84

John Danks was the story on Thursday. He excelled at all phases of the game, leading the White Sox to a 2-0 win over the L.A. Dodgers. Danks notched his fifth win of the season and first in interleague play by tossing six innings of shutout ball and giving up only four hits. The goose-eggs allowed Danks to lower his ERA to 2.62 overall and a Major League-leading 1.48 on the road. (He did receive three innings of scoreless relief from Matt Thornton, Octavio Dotel, Scott Linebrink, and Bobby Jenks, who picked up his 17th save.) Danks also ended his career o-fer at the plate by picking up his first hit in the Bigs, a single. And Danks helped his own cause with a leaping snare of a line drive and quick throw to first to complete a much-needed double play. The DP contributed to the Dodgers' futility -- 0 for 9 -- with runners in scoring position.

The Sox had only seven hits against Dodger pitching. But Alexei Ramirez provided Danks all the runs he needed with a broken-bat single that drove in Jermaine Dye. Carlos Quentin added an insurance run by plating Orlando Cabrera, the second, and last, run of the game.

The only downside was Don Cooper, the pitching coach, pulling his left hamstring while kicking items in the dugout. Coop was angry about being thrown out of the game for arguing a checked swing call. We suspect the Sox will place him on the DL to clear space for Paul Konerko who's due back on Monday at the earliest. Just our tongue in cheek attempt to raise the question as to whose job's in Jeopardy when Paulie returns. Who is Pablo Ozuna or Juan Uribe, Alex?

With the win, the Sox took their first road series of the month, cut the Magic Number to 84, and preserved a half-game lead over sizzling Minnesota, who's now won nine in a row. It's amazing that the Sox are still in first with the Twinkies as hot as they've been, but the Pale Hose have now been atop the division for 68 days.

Since "Number" is our middle name -- or at least one of them -- let's take a look at the numbers for the upcoming series with the Cubs.

• The Sox are 6-5 on Fridays, 6-7 on Saturdays, and 7-5 on Sundays. (Thursdays offer the best chance for a win; they're 9-2 then.)
• They've got a 16-12 record in days games (Friday and Saturday's games) and 27-23 under the lights (Sunday's game, which is on ESPN).
• The Sox like to play on grass (40-25) much more than on turf (3-10).
• They're 28-12 against righty starters, whom they face the first two games, but only 15-12 against lefties.
• The Sox are 15-11 in the first game of a series; 11-15 in the second game; and 15-6 in the third game.
• Finally, the Good Guys are 24-11 at the Cell and the Paper Boys are 16-20 on the road.

Let's hope the long plane ride back from L.A. doesn't adversely affect the Sox and that the sCrUBS get stuck in bad traffic on the Ryan. Go Sox!