88

Maybe they just needed a rest. Monday's day off yielded benefits yesterday, with White Sox bats coming back to life in a 16-5 thrashing of the Pirates. The offense was so potent that the Sox managed to score 16 runs despite leaving nine men on base.

That's what happens when you get 19 hits. Other than Carlos Quentin (who was 0 for 2 with three walks), every starter had at least two hits -- Nick Swisher, Orlando Cabrera, and A.J. Pierzynski had three each -- and every starter scored at least once. DeWayne Wise, who is taking the roster spot of the injured Paul Konerko while Paulie's on the 15-day disabled list, picked up his first two hits as a member of the Sox.

Dr. Long Ball also made a house call at the Cell. Jermaine Dye slugged his 12th homer of the season, Joe Crede smacked his 15th, Cabrera poked his fifth, and Jim Thome moved into a tie with Ted Williams and Willie McCovey for 16th place on the all-time list with the 521st homer of his career (and 14th of the season).

The beneficiary of this largess was Javier Vazquez, who notched his seventh win despite a second straight subpar outing. Javy gave up only five hits during his six innings, but they led to five runs before Octavio Dotel, Nick Masset, and recent callup Adam Russell blanked the Pirates for one inning each.

Even Ozzie was in fine form yesterday, dishing out a double-dose of quotes or, more accurately, a dose of double quotes. See if you notice a pattern here:

• "... a win is a win."
• "He struggled. He struggled all game long."
• "Well, we gotta get it when we gotta get it."
• "Hopefully, ... we swing the bat the way we know we can swing the bat."

Maybe Oz should be managing in New York, New York. Nah, let's give the only manager in our lifetime to bring a World Series championship to Chicago a chance to repeat that feat.

With the win, the Sox were able to chop the Magic Number to 88 and keep their 4.5 game cushion over Minnesota intact. Cleveland and Detroit are now tied for third, 6.5 games back of the Good Guys. The Sox get a chance to beat up on Pittsburgh again today. The Pirates have the fewest wins in interleague play of any team, 58. They also have the fewest interleague games played, by far, with 155. The next fewest is the Cubs' 161. The Sox, by contrast, have played 200 and won 109. Let's make it 110. Go Sox!