104

The White Sox paid homage to Dolly Parton last night by beating the Royals "Nine to Five." The story of the night was the awakening of the Sox bats -- and the awakening of sleeping South Side neigbors from all the fireworks that four home runs generated.

On a night when Sox fan Barack Obama wrapped up the Democratic Party nomination, his favorite team honored a fine Chicago tradition by going yard "early and often." Carlos Quentin, who was 1 for 2 with two walks, started the festivities by smashing his 15th homer in the first inning. Q's opposite-field blast plated A.J. Pierzynski, who was 3 for 4 on the night, including his fourth dinger -- and first since April 22 -- in the second. Even Nick Swisher got in on the action with his fifth homer of the year. Finally, Alexei Ramirez, who raised his average to .275 by going 3 for 4 and was only a triple shy of the cycle, chimed in with his third big fly of the season.

Gavin Floyd was the beneficiary of these pyrotechnics, making his own contribution with a quality start -- seven innings, two earned runs (four total), six hits, four Ks and no walks -- to improve his record to 6-3. Octavio Dotel allowed one run in the eighth, but didn't give up enough runs so that Bobby Jenks, who pitched a scoreless ninth, even had a save opportunity. The three losses leading up to last night had sidelined Jenks, so he needed the work.

By the way, thanks to my Dad, Art Hadden, and Aunt Elaine Silverman for their periodic updates during last night's game. They're both octogenarians and long-time Sox fans who were watching the game when we called them.

The win combined with a Twins' loss chopped the Magic Number to 104 and increased the Sox's lead over Minnesota to 1.5 games. It also improved the likelihood of a Sox win tonight to 71.2% according to the Bill James Log5 method of single-game outcome estimation. John Danks is on the hill as the Sox try to make it two in a row over KC. Go Sox!