his 25th different one this year). Thome and the slumping Paul Konerko dropped two spots to fifth and sixth, respectively. Perhaps the biggest surprise was A. J. Pierzynski batting second. Whatever, the order produced 10 hits and six runs. so maybe Oz will stick with it. Let's hope the Sox stick with their winning ways. Go Sox!

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